BROWNSVILLE – It's been a year since Ramiro Avila also known as "Kimberly" disappeared from downtown Brownsville.

His mother says he's made it her mission to find out what happened to him.

Elvira Avila continues to post flyers with her son's picture on trees, walls and storefronts around downtown.

Family members say they last saw him walking down 12th Street about a year ago. He was headed to meet some friends.

Avila said her son vanished without a trace.

"At the beginning, I felt like I was dying of the pain," Avila said. "I stopped eating, I couldn't sleep. I even asked God to take my life so I wouldn't know anything else. Then I reflected and told myself I had to go on, in order to find out what happened to my son."

She insists her son didn't leave on his own volition. He made it home every day, she said.

However, she isn't losing hope that Ramiro is alive. 

"I know that someday, someone is going to talk because I know someone knows, more than one person knows," Avila said. "The night he disappeared, he wasn't alone. There were at least five other people." 

Avila said she's working closely with a dedicated Brownsville police detective. 

Police said the tips on the case have drastically slowed down.

"There's very little information that has come in recently," J.J. Treviño with the Brownsville Police Department said, "but the case is still open."

Treviño said right now the biggest factor working against them is time. 

"The longer it takes, the more chances that things, or that the case will get cold,"  he said. "In this case, it's a continuous thing. The investigator, she's been out there interviewing witnesses and stuff like that. The witnesses have cooperated, but there's nothing concrete."

Avila said she's still struggling with people tearing down her posters. 

She says she'll continue putting them up night and day until she finds the answers she's looking for.  

The family is hosting a vigil for Ramiro Avila or "Kimberly" on May 14, at Market Square in downtown Brownsville.

His mother said she doesn't want people to forget that her son is still missing.