SAN ANTONIO – Two weeks ago, you probably got an AMBER Alert about a missing teenager. We extensively covered the search parties and first reported when she was found.
Now, we’re getting a new look at the case, learning that one downtown nonprofit helped connect the final pieces.
We’ve made the decision to no longer share her name. Instead, we’re focusing on what Christian Assistance Ministry is calling “community awareness.”
CAM is a nonprofit dedicated to helping people in crisis with short-term emergency support. Their mobile shower unit helps dozens of people each day.
“600 people per month‚” Roger Arreola, CAM’s Homeless Response Coordinator, said.
Two weeks ago, Arreola and Tarvis Brown, CAM’s site coordinator, said two faces stood out to them.
A teenage girl “walked in with a much older man,” CAM President & CEO Dawn White-Fosdick said.
White-Fosdick said the two showed up to use the showers. She said she tried talking to the girl.
“We’re walking that fine line of care and concern,” White-Fosdick said.
That conversation happened as her team was trying to figure out what came next.
“I kept the guy entertained until Roger went and did a little homework,” Brown said.
“And then a client came forward?” Everett asked.
“A client came forward,” Brown said. “He showed me the flyer that had been circulated. He said, ‘What do you see in this picture?’ And I said, ‘Oh, my god.’”
The photo on the missing persons flyer matched the face of the teenager who showed up at CAM. White-Fosdick said it’s a situation her team has dealt with before.
“We’ve had many cases like that where we’ve actually found people,” White-Fosdick said. “All who just sort of showed up here to get some kind of low barrier service, and we were able to reunite them with their families.”
CAM said that’s when they called the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. The teenager was reunited with her family.
White-Fosdick said she wanted to share this story to show the importance of speaking up when something doesn’t feel right.
“Community awareness is key,” Brown said.
BCSO said both the teenager and the adult man were questioned. A spokesperson said the male was released after no criminal offense was reported.