Texas 15-Year-Old Girl Who Went Missing Found Safe in Louisiana
UPDATE: According to a Facebook post from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Heaven Ray Cox has been found safe.
The girl was found by police in a home in Louisiana owned by the relative of someone Heaven knew, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Preliminary reports are that Heaven left her residence last Saturday on her own accord, but we will continue to speak to all persons involved. We have not ruled out pending criminal charges,” the statement says.
Cox’s mom, Tammy Day Cox, posted a message to Facebook reading, in part, “Thanks to everybody for all you have done for one little girl, please don’t forget that there are others out there still missing.”
Heaven Ray Cox, 15, had been missing since Sunday, and “left a note saying she may be headed to California,” according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Her mother, Tammy Cox, wrote on Facebook Thursday evening that she had been located.
Police in Texas are calling on the public’s help in finding a missing 15-year-old girl who may have run away with a California man she met through a smartphone app, PEOPLE confirms.
On Nov. 26, the parents of Heaven Ray Cox found a note she had left in her room, indicating she was on her way to California, but with no explanation as to why she was going and how she would get there, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The note indicated she would not be reachable by phone.
Heaven, who is from Mauriceville, has brown eyes and blonde hair and stands 5 foot 3 inches tall. She weighs about 113 lbs. and has a piercing on the right side of her nose. She also occasionally wears a pair of large round rimmed, dark colored glasses.
Police have released few details about Heaven’s disappearance, but her mother, Tammy Cox, wrote in a Facebook post that the girl is in the company “of a man much older than her.”
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According to the distraught mother, Heaven’s friends told her she had “been talking to a grown man from California on Snapchat.”
Cox wrote that “the man she has been talking to is a predator, who has apparently been manipulating her for some time, and in her current state of mind, she believes that he is her friend.”
The mother says her daughter takes medication for bipolar disorder, but left her pills at home.
“I am asking everyone to share this to their wall, and particularly those who live in California and every state between there and Texas,” Cox wrote on Facebook. “This man told her that he would be in San Antonio for Thanksgiving and that he would pick her up.
Tammy Cox says he daughter “is petite and pretty, and will stand out in a crowd,” and believes Heaven “is in grave danger.”
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A statement from police says investigators are “working diligently to verify and confirm” that Heaven ran away with an older man who may be a predator, “and will actively pursue leads as they come available.”
Those who have any information about Heaven’s disappearance or her current whereabouts are asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at (409) 883-2612. Anonymous tips can be left at (409) 833-8477.
