For more than a month, the question of what happened to 12-year-old Maria Gomez Perez has weighed heavily on the Hall County community, and on Friday, a new effort was unveiled in hopes of bringing her home.
Maria was last seen in the driveway of her home on May 29 and hasn't been seen by family and friends since.
Community members looking to bring Maria home unveiled a banner on a busy stretch of Jesse Jewell Parkway in Gainesville. They hope that someone passing by will see it and help solve the case. One mother, Christy Vasquez, drove all the way from Marietta to show her support.
"I have daughters, Latina daughters that are 11 and 13 years old. So this very well could be us. This really hit home," Vasquez said. "They play online a lot, they meet people online, they chat with people that we don't know, unfortunately. So this really hit home."
Community activist Art Gallegos hopes the sign will get more people engaged in the search for Maria.
"I think that we need to personalize this. We can't just say that this is another 13-year-old girl from Guatemala that just disappeared in our city," Gallegos said.
While Hall County investigators continue to pursue leads, Maria's dad, Andres Gomez, says the banner is a sign of hope.
"Seeing everybody come together and not giving up, and seeing all these signs being put up, thank you so much," Gomez said.
Anyone who knows anything about Maria's disappearance is urged to contact the police.