HOUSTON — For years, the parents of missing children company that the term "runaway" has held back law enforcement efforts to find their kids. But now, with a better understanding of child trafficking, some of that appears to be changing.
Last month, KHOU 11 News followed a new Harris County task force designated to locate reported runaway kids.
The sheriff’s office said it's working, but some parents of missing kids said that for them, it's too late.
Tracking the missing
“Sheriff’s office. Open the door,” a deputy said as he knocked on a location where a runaway teen was last seen.
The deputies were part of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Runaway Rescue Operation, which is focused on finding missing kids between the ages 12 and 17.
They had a long list of names and deputies said they were hopeful that they could find as many as they could ahead of the start of the school year.
“So, you haven’t heard anything from her?” a deputy asked one missing girl’s mother.
“No, I have not,” the mother said.
Her daughter, 14-year-old Tyrianna Chambers, was reported missing on July 22.
“So, you don’t know if she’s staying with somebody or there’s somewhere we can go look for her?” HCSO Deputy Teresita Castro said.
“I don’t want nobody to hurt my baby,” the mother said.
“I got you,” another deputy said. “That’s why we’re out here.”
Investigators said they thought the teen was likely in a bad situation.
“We have reason to believe she may be in communication or staying with an adult male,” Castro said. “She is 14 years old and this male is possibly in his 30s. We don’t know the relationship yet. And we don’t have any more information such as names or a description, we just have a possible vehicle.”
Without any leads, all deputies could do was update her missing person’s report.
Tyrianna Chambers’ name remained on the list.
And then, it was off to the next one.
Mother's pain
A few days later, KHOU 11 met with the mother of Kristen Galvan, whose daughter was first reported missing in 2019.
“There’s absolutely no leads on my daughter. It’s just complete silence,” Robyn Cory said.
Perhaps nobody knows the depth of a mother’s pain better than her.
“We’re still searching for her,” Cory said. “We have no new leads.”
Cory stood outside of the federal courthouse in downtown Houston flanked by a group of supporters. Some of them held signs with Kristen’s picture. Inside the courthouse, one of Kristen’s traffickers pleaded guilty to sex trafficking crimes.
“No victims are missing other than my daughter,” Cory said.
Kristen left her family’s home in the spring of 2019.
Houston police found the 15-year-old on the stretch of Bissonnet in southwest Houston that is notorious for prostitution, known as the “Track.” The teen was being sold for sex by a woman and her son.
“He had 12 victims locked in a house here in Houston,” Cory said. “And he would traffic them on Bissonnet Street. And they had to make upwards of $1,000 to $1,500 a day, and if they didn’t, he’d use beatings, not feeding them, you know, just assault if they didn’t meet their quotas.”
Kristen returned home, but after two weeks in January of 2020, the teen left home a second time.
Deputies said it's common.
She was never seen or heard from again.
“I had all the passwords, I thought I was taking control, but these predators know how to get in and how to lure them in,” Cory said.
She said she believes the grooming started at school.
“Come with us, come party with us,” Cory said other students would tell her daughter. “There were paid recruiters in her high school. And also via Instagram. It came out in court (that) Instagram was a big pull in her grooming process.”
At the time Kristen went missing, there was no task force dedicated to finding missing kids. In fact, the word “runaway” made it hard for Cory to get anyone to take her daughter’s disappearance seriously.
“They thought she was a runaway, but in fact, she was not,” Cory said. “And I begged, I pleaded, I begged them for an Amber Alert and they wouldn’t give it to me. We could’ve had Kristen within 24 hours.”
Getting results
In February, Aryion Jackson, who used the name “Yung Corleone” when he was creating rap music, was convicted of sex trafficking of minors with force. Kristen was one of his victims.
Tasheika Bush, Jackson’s mother, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking-related charges in August. Bush was released on bond until her sentencing in November.
“This will be our fourth conviction for Kristen,” Cory said.
In addition to new operations, like the runaway task force, other methods are being used to fight the child sex trade in Houston, as well.
Shutting down the Track
The Houston Police Department said it has made significant progress cracking down on prostitution happening on the Track since officers started barricading and shutting side streets after dark a few months ago.
Local business owners along Bissonnet are also touting the success of the operation.
Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the results of a Homeland Security Investigations operation that focused on the Bissonnet Track in early September.
Federal agents said they were able to arrest and charge 10 suspected child sex traffickers and rescue nine children who were being sold for sex.
Cory said she's skeptical efforts like these will put an end to the city’s child sex trade.
“Because they put up barricades on Bissonnet Street, they just moved it,” Cory said. “And made it harder for us, the people who are trying to find the children.”
She said there are still plenty of runaway victims still out there, and still plenty of places to look for them.
“They’ve scattered now,” Cory said. “West Belfort, Airline, you have all your hot spots. Kirby by the stadium. It’s a constant 24/7, 365, it never stops.”