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Family of missing special needs teen asks for help
The family of a special needs teenager who's been missing for more than two weeks is hoping you can help bring him safely back home. FOX 26's Damali Keith joins us live in Channelview where he disappeared.
CHANNELVIEW, Texas - The family of a special needs teenager who's been missing for more than two weeks is hoping you can help bring him back home safely.
Officials say 16-year-old Mauricio Reyes has some mental challenges and doesn't function as a teenager. Saturday will be three weeks since he went missing in Channelview.
"We're very concerned because it's been almost a month," says Reyes's cousin, Anderson Moriera.
PREVIOUS STORY: Missing Mauricio Reyes last seen on February 25 leaving Channelview home
On Feb. 25, Reyes was in his dad's work van on Heathfield Road in Channelview and his father went into a home he would be working on in the future to take measurements. Mauricio's dad says when he went back to the van his son was gone and the passenger window was broken.
"We're really worried about him because we don't know where he is. If he has any food. It's really concerning for us," Moriera says.
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"It's been heartbreaking for us since he's 16 years old, and he doesn't know anyone here," explains Mauricio's Aunt Berta Reyes, who says Reyes and his dad just moved to Houston two weeks before he vanished, and he's special needs, functioning as a 10-year-old.
"What happened with him? Did someone hurt him? Everything is possible at this point," says Moriera.
"If someone saw him by any chance or somebody has him or someone is helping him they can contact us or the police at 911. Our family is very concerned," says Reyes.
The family says Mauricio previously walked away when they lived in Atlanta. They say when they got him back he told them he was looking for a church. They are praying for his safe return again.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating.