TX E'MINIE HUGHES: Missing from Houston, TX - 22 Feb 2024 - Age 12 *Found Safe*

Missing 12-year-old at center of Houston-area AMBER Alert could be trafficking victim, police say

The girl was found safe on March 1, 2024. The original story is below with the girl's name edited out.

www.khou.com

Missing 12-year-old at center of Houston-area AMBER Alert could be trafficking victim, police say​

The missing 12-year-old girl at the center of a Houston-area AMBER Alert could be a sex trafficking victim, according to police who said additional information they gathered Wednesday led them to the theory.

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.

Williams reported E'Minie missing Friday, Feb. 23, though an AMBER Alert wasn't issued until five days later.

“Everybody is depressed," Williams said. "It’s depressing at this moment because we don’t have anything right now and the AMBER Alert is just being issued out."

According to police, home surveillance video shows a girl, who appeared to be E'Minie, running toward a dark Dodge Ram on Waterchase Drive in Missouri City around 1:40 a.m. Friday. The video then cuts off.

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 went on to explain why human trafficking has become so popular, with Texas having the second highest cases of reported incidents.


MEDIA - E'MINIE HUGHES: Missing from Houston, TX - 22 Feb 2024 - Age 12

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

‘I feel like she’s been kidnapped:’ Family searching for Missouri City sixth grader missing for five days

E’minie Hughes hasn’t been seen since getting into a mysterious truck Thursday night

www.click2houston.com

‘I feel like she’s been kidnapped:’ Family searching for Missouri City sixth grader missing for five days​

A Missouri City family is desperately hoping to find a missing 12-year-old who hasn’t been seen for five days.

E’minie Hughes was last seen outside her home on Waterchase Drive getting into a mysterious truck in the middle of the night between Thursday and Friday. The exact time is unclear.

“I feel like she’s been kidnapped because it’s day five and I haven’t heard anything,” her mother Shannon Williams told KPRC 2.

The last time Williams saw her daughter was before bed on Thursday, but when she woke up on Friday, Hughes was gone.


Hughes is known to have a beautiful personality and bright spirit, she said. On Thursday night, she made fries with her own seasoning and danced in the living room before stepping out for a walk around 10:30 p.m., her mother said.

Neighbors told KPRC 2 their cameras captured a dark truck pull up in front of her house a couple hours later, before what appears to be the young girl gets in the backseat. The truck then turns around at the end of a cul-de-sac and turns onto Steeple Chase Road.

Williams said she didn’t recognize the truck and her daughter didn’t have access to rideshare apps.

“Anything could have happened, even though we’re going to pray for the best,” Williams said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

New developments suggest missing 12-year-old Eminie Hughes was on a dating app

New developments say she may be on a social media app known as Tagged & is believed to be in the Missouri City area.

www.fox26houston.com

Eminie Hughes, 12-year-old missing for a week, may be on a dating app known as Tagged​

Missing 12-year-old Eminie Hughes was last seen a week ago and police continue to investigate her disappearance.

New developments say she may be on a social media app known as Tagged & is believed to be in the Missouri City area.

FOX 26 spoke with Eminie's mother on Wednesday. She said she's had trouble thinking straight and not trying to worry about a worst-case scenario for her child.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

 

[GrandmaBear]

The things I could say on these few reports are multiple. So I won't.

I will say in this day and age thinking kids don't have access through games and tablets and even back when kindles is way behind the times. And I am behind the times.

Going out for a walk at 10:30 these days as a 12 year old and it's okay, in an area like Houston or anywhere.

I'll leave it at that although there's MUCH to be ripped into here.

She did not have a cell phone which might help track her or she could call for help on, but she definitely had access or social media apps and/or someone did to her.

Also, it is unclear. She asked to be woken up early for school the next day then 35 minutes later mom checked rooms and she wasn't there but did not report until next day? Do I have that right? So no big worry a 12 year old is missing at night all night on a school night?

I will stop there as there's a lot more that could be said here, wondered about or ripped into.

Totaly backwoods naivete and permissiveness may explain it all. Kind of doubt that though. Jmo.

For the sake of the child, HOPEFULLY she went willingly and is alive and simply fled something at home.

 

[Kimster]

New developments suggest missing 12-year-old Eminie Hughes was on a dating app

New developments say she may be on a social media app known as Tagged & is believed to be in the Missouri City area.

www.fox26houston.com

Eminie Hughes, 12-year-old missing for a week, may be on a dating app known as Tagged​

Missing 12-year-old Eminie Hughes was last seen a week ago and police continue to investigate her disappearance.

New developments say she may be on a social media app known as Tagged & is believed to be in the Missouri City area.

FOX 26 spoke with Eminie's mother on Wednesday. She said she's had trouble thinking straight and not trying to worry about a worst-case scenario for her child.

I've never even heard of that dating app! How many of them are out there?

 

[GrandmaBear]

I've never even heard of that dating app! How many of them are out there?

