ATTN Texans! Missing teen Victoria Jackson

[bobbeym]

One of the young ladies from our youth group has been missing since Friday Dec 20th. Will you please help keep an eye out for her, pray or think good thoughts for her safe return home, and if you don't mind, share this info if you're on social media?  TYVM!

 

Victoria Nicole Jackson was last seen at Deer Park High School 9th grade campus on Friday, December 20th, 2013. She is a 16 year old white female with an olive complexion and short brown hair. She is 5'5" and weighs approximately 135 lbs. She has blue/green eyes. She was last seen wearing a grey t-shirt, black jeans, and white lace-up sneakers. She wears glasses at times and has braces with bands.

It is assumed that Victoria might be in the Dallas, TX area with an unknown older male she met online. This is not an absolute as she may still be in the Deer Park/Pasadena, TX area with a friend. If you know of Victoria's whereabouts, please contact the Pasadena TX Police Department at 713-477-1221 and reference case # 1330675. Detective Groce is the officer assigned to this case.

There is no Amber alert because it is assumed that she left on her own will. If you have any information that would indicate otherwise, please notify the Pasadena TX Police Department at once.

You can also call Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

 

 

Photos removed per SWB request

[Twigs]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

[emzhengjiu]

Praying for her safe return.  We live in the Dallas metroplex and will be alert for her.

[bobbeym]

Any ideas on how to get an Amber Alert issued if the teen is considered a runaway?

[Catwoman]

Any updates? I hope she has been found and that she's OK.

[Melissa in Australia]

:grouphug:

[bobbeym]

No, nothing to update.   Her assistant principal went to the school yesterday to review security tapes hoping to see the vehicle she got into so they can issue an Amber Alert. Without vehicle information, they won't issue one.

 

Family and friends are working hard to get as many flyers out in as many places as possible.  We've got 1 person that got it out to all the Chic-Fil-A's in TX, and 2 more that got them into the hands of truck drivers.

 

My heart breaks for her family. We had an instance a couple years ago where DS15 didn't come home from school; he was missing for about 4-5 hours. I can't even begin to imagine how crazed I'd feel if he'd been missing a full week. :crying:

[Catwoman]

Are the police actively looking for her? Have they gone through her computer and cell phone records to try to identify the man they think she may be with? Is there a GPS on her cell phone?

[gaillardia]

I don't understand how a teenager can be missing, without parental permission, and there is no Amber Alert because there is no vehicle to identify.

Can you tell us more? I could post flyers because I am in Texas also. She could be anywhere.

[QueenCat]

I don't understand how a teenager can be missing, without parental permission, and there is no Amber Alert because there is no vehicle to identify.

Can you tell us more? I could post flyers because I am in Texas also. She could be anywhere.

 

There are very specific guidelines for issuing Amber Alerts, for very good reasons. Below are the guidelines from the US Dept of Justice Website:

 

Every successful AMBER plan contains clearly defined activation criteria. The following guidance is designed to achieve a uniform, interoperable network of plans across the country, and to minimize potentially deadly delays because of confusion among varying jurisdictions. The following are criteria recommendations:

 

Law Enforcement Confirms an Abduction

AMBER plans require law enforcement to confirm an abduction prior to issuing an alert. This is essential when determining the level of risk to the child. Clearly, stranger abductions are the most dangerous for children and thus are primary to the mission of an AMBER Alert. To allow activations in the absence of significant information that an abduction has occurred could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness. At the same time, each case must be appraised on its own merits and a judgment call made quickly. Law enforcement must understand that a “best judgment†approach, based on the evidence, is appropriate and necessary.

 

Risk of Serious Bodily Injury or Death

Plans require a child be at risk for serious bodily harm or death before an alert can be issued. This element is clearly related to law enforcement’s recognition that stranger abductions represent the greatest danger to children. The need for timely, accurate information based on strict and clearly understood criteria is critical, again keeping in mind the “best judgment†approach.

