HOUSTON — The Texas Center for the Missing's annual event marked a 10-year milestone in helping search for the thousands missing in Southeast Texas.
The annual "Missing in Southeast Texas" event brings families and resources together under one roof to find answers and possibly closure.
Grief has a way of latching on and it's a feeling that's hard to shake.
"It's been like a nightmare that’s how you sum it all up," said Reginea Modest. Her brother Jon'al White has been missing for nearly a year.
But it's part of what pushes one family to "Pray Until Something Happens."
"I get up each day like the shirts is PUSH. I’m pushing my way through," said his mother, Regina White.
Jon'al White's family last heard from him in June 2023, shortly after taking a bus ride from Ruston, Louisiana to Houston to search for a job and relocate. The days since have been slow and painful.
"Sometimes in my desk, I may break down. It’s hard. I just want to sling everything off the desk," said White.
This family is one of many hoping to find loved ones who've gone missing. For 10 years, the Texas Center for the Missing has partnered with multiple agencies to provide support under one roof at the "Missing in Southeast Texas Day."
“Don’t give up you have to advocate. You are the advocate for your missing loved one," said Melissa Rangel with the Texas Center for the Missing.
A host of agencies filled the Children's Assessment Center, providing a range of services icluding voluntary DNA collection, the gathering and sharing of missing persons reports. They even offered dental record collection and forensic sketches.
"Not like him at all and that’s what worries us most is not knowing because that’s not him at all to not call his family especially my mom," said Modest.
Right now, The Texas Center for the Missing says 478 unidentified people are buried in the Harris County cemetery. Data collection here may help identify someone there or add to the evidence as searches move forward.
In their hearts, this family is holding onto prayer and hope he hears this message.
"We want him to come home. He don’t even got to come home. Just call us because we miss you," Modest said.