The last time Michele Robinson spoke on the phone with her younger brother, Joseph Balderas, he told her he was beginning to make arrangements for a trip back home to Lubbock from Alaska with his girlfriend for the holidays. 

“He loved his family. He was instrumental in trying to get everyone together for Christmas,” said Robinson. 

Two weeks after that phone call, however, her brother was reported missing after not coming into work one Monday morning. 

It’s now been one year since Balderas was last seen. Since then, the search for his whereabouts extended across the country from Alaska to back home in Lubbock. 

His truck was found in an area where Balderas might have been hiking. From there began an intense effort to locate Balderas involving both ground and aerial searches. His family flew in to Nome as soon as they could to begin working with local officials and the community to search for Balderas. 

Recently, a jury of six came to a unanimous conclusion that Balderas had died. On December 7, an official death certificate will be issued. His family says that despite the ruling, the search does not end there.

“This [the ruling] was more of a way to get into his accounts, his credit card, bank statements, just to see if it had all been used during this time,” explained Robinson. 

Balderas, a Roosevelt High School graduate and Texas Tech alum, went to law school at the University of Minnesota. He moved to Alaska, where he worked in Nome as a law clerk, with aspirations to eventually move to Juno with his girlfriend, Megan, and own a practice. 

“They were going to get married and live happily ever after,” said Robinson. “”He said Lubbock would always be his home, but that Alaska was going to be his new home. He’d always come back to visit.” 

Balderas was the middle child of five siblings, and was very close to his family. He would always cheer on the Red Raiders, loved the great outdoors and meeting new people. 

“He [Balderas] had this way of meeting people and just becoming friends for life with everyone he met. He was definitely a people person and he loved anything that had to do with what’s right. I think that’s part of what led him to be a lawyer,” shared Robinson on her brother. 

A year later, family and friends continue to keep their loved one’s memory and legacy alive through the “Finding Joseph” Facebook page. The family also continues to seek support from community members through their YouCaring page here.: https://www.youcaring.com/joseph-balderas-593651

“You know he’s still a son. Both my parents had a hard time. Of course, we as siblings have had a hard time with it. We’re not stopping. We’re going to continue to search until we find him. However that looks like. Whatever we need to do. We’re going to find him and try to bring him home,” said Robinson.