12-Year-Old and 13-Year-Old Girls Go Missing in Texas

Two girls have gone missing in Texas after vanishing on their way to the bus stop on the morning of Feb. 26.

Mary Tran Le, 13, and Tianny Granja, 12, disappeared while walking to the stop in the Wilcrest Park neighborhood of Houston.

Family members said they’re worried that the girls are participating in the so-called 48-hour challenge, where children try to go into hiding for 48 hours, officials told KTRK on Feb. 28.

Both of their phones are off. The challenge includes staying off social media platforms.

Mary is described as 4’11”, weighing 65 pounds, with black hair with brown tips and brown eyes. She has an olive complexion and pierced ears.

Tianny is described as 5’3″, weighing 120 pounds, with brown hair with red tips and brown eyes.

Both girls are sixth-grade students at Owens Intermediate School.

Deputies Searching for 16-Year-Old

Sheriff’s deputies in South Carolina are searching for a 16-year-old girl who went missing earlier in February.

Adonelle Childs was last seen about two weeks ago, Kershaw County deputies told WLTX. Investigators said she has a history of running away but is typically only gone for a day or two, so this instance has triggered a search.

A nationwide amber alert has not been sent out as of yet.

Adonelle is described as a white female with long brown hair standing 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 110 pounds.

No other information was shared by the sheriff’s office. Anyone with information was asked to call the office at 803-425-1512.

Missing Children

There were 464,324 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2017, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. In 2016, there were 465,676 entries.

“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center noted.

In 2017, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 27,000 missing children. In those cases, 91 percent were endangered runaways, and 5 percent were family abductions. About one in seven children reported missing to the center in 2017 were likely victims of child sex trafficking.

Nancy McBride, the executive director of Florida Outreach at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said that most of the runaways involve technology. “(Technology) has great benefits and some potential risks,” McBride told USA Today in 2017. “It’s important to stay plugged into their lives.”

Tech is utilized by online predators, McBride said, who exploit gaps when the child’s relationship with their parents isn’t strong.