I am sure behind the times and can't even keep up but even I know a child has internet access even as far back as kindles and games when parents think they only work for reading or playing games. I am not up on Snapchat, Instagram and more much less dating apps and those are already probably old school but I do know kids are ahead of and apps and trouble are way ahead of and beyond parents and LE keeping up. For that reason alone you monitor it or even don't allow it. Even if you don't they will access elsewhere. Schools and access aren't much bettter imo.

If you lived somewhere like Houston an found your 12 year old not in bed as you thought on a school night would yo wait until the next day to call cops? Not judging I don't know but had she taken off before. She went for walks at 10:30 at night. You allow or aren't worried about why or who she might encounter?

 

[GrandmaBear]

Darned little keyboard. Typos forever, count on it.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I've never even heard of that dating app! How many of them are out there?

What is Tagged? App may be connected to missing 12-year-old girl believed to be trafficking victim

An Amber Alert has been issued after a 12-year-old from Missouri City was reported missing this week.

www.click2houston.com

What is Tagged? App may be connected to missing 12-year-old girl believed to be trafficking victim​

Houston Police Department released new details Thursday, saying Eminie Hughes, who was last seen a week ago, may have been using the social media app Tagged before her disappearance.


According to the Apple Store, Tagged is a dating app designed for single people to match, date and connect with friends through livestream.

The application allegedly has more than 300 million members and is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars with over 300,000 ratings.

To sign up, users can use their Facebook or Google accounts or via email. If you sign up from Facebook, the service is supposed to use your date of birth to verify that you are at least 17 or older.


Police believe E’minie might have been using an app called Tagged. It’s also known as a dating app that has more than 300-million members. The service is supposed to only allow ages 17 and up. Some of the reviews are concerning.

One user wrote, “Why is this app on Google play? Obviously Google supports human traffickers. Every single woman on here is a scammer.”

Another user posted “Every match is just someone or a bot advertising for sex sites or escort services.”

HPD believes E’minie could be a victim of trafficking. Joyce Williams told Corley the information about her granddaughter is keeping her up at night.


The City of Houston’s Trafficking Advisor, Minal Davis, shared this information with KPRC2

“While I do not want to jump to any conclusions about why E’minie is missing, social media apps can be used to prey on people. Since Tagged is an online dating app, luring on this app for several criminal reasons is possible. The trafficking survivors in direct services program have not mentioned this app before.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

 

[GrandmaBear]

Well I have never heard of the app and it has several hundred million members. I do not have young children at home thank goodness.

I don't want to see the internet charged for as to every page or search and so on as we are charged to death and regulated with everything in this country but regulation as to what can be on there for apps, the defaults, the child porn and protecting KIDS is LONG overdue. Even a stellar parent cannot keep up. Who here has heard of this one/ I never have but then I don't do dating apps and am not on the games and such kids would be.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/us/eminie-hughes-houston-texas-amber-alert/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

[Breaking news update, published at 3:15 p.m. ET]

E’minie Hughes, the 12-year-old girl who was missing from the Houston area, has been found unharmed, police said in a post on X.

Last seen on February 22, Houston police issued an Amber Alert Wednesday, saying they believe she may have been trafficked.


In their post, police said she was found in Columbus, Texas, which is 73 miles from the Houston area where she went missing.

FBI Houston posted on X, “FBI Houston is proud to have helped rescue yet another missing child. Two kids recovered in two days,” and confirmed to CNN that they assisted in the search for E’minie.

Police did not release any other information and said the investigation is ongoing.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Glad she is safe. Possible she went missing by own choice but if with an adult it is criminal. Not sure what unharmed means so no SA or just not INJURED.

That is far enough from home and whatever is going on and she is 12, i think the parents had better get a handle and a grip on whatever the situation is. There are all the teen years to go ahead of them and she needs to not be vulnerable to types. Or maybe be with them by what she thinks is her choice.

Maybe off base, little known, reading between the lines. Unharmed is a big one. Yet 73 miles from home.

ALIVE and SAFE though is what matters most.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Missing 12-year-old girl found safe in Columbus, Texas, police say; Man taken into custody

Columbus, Texas is about an hour and a half west of the girl's home.

www.khou.com

Author: Chloe Alexander, Lea Wilson
Published: 1:56 PM CST March 1, 2024
Updated: 5:42 AM CST March 2, 2024

MISSOURI CITY, Texas — The 12-year-old Missouri City girl at the center of an AMBER Alert who was missing for about a week was found safe Friday in Columbus, Texas, police said.

Columbus, Texas is about an hour and a half west of the girl's home.

Sources told KHOU 11 that she was found at a Shell gas station in Columbus, Texas. Police said she was taken to a Texas Children's Hospital to be checked out and was in good health before she returned home Friday night.

Columbus, Texas police said they got word that the girl was possibly in their area and was seen with Sirterryon Preston, 27, who is from Houston. He tried to take off but he was captured and arrested.

