Amber alert issued for missing 13-year-old in Houston
Luz Maria Urquidez-Palacios, 13, was last seen in Houston on May 12. Call Precinct 4 at 281-376-3472 or NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678.
Authorities are asking Houston residents to help find Luz Maria Urquidez-Palacios, a 13-year-old girl who was last seen May 12, 2026, in Houston, Texas. Anyone with information should call Harris County Constable’s Office Precinct 4 at 281-376-3472 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
The poster for Luz Maria Urquidez-Palacios identifies her as female and lists her as 13 years old. The alert is now being pushed through the channels that matter most in Harris County, where school pickup lines, neighborhood group chats, faith communities and precinct-level law enforcement can move information fast when a child disappears.
NCMEC says families should immediately contact local law enforcement if a child is missing, then call its 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST, or 1-800-843-5678. The organization also advises families to ask police to enter the child into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Missing Person File, a step that can widen the search beyond the local area.
In Harris County, the sheriff’s office says there is no 24-hour waiting period to report a missing person. For children under 13, people with special needs, or other emergencies, callers should dial 911. The sheriff’s office says its Missing Persons/Runaways Section investigates missing-person, runaway and child custody cases across the county.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also maintains the Missing and Unidentified Persons Online Bulletin, a searchable state repository for missing persons and runaways in Texas. That database can help connect local reports with broader state tracking when a child is missing from Houston or anywhere else in Harris County.
Harris County’s law enforcement footprint is large enough to matter in cases like this. The sheriff’s office says it is the largest sheriff’s office in Texas and the third-largest in the nation, serving more than 4.1 million residents across 1,788 square miles and 41 incorporated municipalities. In a county that size, fast reporting and precise local information can make the difference between a lead and a lost hour.
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