Ortiz was last seen in Silver City, New Mexico on October 31, 2010. He left his grandparents' home on Kimberly Drive to go trick-or-treating for Halloween. He was supposed to go to a friend's house, but never arrived there. An acquaintance reported seeing him in the 200 block of north Bullard at 9:00 p.m. He has never been heard from again.

Ortiz's family reported him missing on November 3. They stated he was happy at the time of his disappearance and had just won visitation rights to his baby son. He was about to graduate from school and was thinking of joining the Army. Since Ortiz's disappearance, there have been rumors that he was beaten to death and his body was dumped in a ditch in El Paso, Texas. Another story is that he ran away. His family doesn't believe he left of his own accord, since he wasn't having any personal problems and he left all his belongings, including his clothes and cellular phone, behind. His case remains unsolved.