Hurtado was last seen walking to his grandmother's house on Elmwood Street in El Paso, Texas, on September 9, 1974. Hurtado's mother was washing the family's car in their driveway at the time, and his father was indoors. Hurtado kept going from one parent to the other. When he disappeared, at first both his parents thought he was with the other parent. He has never been seen again. All of his neighbors and his parents, who are now divorced, were ruled out as suspects in his case, and a search of the river behind the house turned up no clues.

A neighbor reported seeing an unidentified blue Ford on the street, which dead-ends, at the time Hurtado was last seen. The vehicle disappeared at the same time Hurtado did, but it hasn't been proven that the car is connected to his presumed abduction. His case remains unsolved.