Amber Alert: Missing 12-year-old Waxahachie girl found safe
WAXAHACHIE, Texas - A 12-year-old Ellis County girl who was reported missing earlier this week has been found.
Police have asked FOX 4 to no longer use her name or picture.
Homeland Security found the 12-year-old of Waxahachie at the Super 7 Motel in Southwest Dallas on Friday.
Homeland Security says she was found based on a tip to Waxahachie police around 9:30 a.m. She was found alone in the motel about an hour later, according to investigators.
"We got her," said Mary Magness from Homeland Security Investigations. "She's safe."
"When the officers knocked on the door, she opened the door," explained John Perez, supervisory special agent with Homeland Security. "She was cooperative with law enforcement. There was no altercations or confrontations with her. They immediately took her into safety."
Investigators say they are working to learn more about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Ellis County Child Advocacy Center will now provide resources to help the girl.
No arrests have been made. The investigative task force says they are continuing to look into the case.
At a news conference Friday, investigators thanked citizens who called in tips.
An Amber Alert was issued for the 12-year-old on Thursday morning. She disappeared on Wednesday from her Waxahachie home, and investigators said they found clues from a cell phone she left behind indicating that she may be at serious risk of harm.
"We found concerning text messages and social media messages that lead us to believe she could be at risk in this situation. And that's why we're issuing the Amber Alert as opposed to just listing her as a runaway," said Lt. Joshua Oliver, with the Waxahachie Police Department, after her disappearance.
A human trafficking task force began helping with the search because police suspected she could be a victim of traffickers.
Police got reports on Thursday that the girl was seen around the UNT campus in Denton wearing black fuzzy slippers and a wig. Waxahachie’s task force joined campus police to canvas the area but did not find anything at that time.
"We worked that diligently as you guys saw with the command post," Perez said. "We had set up in Denton to track that down."
She was not there.
But 9:30 a.m. Friday, a tip came in from someone who lives at the motel to Waxahachie police. An hour later, she had been rescued.
"Upon receipt of that tip, we immediately contacted HIS. Taskforce officers with the Dallas Police Department, who responded with patrol units in South Dallas," Perez said. "Patrol units conducted a canvas of the hotel where she was recovered, and we were able to find her inside a hotel room."
No one else was in the room.
No details were given about the 48 hours she was missing.
Last year, the girl disappeared and sparked an Amber Alert. She was found safe later that day. Investigators say this disappearance was not connected to the girl's previous one.
That did not stop all out efforts to find her this time, especially because of her young age.
"For us, the age isn't an issue. But when you do have a child, I think that that kind of globalizes our priority," Magness said. "And I don't see it as a wasted effort."
Broadcast media and social media gave this case the visibility it needed to have a good ending.
"And for all the people who called in tips who saw something and said something, [the girl] will be reunited with her family with her loved ones because of you," said Waxahachie Police Lt. Joshua Oliver.
The girl was found alone, but she didn't walk from Waxahachie, and she didn't pay for the motel room.
No arrests have been made, but the task force knows who they are looking for, only saying the investigation is ongoing.