 

Sufficient Descriptive Information

For an AMBER Alert to be effective in recovering a missing child, the law enforcement agency must have enough information to believe that an immediate broadcast to the public will enhance the efforts of law enforcement to locate the child and apprehend the suspect. This element requires as much descriptive information as possible about the abducted child and the abduction, as well as descriptive information about the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle. Issuing alerts in the absence of significant information that an abduction has occurred could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness.

 

Age of Child

Every state adopt the “17 years of age or younger†standard; or, at a minimum, agree to honor the request of any other state to issue an AMBER Alert, even if the case does not meet the responding state’s age criterion, as long as it meets the age criterion of the requesting state. Most AMBER plans call for activation of the alert for children under a certain age. The problem is that age can vary---some plans specify 10, some 12, some 14, 15, and 16. Differences in age requirements create confusion when an activation requires multiple alerts across states and jurisdictions. Overuse of the AMBER Alert system will undermine its effectiveness as a tool for recovering abducted children.

 

NCIC Data Entry

Immediately enter AMBER Alert data into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.  Text information describing the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the child should be entered, and the case flagged as a Child Abduction. Many plans do not mandate entry of the data into NCIC, but this omission undermines the entire mission of the AMBER Alert initiative. The notation on the entry should be sufficient to explain the circumstances of the disappearance of the child. Entry of the alert data into NCIC expands the search for an abducted child from the local, state, or regional level to the national. This is a critical element of any effective AMBER Alert plan.

[bobbeym]

Cathie, thank you for sharing the Amber Alert info.  You are correct in that right now, there simply isn't enough info available to put out an Amber Alert with. :(  They believe she's with a man named Josh something-or-other (I can't remember) that she met on the Kik messenger app and called her boyfriend.  Apparently he was supposed to pick her up from school on Friday, but he didn't meet her at the school - she walked several blocks away to a local business.  The businesses have been questioned but employees and security video don't show anything of use from what I've heard. She did not have her phone with her, has not logged into facebook, twitter, or any other social media site, and has not been in contact with anyone since she disappeared.

 

The local PDs are very actively involved in the case and are investigating every potential tip as a serious lead.  Deer Park ISD sent out an automated call informing students and parents of the situation and asking for help.  That actually did get some calls in with some information, but it's still not enough.  

 

Link to open FB group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/231302290383538/

Link to PDF Missing Person flyer - https://www.dropbox.com/s/xzvyanomnh7xskl/Victoria%20Jackson%20Missing.pdf?fb=1

 

We've gotten it broadcast locally on Fox26Houston and ABC13, but none of the other stations have picked it up that I'm aware of.  I do know some of our friends have sent info to news stations in Dallas and other cities, but I don't know if they're broadcasting the info or not.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=rS4FXgXYsfiXYFcpkBhWHg&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dl1VLWLMF3Sk%26feature%3Dshare 

[Trish]

The guy she might be with was "supposed to pick her up?"

 

I don't understand what that means. According to whom?

 

Did the parents expect him to pick her up, the girl herself, and how would anyone know that?

[bobbeym]

A few of her school friends told the police that Victoria had told them her boyfriend was picking her up at XYZ store after school, which dismissed early that day for winter break.  XYZ store, however, doesn't have outside security coverage and isn't close enough to the stores that do have outside security to give any view of the car she got into.  The info they can find for same-named guys on the Kik app don't match the info that Victoria told her friends about him, which makes many of us (including her parents) think he deleted his profile. IMO, it sounds like a well planned, well scoped out abduction by a predator.   

[Starr]

:grouphug: Oh my, oh my. Praying for recovery!

[Catwoman]

Wow, this is really scary! Are the police investigating the archives of the messenger app? Even if the guy deleted his profile, his information should still be accessible to the authorities, and hopefully they can trace him through his ISP.

[Cinder]

A few of her school friends told the police that Victoria had told them her boyfriend was picking her up at XYZ store after school, which dismissed early that day for winter break.  XYZ store, however, doesn't have outside security coverage and isn't close enough to the stores that do have outside security to give any view of the car she got into.  The info they can find for same-named guys on the Kik app don't match the info that Victoria told her friends about him, which makes many of us (including her parents) think he deleted his profile. IMO, it sounds like a well planned, well scoped out abduction by a predator.   

