HOUSTON — Houston police and the Texas Center for the Missing are searching for a woman who was last seen last week and was reported missing by concerned family members.
Deundrea Ford, 21, was last seen Thursday in east Houston off I-10 near Federal Road. She's described as being about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 170 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair.
Family members are asking for help. They said Deundra hadn't been seen since she left an east Houston bikini bar where she worked. They said she left with an unknown man.
The bar manager said they tell employees to not leave with the men they meet inside.
Family members said Deundra had only worked at Diva's Bikini Sports Bar and Grill for a few weeks. It's the last place anyone saw her.
"I just hope that if anyone has her they release her and let her come home. We just want her home," Deundra's grandmother, Bridgette Carriere, said.
They said they knew something was wrong when Deundra went days without contacting her 4-year-old son.
"I'm confident that something's not right. This is not her normal behavior," her uncle, Kevin Carriere, said.
They saw surveillance video from the night she went missing. The bar manager said it was turned over to police.
Family members said it showed Deundra leaving the bar with a man and getting into a van in the parking lot with him after the bar closed. They stayed in the van for more than an hour.
"She entered the vehicle with him. Whether she left with him willingly or unwillingly that's something that we can't answer," Kevin Carriere said.
One of Deundra's friends missed a call from her around 2 a.m. Friday. Later that day, her phone had been turned off and their calls went straight to voicemail. They said it has been off ever since then.
"Her phone has not been powered back on. There's been no reception and no direct contact with her," Kevin Carriere said.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the Houston Police Department missing persons desk at 832-394-1840 and/or HPD patrol at 713-884-3131.
What to do when someone goes missing
Thousands of people go missing every year across the United States, and there are organizations and law enforcement agencies that work to bring them home to loved ones.
The Texas Center for the Missing is an organization with Houston roots that works to educate loved ones and authorities on finding the lost.
From resources that deal with missing children to endangered adults, the nonprofit organization has compiled a wealth of resources to help.
There is no 24-hour waiting period required to report a person missing, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.