Texas Center for the Missing

Texas Center for the Missing, a 501c3 missing persons organization, was formed in March of 2000 after the disappearance of 17-year-old Gabriel Lester who was reported missing from his private high school. Gabriel's mother, a Houston-area businesswoman, decided after his body was located four months later to turn her tragedy into a positive effort that would have an impact on missing children and their families in the Greater Houston area. Texas Center for the Missing is committed to keeping children safe via education and outreach; finding them quickly if they are missing through the Amber Alert program and partnerships with volunteers and law enforcement; as well as helping survivors and their families deal with the aftermath of these traumatic events by offering resources and aftercare options. To that end, Texas Center for the Missing advocates a coordinated continuum of services for prevention, recovery, and reunification support to address missing persons issues.

In 1999, my husband and I received the call that every parent dreads: 17-year-old Gabe was missing from his school, and no one could find him. In the following four months we searched for Gabe. We kept thinking there had to be resources for parents to access during the worst, most fearful moments of their lives. We found there were precious few. It became evident very early that we were on our own. The police had virtually no resources for the search and rescue of a missing child. They wanted to help, but had too many cases and too little help. Somehow a missing 17 year old wasn't newsworthy! But once we finally convinced the press to cover the story, a few search teams came forward to help. But there were no coordinated efforts whatsoever. We bought billboard space, worked with teams searching by water, air, and land while others rappelled down cliffs. We hired a string of investigators of varying degrees of skill. We found absolutely no one who could advise us how to proceed -- all they said was: "go home, he will turn up." I don't know many parents who would think that advice was responsive in the least! Finally, we found our child's body and our lives changed forever. It is naive to think that life ever returns to normal. However, we did have choices about how things could be improved going forward. We resolved that no other parent should have to endure the catastrophic worry of a lost child alone and without resources. And that is how Texas Center for the Missing (formerly known as Gabriel's Gifts) came to be. We have built collaborative relationships between willing, skilled search teams and law enforcement. Where once they were skeptical of each other, they now partner. This benefits families and children. Texas Center for the Missing administers the nation's strongest regional Amber Alert System. Our training model is nationally recognized. The Amber Alert in our 14-county region is responsible for the safe recovery of over 100 children with a safe recovery rate of 95%! Concerned citizens are passionate about helping these families and we are honored by our association. Texas Center for the Missing provides child identification kits for parents should their child ever be lost. We do extensive community education of children to help them be aware, to prevent their being abducted, and to know what to do if they are. There is much more we need to do and we need your help! You are invited to help Texas Center for the Missing in our mission. I would be grateful for your participation and your support. Thank you. Doreen James Wise (Founder)