Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Houston police at (713) 308-3600 or Houston Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
The Houston Police Department has announced it needs the public’s help finding the person or persons involved after the body of a 12-year-old girl was found in a creek on Monday morning.
Cops in Texas announced at a press conference Monday that the body was found around 6 a.m. Monday after a civilian called 911 and reported seeing it in the bayou.
Police dive teams retrieved the body from the bayou and cops said the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office is investigating what happened to the 12-year-old.
“Any time a body is found in waterway, we will call for the dive team. This was shallow water, but it is their expertise to be able to go in and make sure that not only the body, but any other evidence in that waterway would be found,” homicide Lt. Stephen Hope said during the press conference.
Authorities said they believe the 12-year-old girl snuck out of an apartment complex near where she was found sometime 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Police believe that something nefarious was done to the girl.
“We believe somebody did this horrible thing to her,” acting chief of police Larry Satterwhite said Monday. “I’ve talked to this child’s mother. Of course, she is devastated. Her family is devastated. Her little girl is gone.”
Cops also said family members did not know she was leaving the house and that she was not reported missing.
“A 12-year-old found in a waterway near the residence where she lives is in and of itself very suspicious,” Lt. Hope said Monday. “We’re still looking into communications that were there and any other information that we could find from it.”
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who was in attendance at the news conference Monday, said he spoke with the little girl's mother, who was "devastated," and asked the community to keep the family in their prayers.
“The city’s doing everything they can to find the perpetrator of this heinous crime,” the mayor added. “It’s the worst horror for a family."
Police have not released much info aside from her gender, age, and that she lived at apartments on Rankin Road near the creek. Her name has not been made public.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Houston police at (713) 308-3600 or Houston Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
Crime Stoppers is offering an up to $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest or charges.
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