Missing Texas Girl, 12, Feared to be the Victim of Human Trafficking. Police Desperate for Answers.
A missing young girl from Texas is feared to be a victim of trafficking and police are desperate for answers.
E'minie Hughes was last seen on Thursday, Feb. 22. Her mother said the last conversation she remembers having with her daughter was E'minie asking her to be woken up early for school the following day.
“Thirty, 35 minutes after, my daily routine I go check my kids’ room to make sure they’re OK or whatnot, and she wasn’t there,” Shannon Williams said.
After searching for E'minie, Williams placed a call to authorities to report her missing. According to KHOU an AMBER Alert wasn't issued until five days later.
Once a full investigation was underway, police say they saw a young girl, believed to be E'minie, on a neighbors home surveillance video. The video shows the girl running to get into a dark Dodge Ram on Waterchase Drive in Missouri City around 1:40 a.m. Friday. The video then cuts off after the motion stops.
Police say that E'minie was on a social media app called Tagged recently and she may still be in the Missouri City area.
Some details of this case have not been made public, however, that doesn't leave the public without questions. Most want to know if she had recently been talking to someone new, if the license plate of the vehicle seen on camera was visible or if there is a larger threat? Williams said she was unsure why her daughter would leave.
“Not knowing where she is, what’s going on with her, if she’s OK, if she’s harmed if she’s alive, very heartbreaking,” she said.
Williams said E'minie loved dancing and sharing content on social media. The two shared a TikTok account but E'minie didn't have a cellphone. Williams said she left the house with her Andriod tablet.
"That's what we were trying to see if we can find somebody to at least track the tablet down or try to find a way to get inside the tablet," Williams said.
Though E'minie didn't have a cellphone, Jennifer Hill with Houston's Children's Assessment Center warns parents that people have access to children all the time, often through social media.
"...it can be through games that children are playing online," Hill said. "A lot of times it can even be through schools themselves...it's something that we have to worry about every day and have open communication with our children about because we want to make sure that they know those dangers rather than just encountering them."
Hill says that human trafficking has become increasingly popular, particularly in Texas, because people can essentially be reused and drugs cannot. “So unlike trafficking a drug, for example, children are able to be used over and over again when they're sold for sex. So in that way, it can be a lot more profitable than selling drugs that are only used one time," said Hill.
E'minie was last seen wearing a white crop top and pink joggers. She is described as being about 4 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 100 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair.
It is our prayer that this child is returned home safe and sound. Anyone with information on E'minie's whereabouts is urged to call the Houston Police Patrol Division at 713-884-3131 or the Houston Police Missing Persons Unit at 832-394-1840.