Azial Gonzalez works at the Shell station where the girl and Preston were found. She said Preston was a known delivery driver at the store.

"He was making a delivery," she said. "He was coming out the door, going back to his truck and I guess when he had seen all the police, he just headed off this way across the highway, and that's when they chased him and caught him."

Preston was charged with evading but more charges could be filed as the FBI investigates.

He was expected to make his first court appearance Saturday morning.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

27-year-old found with 12-year-old who triggered Amber Alert is now wanted for felony smuggling

ABC13 obtained new court documents detailing the 27-year-old's alleged acts, including how he allegedly covered the girl with a blanket with a rifle nearby in his box truck.

abc13.com

27-year-old found with 12-year-old who triggered Amber Alert is now wanted for felony smuggling​

A month after a 12-year-old girl was found safe, the man she was with has been charged with smuggling.

Sirterryon Preston, 27, has a warrant for his arrest for a "smuggling of persons" charge, which is a felony.

On March 1, law enforcement arrested Preston near a gas station in Columbus, Texas, 75 miles from the girl's Missouri City home. The FBI, assisting the Houston Police Department, tracked her tablet. Court records state she was in the front seat of Preston's box truck, covered by a blanket, and an AR-15 rifle was nearby.


A neighbor's surveillance video showed her entering a truck outside her home on Feb. 22. The girl's mother was the one who reported her missing after she went to check on her in her bedroom and found her gone.

New court documents detail what the mother told police happened next.

According to court records, the mother said a man contacted her, saying he met the girl through the dating app "Tagged" and that she was posing as a 19-year-old. When police contacted the man, court records state he told them he dropped her back off at home because he realized she was underage. Then, he contacted her mother, claiming innocence.

Meantime, the girl was still missing.

Police triggered the Amber Alert. With the assistance of the FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Columbus police, they found her and Preston in Columbus. He was initially charged only with evading.

According to records, Preston told an FBI agent he picked up the girl near a McDonald's in Houston, knew she had been reported missing, and transported her across county lines.

On Thursday night, the girl's mother told ABC13 she was unaware of the charges. Her daughter is safe at home.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Missing 12-year-old girl found safe in Columbus, Texas, police say; Man taken into custody

Columbus, Texas is about an hour and a half west of the girl's home.

www.khou.com

Author: Chloe Alexander, Lea Wilson
Published: 1:56 PM CST March 1, 2024
Updated: 5:42 AM CST March 2, 2024

MISSOURI CITY, Texas — The 12-year-old Missouri City girl at the center of an AMBER Alert who was missing for about a week was found safe Friday in Columbus, Texas, police said.

Columbus, Texas is about an hour and a half west of the girl's home.

Sources told KHOU 11 that she was found at a Shell gas station in Columbus, Texas. Police said she was taken to a Texas Children's Hospital to be checked out and was in good health before she returned home Friday night.

Columbus, Texas police said they got word that the girl was possibly in their area and was seen with Sirterryon Preston, 27, who is from Houston. He tried to take off but he was captured and arrested.

Azial Gonzalez works at the Shell station where the girl and Preston were found. She said Preston was a known delivery driver at the store.

"He was making a delivery," she said. "He was coming out the door, going back to his truck and I guess when he had seen all the police, he just headed off this way across the highway, and that's when they chased him and caught him."

Preston was charged with evading but more charges could be filed as the FBI investigates.

He was expected to make his first court appearance Saturday morning.

12. TWELVE. and 27. A what??? SIXTH grader barely out of elementary?

Your kid may have no cell phone and you share an online account or whatever it was but you need to get a clue. Not at her parents, all can't keep up, it is constant and targeted and when one is known another ten crop up. This man did illegal and you know there is NO WAY this wasn't sexual with a TWELVE YEAR OLD.

However, and this is not blame, he is at fault always and she is a child who even though may think herself adult, we know isn't BUT was this the first thing family did not know of? She is immature I don't care how worldly at 12 she MAY think she is and how immature the brain still is and the lack of life experience as I'm sure all is here and older folk know. That does not mean however she doesn't think this was all fine. And they have got a lot of years ahead here with this minor child.

She was ON a dating site just for starters. An ADULT dating site.

In MY VERY STRONG OPINION, he needs to go away for life but of course he won't. This is a man targeting CHILDREN. KNOWINGLY or he wouldn't have ran.

She though may have been willing and may have even met him before or others, who knows. Doesn't mean she knows what she is doing or has a clue about life.

I said it before EVEN book reading Kindles kids could use back when and games. And there are people to this day that don't know that and kids are way up and head of us on all of it BUT they don't really get the reasons things are made this way just so kids can be targeted.

I had to almost do a when in this case mom said she had no phone but she did have a tablet. Are you kidding me? I'm old and I know better. These are parents of a 12 year old. Mine are 30s and 40s. And I KNOW.

I am glad as all HE77 she is ALIVE. That IS all that matters.