 

This is just what I was thinking as I read this update. :crying:

[bobbeym]

Wow, this is really scary! Are the police investigating the archives of the messenger app? Even if the guy deleted his profile, his information should still be accessible to the authorities, and hopefully they can trace him through his ISP.

 

The police are trying to track ISP information but there isn't much to go on. She didn't have her phone and was using her friends' phones to talk to him.  Kik Messenger uses usernames, not phone numbers, so it can be used on the PC. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any age verification or teen security features, is based out of Canada, and looks to be commonly used as a dating app.

 

We're finally starting to get some media coverage. Her parents talked with 2 TV stations earlier today.  Friends are working to get flyers posted anywhere possible and into the hands of truck drivers throughout the area.  That's at least one good thing about living near the Port of Houston. There certainly isn't a lack of truck drivers to help us spread the word.  We're emailing flyers and posting them on station pages on FB for all major Texas cities hoping it'll get picked up and start to get some major media coverage.  Someone's brother is printing up t-shirts with her info on them and someone else started a 24-hour prayer chain.  In in a not-funny-way, it's funny b/c our pastor always talks about how our church "does Life together" (that also being the name of the church) and right now it's very obvious that that is exactly what is going on.

 

It's just really frustrating to see a plethora of media coverage for missing 20-something woman in Houston and nearly nothing at all for a missing 16 year old. :cursing: 

[bobbeym]

We had a prayer vigil tonight with a reporter from Fox26 Houston in attendance.  You can view it at the 09:51:00 mark on the myfoxhouston website.

 

Slowly getting media coverage on Victoria's case but not really any new info to go on, or at least nothing confirmed.   We do have a website now http://www.helpfindvictoria.com/ along with the FB group.

 

Her parents have asked that flyers, photos, and info continue to be shared and for prayer.

 

ETA another link to FOX's 5pm broadcast today. 

[Catwoman]

We do have a website now http://helpfindvictoria.com/  

 

Your link isn't working for me, Bobbey. I was able to find the website by typing it directly into my browser, though.

 

I keep watching this thread, hoping you'll post that she has been found and that she wasn't taken by a predator. 

 

I can't even imagine what her family is going through, and I'm too scared to imagine what may have happened to her. :(

[bobbeym]

I fixed the link Cat.   I think at this point, family and friends presume she was taken by a predator, even if she went willingly.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

oh man how awful....hoping/praying for good news soon.......

[Live2Ride]

My heart just hurts for her parents and for her.  It has been very difficult to keep my teen safe online since she refused to follow our safety rules. I constantly worry about this very thing...

 

Many prayers here.

[unsinkable]

Bumping this for Victoria, who AKAIK is still missing.

 

The woman Bobbey has mentioned below, Melissa Sowders, has been found murdered and her ex-husband charged. I can't explain why some missing get more attention. I know in this case, she was last seen with her ex and maybe that made it more enticing a story for the media?

 

I just read a little blurb in my local paper about a 14 yo local girl who has been missing since Nov. 14. No picture, no description. Just call police if you've seen her. It makes me crazy.

 

 

 

It's just really frustrating to see a plethora of media coverage for missing 20-something woman in Houston and nearly nothing at all for a missing 16 year old. :cursing:

[bobbeym]

PRAISE THE LORD!!  VICTORIA IS SAFE!!!!

 

01/04/2013 @ 2:20 AM
I've been asked by James and Bernice Jackson to share the following news.

On Friday evening, January 3, 2013, Victoria's parent's received word that Victoria had been found near Dallas, Texas. Her parents left immediately and flew to the Dallas area. They are now reunited with their daughter.

Victoria is alive and well!

Due to the sensitive nature of her disappearance there is information surrounding her disappearance that will not be made public. Out of respect for the family, and especially for Victoria, PLEASE provide the family with some privacy. When the time comes for more details to be released, James or Bernice will be the ones sharing that information. Please do not press them for answers at this time as this is still a difficult time.

As for now, pray for their safe return. Pray for restoration. Pray for healing.

Now, PRAISE GOD!

[maize]

So glad to know she is safe!