Atascocita man never returns home, friends tell family to search the woods before they knew he was missing
HOUSTON - 22-year-old Andre Moten Junior vanished three years ago. The day after he went missing, his friends showed up at his home panicked, and asking his father to search the woods with them, but they never answered the question of how they knew he was missing before his own father.
"They came running over here talking about reporting him missing, it was like something isn't right," said Andre Moten Sr., Father of Andre Moten Jr.
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Andre Jr. left his father's home around 2 a.m. on the morning of October 19, 2019. His father says he was on the phone with one of his friends just before leaving.
"They claim he was with a female, but they didn't see the female," Andre Sr. recalled.
Later on, that same day, before his family knew anything was out of the ordinary, two of Andre Jr.'s childhood friends came to his home on Timber Forest drive in Atascocita in a panic.
"I mean there were a lot of strange things going on. One of his friends went searching for him in the woods and digging through his car, all kinds of stuff. It was really weird. He even wanted surveillance from the leasing office. He was saying that he knows where they dump bodies and that type of stuff," said Andre Sr.
Nearly four years have passed, and Andre Jr. hasn't been seen or heard from, he'd be 26 years old today.
His father says Precinct 4 deputies investigated and conducted lie detector tests on his friends, but his family still hasn't gotten any answers or even a clue as to what could've happened to him. His father says he wished Precinct 4 deputies would do more to solve this case.
"They just keep saying we have no leads; we have no leads, well why now?" Andre Sr. asked.
He also says he pleaded with his son's friends to speak up,
"I told them, if you're a friend and ya'll been knowing each other for this long; if ya'll know anything, say something, because if you're innocent, you won't get in trouble," he said.
He says those friends remained silent. Andre Jr. is one of six siblings, and a college student who loves playing basketball. His father describes him as a good brother who has never been in any kind of trouble with the law.
His disappearance has been agonizing for his family, some of them have come to terms with the possibility that he may no longer be alive; but for his father, it's a fate that he refuses to accept.
"My wife says she knows he's gone. I haven't processed it, I think my wife has somewhat more than me. Put it like this, when that doorknob turns, I expect to see him," said Andre Sr.
Anyone with information about the disappearance of Andre Moten Jr. should contact Houston police at (713) 884-3131.
If you'd like to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at (713) 521-4600.
You can follow this link for a look at an official record of long-term missing persons throughout the state of Texas.