THIS GIRL IS MISSING FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD :(

Alexandria Lowitzer, Ali to her friends, is an active 16-year-old who loves to text on her cell phone and play softball. She has been missing since April 26 after getting off the school bus near her home in Spring, TX.

SPRING , TX - Alexandria Lowitzer seems to have vanished without a trace.

No phone calls, no text messages, no good-bye letter to indicate she was upset and wanted to get away from things. No obvious reason, anyway, for her to be upset.

The last time anyone saw the 16-year-old teen from Spring, she was getting off the school bus April 26, only a few feet from her home on Low Ridge Road.

Since Saturday, May 1, the Laura Recovery Center for Missing Children, a non-profit organization based in Friendswood, has organized a massive onsite search effort that has so far drawn approximately 200 volunteers to comb the extensive wooded area behind the Lowitzer residence.

“We had a horse team out in the woods through the Greater Houston Search Dog Team, and they also brought a dog to do some tracking and trailing,” said Bob Walcutt, executive director of the Laura Recovery Center, which was contacted by Ali’s family. “So far we have nothing to hang our hat on. We had some tips, different leads, but nothing concrete.”

The Houston Police Mounted Patrol covered a large portion of the wooded expanse, assisting Precinct 4 Constable’s deputies and Harris County Sheriff’s officials in the recovery effort, Walcutt said, and two men volunteered to search the area on ATVs.

“We’re literally covering areas where someone could take a person, commit a crime and [leave] them - large wooded areas, ponds, creeks,” he said. “Around here, there are a lot of places like that and so far we have found nothing. We’re still no further along than we were on the first day.”

RUNAWAY - OR NOT?

Walcutt said his organization generally doesn’t get involved in runaway cases, which was still the current status assigned to Ali’s disappearance by law enforcement as of Friday.

“If we knew for sure this was a runaway, we would not be physically here right now,” he explained. “But Alexandria apparently lives on her phone, uses her text messaging all the time. When she left, everything stopped once she got off that bus. Everything. There has been no activity on that phone since then, which leads to the possibility that something may have happened to her at that point.”

Shaye Vaught is a friend of the Lowitzer family. Her own daughter and Ali are good friends, and over the years Ali had become a part of Vaught’s family as well.

“I love Ali to death; she’s like a third daughter to me,” she said. “She used to be in my Girl Scout troop, and it was nothing to have Ali come in the door behind my daughters after school and stay for dinner.”

Vaught, who volunteered at the Laura Recovery camp all week long, described Ali as a good kid, very sweet - a kid who would never run away to leave everything, and everyone, she loves behind. Those who know the teen say for her to miss her softball team’s season tournament and her best friend’s 16th birthday party is out of character.

“She’s a teenage girl, sure, but she’s not in any way a troublemaker,” she explained. “She was very excited about her job at Burger Barn. I think she really liked the work. She constantly called them to pick up extra shifts.”

In fact, officials believe Ali was on her way to pick up her paycheck from work, only half a mile from her home, after she got off the school bus.

Vaught said law enforcement could dedicate more resources to the search for Ali if her status were updated to “endangered.”

“It’s disheartening that she’s still listed as a runaway,” she said. “It would step things up a notch.”

Walcutt said law enforcement continues to conduct its investigation and at this time there is no hard evidence that foul play is involved. At the same time, he said, the complete lack of activity on Ali’s cell phone was enough to convince the Laura Recovery Center to get involved.

“My best hope is that she is a runaway,” he said. “In that case, she can come home and be safe and well. If she’s not a runaway, then all bets are off. In 99 out of 100 cases, everything turns out fine, but it’s that one percent that’s worrisome. Bad things do happen.”

www.LRCF.org
There is also information on the Laura recovery site. www.LRCF.org" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.LRCF.org" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/l/5969b;www.LRCF.org and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) web site.
Contact Information:
LAURA RECOVERY CENTER
906 Anna Lane Friendswood, TX 77546
Toll Free Phone : 866-898-5723
Phone : 281-482-LRCF(5723)
Toll Free Fax : 888-268-0573
Fax : 281-482-5727

Missing Since: April 26, 2010 at 15:00 Missing From: Low Ridge Road Sex: Female Height: 5 ft. 2 in. Weight: 145 lbs Eye Color: Hazel Hair Color: Auburn Race: Caucasian Birth Date: February 3, 1994 Age: 16 Braces on Upper & Lower Teeth Distinguishing Marks: Faint scar from chicken pox between her eyes

WHAT THE F'K? All her cell acitivity stopped and they thing she's a runaway? They are nuckin futs. April 26 was almost a month ago for gosh sakes. I hope they step up the efforts.

