Texas authorities believe that a girl who has been missing for over a week might be in the hands of traffickers in the Houston metro area.
The Houston Police Department issued an update on a missing persons case Thursday. As explained on X, detectives have reason to believe that 12-year-old E’minie Hughes is in the Missouri City area and using a dating app called Tagged.
Hughes was last seen by her mother, Shannon Williams, on February 22 in their home on the 7700 block of Waterchase Drive.
“I haven’t eaten anything. I haven’t been able to sleep. It’s a lot,” said Williams, according to Fox 26.
Surveillance footage from a neighbor’s home shows that Hughes left her house at around 1:40 a.m., climbed into a dark Dodge pickup truck, and left with the driver. She was wearing a white crop top and pink joggers.
While Houston police have not disclosed why they believe Hughes was trafficked, Jacquelyn Aluotto, the president of No Trafficking Zone, told Fox 26 that the girl being on Tagged and seen going into the vehicle willingly were telltale signs.
“She knew, or she thinks she knows who she’s going with. … She’s talking to other people that her parents aren’t aware of,” explained Aluotto.
“A lot of times when children are being groomed, they don’t even know they’re being groomed or lured, so they’re a lot more willing,” she added.
The Meet Group, Tagged’s parent company, told CNN that minors are barred from using the app.
“Should we be made aware of any attempts to circumvent our process, we thoroughly investigate any report involving a possible minor user or child exploitation,” a representative said.
The Amber Alert issued for Hughes is ongoing, and anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Houston police detectives at 832-394-1840.
Texas lawmakers recently passed a series of laws to curb human trafficking, including legislation that raises the penalties for child groomers and online solicitors of sex with minors, as reported by The Dallas Express.
In Dallas, seven reports of human trafficking were logged so far this year as of February 29, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. The victims were females between the ages of 16 and 25, and the majority were women or girls of color.
As previously covered by The Dallas Express, a needs assessment conducted by researchers at UT Dallas pointed to the staffing problems at the Dallas Police Department as one of the issues to be addressed to improve the authorities’ response to trafficking in the area.
Only 3,000 DPD officers are currently fielded, whereas a City report previously called for roughly 4,000 officers to adequately ensure public safety. Moreover, City leaders recently approved a budget of just $654 million for DPD this year, considerably less than the spending levels on police seen in other high-crime jurisdictions, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
