Diego Aguilar led a small group of volunteers through a wooded area off Southwest 62nd Boulevard.
Sweat dripped down his face as he sliced through the undergrowth with a machete, calling out into the wilderness for his missing nephew.
Shouts of “Chris” and “Christian” echoed through the forest as volunteers walked several yards apart, fighting their way through thick brush.
Diego Aguilar, 43, and the volunteers were part of dozens of friends and family who searched the woods near Cabana Beach Apartments and State Road 121 on Monday for Christian Aguilar.
Christian Aguilar, an 18-year-old biomedical engineering freshman at UF, was reported missing Thursday night after he was dropped off in the 4900 block of Northwest 13th Street, police said.
Police identified Pedro A. Bravo as a person of interest in the case and put him under medical examination as part of Florida’s Baker Act after he told officers Friday that he would hurt himself.
Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said that during an interview with officers, Bravo, an 18-year-old Santa Fe College student, admitted he got into a fight with Christian Aguilar.
Police said Christian Aguilar may be seriously injured.
On Monday afternoon, GPD officers arrested and charged Bravo with depriving a victim of medical care, which is a third-degree felony, according to a GPD news release.
Police booked him into Alachua County Jail at 3:51 p.m. Monday, where he remained later that day with a $100,000 bond.
Officers from the Gainesville and University Police departments have been looking for Christian Aguilar since Friday night.
GPD helicopter and K-9 units have searched through areas where he might be.
Since Christian Aguilar’s disappearance, his friends and family have assisted police in the search.
Alexander Aguilar, 16, said his family drove from Miami on Friday to look for his brother.
Alexander Aguilar said Christian Aguilar’s unknown whereabouts has him, as well as his family, worried.
“Obviously, we want him back alive and well, but the fact that not knowing, like, how he is right now — what condition he’s in — is horrible,” he said.
The news of Christian Aguilar’s disappearance has reached beyond his family members in Miami.
Christian Aguilar is a recent graduate of Doral Academy Preparatory School.
On Monday, Douglas Rodriguez, principal of Doral Academy, addressed the student body about Christian Aguilar’s disappearance, saying that students and teachers drove to Gainesville to look for the former student.
Students in Miami have also shown their support for Christian Aguilar’s family.
Ashlee Perez, one of Christian Aguilar’s friends, set up an online donation fund on Indiegogo for the Aguilar family.
As of press time, the fund has raised more than $1,800.
Supporters have also used Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about Christian Aguilar’s disappearance.
Erika Friman, Christian Aguilar’s girlfriend, created a Facebook group to update people who are following and participating in the search.
So far, the group has garnered about 2,600 members.
Some of Christian Aguilar’s friends drove to Gainesville to assist the family in the search.
Marcos Carriedo, a close friend, said he drove with about 12 other people to Gainesville to help.
“We just want Chris back,” Carrideo said. “We just want to see Chris safe.”
On the Facebook group, a member asked if the search would continue Tuesday.
Another member replied, “Until we find him.”
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
Volunteers searching for Christian Aguilar, who has been missing since Thursday evening, return to their cars after an unsuccessful trek into the woods near Cabana Beach apartments Monday afternoon. Pedro Bravo, who police identified as a person of interest, was arrested Monday afternoon in connection with the disappearance.
