SPRING, Texas — The mother of Kristen Galvan, a 15-year-old who vanished in 2020, was honored Monday at Houston City Hall for her ongoing mission to raise awareness about trafficking.
Mayor John Whitmire and Councilmember Mary Nan Huffman presented Robyn Cory with a proclamation.
"Tomorrow will be Kristen's 20th birthday," Cory said at the ceremony. "She'll be forever 15 in our hearts until she's home."
Kristen's case was featured in the Paramount Plus series "Never Seen Again" in 2023.
When Kristen went missing in 2019, her family was able to get her back after she was found on the Bissonnet Track, a notorious stretch of road on the southwest side known as a hotspot for human trafficking and prostitution.
"Kristen was not the same child when we recovered her," Robyn Cory told KHOU 11 in December 2022.
Several days later, Kristen disappeared again. Her mother believes she's being trafficked again and said it's agony knowing what she's going through.
"I really thought child trafficking or human trafficking existed in poor countries. I never imagined this happening in America, let alone my own backyard," Cory said. "These monsters literally groomed and lured my child out of our home."
Law enforcement has cracked down on human trafficking in recent years and several traffickers have been convicted and sent to prison. City leaders also credit barriers installed along the Bissonnet Track last year with ending prostitution in the area.
Cory said she will continue to fight for change in honor of her daughter.
"Kristen was a light in our lives and she continues to shine her light on the deep dark world of human trafficking," Cory said. "It's slavery, it's modern-day slavery."
If you have any information about Kristen's whereabouts, contact the FBI Houston Field Office at 713-693-5000.
WATCH: Houston nurse, human trafficking survivor on how it happens