I wished they would change the rules.All these kids are missing and they're being classified as runaways because there is "no evidence" of foul play.I think if a kid is missing it should always be investigated as a crime.The volunteers are searching for her.The police is not.
She was going to pick up her pay check at Burger Barn which is diagonally across from my apartements.
It's a very shady place.She lives only about 5 houses down behind the Burger Barn.
It's scary.Cici and her friends walk down that street all the time.
There's also 86 registered sex offenders in a 20 mile radius of my apartements.They're not even questioning anyone.

OMG that is horrible. Keep us posted. Have you posted this on WS? It might get some people irritated enough to put pressure on the local police department you know? I know the "average WS" can be irritating at times but sometimes the squeeky wheels can make a difference in a positive direction.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106227709421279&v=wall&ref=search
Someone started a help find Alexandria Lowitzer page. I typed her name into google and a lot of news articles came up but they all essentially say the same thing. No one knows what happened. I hope the police are working on this more than it is being reported.

Thank you for posting that Scott,it's her best friends page,cici knows her and is a friend there.Her parents are very active on that page.I wrote a letter to her mom about what I saw at the Buger Barn...the parents are doing their own investigation ,the Laura recovery is helping...I don'teven know why we have cops in that area other than for writng traffic tickets...before I left one time Cici's dad had one of his psychotic episodes and destroyed everything,literally everything in our house,Cici and her friend were locked in the bathroom,I called 911 6 times,a cop showed up 2 hours later when cici's dad was long gone and only asked who's name the house was under,it was both,so he told me that was his right.I asked what right I had to protect my daughter and myself ,he shrugged his shoulders and said "you have the right to leave" I said "thank you"...he didn't even write a report...
in the rich neighborhood where I work I call the cops frequently because of little incidents in the hotel.About 9 of them show up each time no more than 5 minutes later.I bet if Ali was missing from there they would be investigating.Here's the newest article about her.So Burger Barn closed early that night.....
oh and Ziggy they do have a small thread on Websleuths about her,there's just no information......


Spring parents still waiting for their missing teen to call





By RENÉE C. LEE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE


May 18, 2010, 10:31PM



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Karen Warren Chronicle


John and JoAnn Lowitzer are surrounded by “missing” posters and photos of their 16-year-old daughter, Alexandria, known as Ali.


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Sometimes while driving, John Lowitzer becomes so consumed with thoughts about his missing daughter that he mutters to himself, “Where are you?”






Then, before his emotions overwhelm him, he hears a little voice that says, “Daddy, I'm OK.”

“Those are the hard things,” said Lowitzer as he tried to hold back his tears. His wife, JoAnn Lowitzer, sitting next to him in their Spring home this week, reached for his hand.

Three weeks have passed since their 16-year-old daughter, Alexandria, went missing. She was last seen April 26, getting off a school bus at Knotting Post and Low Ridge Road about 3 p.m.

Alexandria, also known as Ali, hasn't made a call or sent a text from her cell phone, and no one has reported seeing anything suspicious that day, her parents said.

An exhaustive search over the weekend turned up no clues.

Ali's disappearance has left the Lowitzers feeling numb. Frustration has also settled in because law enforcement is not treating Ali as a missing person case.

The parents struggle each day to drown out fears of what might have happened to her and try to concentrate on what's most important — finding Ali unharmed.

“Yesterday, I was feeling a little down,” John said. “Every day that goes by is one day closer to finding her, but it's also one more day we're farther behind.”

The outpouring of community support and assistance from the Laura Recovery Center for Missing Children, which has organized ground searches, has helped them get through the long days. Hundreds of people have volunteered for searches and to pass out fliers. More than 3,000 people have befriended a Facebook page dedicated to locating Ali.

“If not for the Laura Recovery Center and the volunteers, I'd be lost,” John said. “They've been like a cornerstone.”
‘She's going to call'



Harris County sheriff's officials are investigating Ali's disappearance as a runaway case, but the Lowitzers do not believe she ran away. It wasn't her nature, they said.

“We know our daughter,” John said. “She's going to call someone.”

The Spring High School student did not take anything from her room. All she has with her is her multicolored checked backpack and the clothes she wore to school, he said.

