HOUSTON — The father of a 24-year-old woman who disappeared on April 15 is pleading for help finding her. He is worried something bad has happened to Felicia Marie Johnson after her bloody cell phone was found near Bear Creek Park in West Houston.
Felicia, who also used the name Felivia Marie, was last seen at the Cover Girls Night Club at 10310 W. Little York Road, where she applied for a job. According to community activist Quanell X, an unidentified customer offered to give her a ride after her Uber was running late. Felicia hasn't been seen or heard from since.
"No cell phone activity, no credit card activity, no social media activity, she has absolutely just vanished off the face of the earth," Quanell said Wednesday at a news conference.
Felicia's father flew in from California to help with the search.
"She was a beautiful loving person just like my mom, rest in Peace," Kevin Johnson said.
The family says Felicia was in Houston to celebrate her 24th birthday and to make some extra money.
"I can't put it into words. I'm trying to hold myself together and not break down," Kevin said. "I don't know where my baby is or what's been done to her."
After not hearing from Felicia, the family called police and hired a private investigator, who the family says found her cell phone about 15 minutes away from the club.
"That cell phone was found discarded on the side of the road at Bear Creek Park," Quanell said. "And the phone was covered in blood."
Texas EquuSearch spent hours Tuesday scouring the area where Felicia's phone was found. Detectives from the Houston Police Department were at the park, as well, talking to Felicia's family.
"I'm trying to hold myself together and stay strong for the family and for you," said Kevin in a message to his daughter. "And I won't rest for a day in my life until I have you back."
"We want Felicia to know the community is looking for you," said Quanell X. "We are turning over every stone. We'll leave no door unlocked or unopened until we find where you are."
Quanell said the family called police and told them about the cell phone but they initially dragged their feet on the case.
"We believe that she is a victim of foul play. We believe that she is being held against her will," Quanell said. "We want whoever is holding her to know that we will not rest, we will not stop looking, we will continue looking for her and we will continue hunting for you."
Felicia is around 5'4 and about 150 pounds with rose and butterfly tattoos on her right shoulder. She has brown eyes and black hair. Felicia is Black or Black Hispanic with a dark complexion. Police currently do not have a description of her clothing at the time of her disappearance.
Quanell said they're hoping Cover Girls has surveillance videos that could help identify the man Felicia was seen leaving with.
"HPD has to take these cases more seriously. This is the fourth one I've dealt with in six months of a missing African American female," Quanell said. "And in every one of those cases of a missing African American female, HPD has dragged its feet and they did not do anything until I began to go public."
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He said they want HPD to treat missing Black women cases with the same urgency as missing White women.
"We need that same level of attention and priority like you give the young White females. We want equality from HPD in how you deal with these cases," Quanell said.
Anyone with any information on her disappearance is asked to call the Houston Police Patrol at (713) 884-3131 or the Houston Police Missing Persons Division at (832) 394-1840.
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Resources when loved ones are 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 non-profit 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.