Missing 8-year-old Trinity County girl found safe in Colorado; Texas Amber Alert canceled
A statewide Texas Amber Alert was canceled Thursday morning after a missing Trinity County girl was found safe in Colorado, officials said.
Haven Barker, 8, was reported missing Tuesday after being last seen at 8 a.m. in the 200 block of Arneson Lane in Coldspring, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Coldspring is about 230 miles southeast of Fort Worth.
Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said Thursday that the investigation into Haven’s safety started Monday when his office received a request to check her welfare. The caller said Haven had told Child Protective Services about some illegal activities at her house. Wallace did not specify what those activities were.
Investigators called Haven’s school and learned she hadn’t been back in class since she talked to CPS. Her parents had tried to withdraw her from school, Wallace said.
“The school was concerned, friends were concerned, and then ultimately law enforcement is now concerned because we’re involved,” Wallace said in a video update posted to social media on Thursday.
Family members in San Jacinto County told authorities that Charles Estep, the boyfriend of Haven’s biological mother, tried to leave her at their house. When they said no, Estep left some of Haven’s belongings at the end of their driveway and left with her, the sheriff said.
“The child had been seen another time in Trinity County, but then everybody disappeared,” Wallace said.
Officers visited Haven’s house to check on her several times, but nobody was home, Wallace said. They obtained a search warrant and found that the adults’ belongings were gone and the house had been abandoned in a hurry. Haven’s things were still at the house but she wasn’t there.
Authorities issued the Amber Alert on Wednesday. Wallace said calls started to come in from people in Colorado who had seen the suspect’s vehicle, a 2015 black Honda Accord with Texas license plate number PYS4575.
Colorado law enforcement officers tracked the car to a motel Thursday and found Haven with Estep and her mother, Tamara Barker. They took Estep into custody on a parole violation and left Haven in her mother’s custody after CPS determined she wasn’t in any immediate danger, Wallace said.
“Thanks to all those that watched the Amber Alert and were alert and did see this vehicle on the road and then reported it to us,” he said.
Wallace said officials will continue to investigate what led to Haven’s abduction and do all they can to make sure she remains safe.
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This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 5:06 PM.
