HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The search continues for a missing 12-year-old girl who family members believe is being trafficked. Three people were questioned after a police chase came to an end on Tuesday morning, but the child remains missing, according to HPD.
The Houston Police Department said the pursuit started just after 8 p.m. Monday at a gas station in the 8100 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, not far from Hobby Airport, and ended about five miles away at a home on Longwood Garden Way.
Family members asked officers to perform a welfare check at a Valero gas station on MLK Boulevard. HPD said the girl had been reported as a runaway, but after she was seen with a man, there were concerns that she was being trafficked.
When officers arrived at the gas station and got out of their patrol vehicle, the suspect reportedly turned on his car and took off, sparking a chase.
The officers eventually lost sight of the suspect’s black Chrysler 300 and stopped the pursuit, but a short time later, HPD’s FOX helicopter saw the car pull into a driveway on Longwood Garden Way, according to HPD.
Three people at the house on Longwood Garden Way were detained for questioning. They told officers they didn’t recognize the suspect’s car and it did not belong to them, according to HPD. They said they never got a good look at the driver or the child.
“As soon as I am coming downstairs just trying to see what is going on, all I hear is freeze and the door wide open,” Javhari Taylor, who was detained along with his two brothers, said.
Taylor said he watched investigators review video of the suspect breaking into his house with the girl.
“It shows a male and a female run in and run out,” Taylor said. “Well, not really just run in, but jump in and run out.”
Taylor said the suspect broke through his fence and then pried open the window.
“It was just wide open, so then when I closed it, it just shattered,” Taylor said, adding that they left through the front door.
He claims he and his brothers were upstairs listening to music and playing video games, so they didn’t hear a peep.
Taylor said they never got a look at the girl or the suspect, nor did they recognize the car.
“I am still in shock, like damn, somebody was in my house, and I didn’t know,” Taylor said.
Unfortunately, HPD said officers were not able to locate the child or the driver.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Officers at the scene initially said the child had been located and was safe. In an update later Tuesday morning, John Cannon with HPD said the 12-year-old girl remains missing. She is described as a Black female — 4’11” and 120 lb. A photo of the missing child was not immediately released.
The suspect is described only as a Black man in his 20s. HPD said he is wanted for felony evading in a motor vehicle but added that he was speeding and ran red lights during the chase, putting other drivers in danger.
The 12-year-old girl’s family reportedly told HPD that she has run away multiple times in the past and is known to meet up with other males. They said she has a history of mental health issues and they believe she is being trafficked.
Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of the missing child or the evading suspect is encouraged to contact HPD.
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