U.S. Border Patrol agents located a missing Michigan woman and her infant on Saturday at a ranch in Webb County, Texas, nearly 1,500 miles from their home.
The mother and child, who were reported missing from Wyoming, Michigan, on July 3, were identified by the mother’s Michigan driver’s license, according to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office. The woman was found on the ranch property miles from her intended destination, walking barefoot while carrying the baby.
Authorities revealed that the mother, identified as Vanessa, said she had left on a trip to South Padre Island, Texas. However, her journey took an unexpected turn when her vehicle ran out of gas, leaving her and her baby stranded in an unfamiliar area.
The mother and child were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment before BP agents turned them over to the care of the local sheriff’s office. Officials from the Webb County Sheriff’s Office helped make travel arrangements to reunite the woman with her family.
“I thank the United States Border Patrol for their quick response, and I commend my deputies for their efforts in coordinating with the woman’s family to ensure her and her baby’s safety,” Sheriff Martin Cuellar said in a news release.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS) database reports that, on average, over 600,000 individuals are listed as missing in the United States each year. Additionally, approximately 4,400 unidentified bodies are discovered annually. This adds up to about 6.5 missing persons per 100,000 people across the country.
However, most missing persons cases are resolved swiftly. For instance, in 2021, 521,705 missing persons were reported, and more than 485,000 of these cases were resolved within the same year, according to the World Population Review.
As of July 11, there are still 2,585 open cases for people listed as missing in Texas. This number is only second to California, which currently has 3,362 open cases for missing individuals.