The budding artist also had a lot of activities going on in her life. She had a softball tournament the week she went missing and a friend's birthday party, which she helped plan, that she was going to attend that weekend, her mother said.

But sheriff's officials said that without any evidence of foul play, there is no reason to believe that Ali did not leave on her own free will. The department does not have criteria to determine if a case is a runaway or missing person, said Harris County sheriff's spokeswoman Christina Garza.

“Each case is different and unique, especially when dealing with children,” Garza said. “It's even more challenging.”

John said he understands that police have to follow protocol, but if she was a missing person, her case would receive more attention.

“It's just a little frustrating,” said John, who wore a green and black ribbon pinned to his shirt. Green was Ali's favorite color.
Taking the bus home



On the morning of April 26, Ali appeared to be her normal self, JoAnn said. She was a little grouchy when she got up at her usual time about 6 a.m. She then rushed to dress, put on her black eyeliner, ate breakfast and got to the bus stop by 6:15 a.m.

JoAnn said she called Ali at school around 2:30 p.m. to check on her plans after school. Ali said she would catch the bus home and walk to her job at a burger joint near her home to get her paycheck.

JoAnn said she grew concerned when she had not heard from Ali later that evening. She sent her a couple of text messages but never received a reply.

“As it got closer to 9 p.m., the more curious I got about why she had not answered me,” she said.

She drove to the burger restaurant about 9:10 p.m., only to find it closed and empty. She called John, shouting hysterically, “She's gone! She's gone!”

“I didn't know what to think,” John said. “We both felt she would come home. We didn't know what to do.”

JoAnn called police about 11 p.m., and was told to wait a little while longer, she would come home.

“They never told me what to do if she didn't come home,” she said.
First week ‘was horrific'



By morning, they said they were in a panic and realized something was terribly wrong. Cell phone records show that Ali received her last call from her mother and sent her last text at 2:57 p.m., to a male friend, her mother said. The boy, who was later contacted by John, said he didn't know anything about her whereabouts, she said.

The first week of her disappearance was nearly unbearable, the Lowitzers said.

“It was horrific for me,” John said. “I had a huge knot in my stomach. I couldn't eat or sleep. As a parent all the fears go through your mind. All the what-ifs would tear me up.”

The Lowitzers have had to do a lot of detective work and publicity on their own. John hastily made a handwritten flier the day after she disappeared and later secured video camera footage from her school. They both also knocked on doors and posted information on social websites.

The Lowitzers are working on establishing a trust fund in Ali's name and a reward for information.

The parents are also each sending Ali a text message every night.

renee.lee@chron.com



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HOMICIDE DETECTIVES ARE WORKING THE CASE AS OF TODAY !

claudicici wrote:HOMICIDE DETECTIVES ARE WORKING THE CASE AS OF TODAY !

Why the change from "runaway" to "homicide?"

I don't know,maybe because they saw all the comments by the public outraged why this wasn't being investigated?...or maybe something else came up that actually makes them lean towards homicide?...either way I'm hoping this will help....

BURNED BODY FOUND IN EMC



Filed Sat, May 22, 2010 by Scott Engle

Local / Area News

A tip Friday afternoon led Montgomery County Detectives to a dirt road running to the west off the southbound feeder of US59 between Roman Forest ands FM1485.
The information they had was there was a dead body on the path. Detectives discovered a burned plastic trash can with the remains of what appears to be that of a female inside it. Judge Metts also arrived at the scene and ordered the body was taken to the Southwest Forensic Center in Conroe. Additional detectives arrived as did Harris County detectives and Houston Police. The Forensic Unit was also dispatched to the scene which started the almost ten hour investigation.
In the end Precinct Four Constable Rowdy Hayden took a suspect into custody. That suspect according to Montgomery County Detective Franklin is identified as 26 year old Robert Henton and is being held on a charge of Abuse of a Corpse.
Detectives braved the afternoon heat as they searched the entire area for evidence. A representative from the Montgomery County District Attorney was also present.
The case continues to be investigated.

I hope this isn't Ali,it's only about 15 miles north from us...anyways it's someone that should not have died that way.I'm surprised they have someone in custody.Someone must have seen him.

There has to be a lot of info that the police have that has not been released yet. I would guess they suspect him of more and are using the abuse of a corpse charge as a reason to hold him while they investigate further. It would be similar to when they charged McCroskey with the auto theft that no one really cared about. It was a charge they could articulate early on while they put the rest of the case together,.
Robert Henton is not in the TX sex offender database for what that is worth.

claudicici wrote:BURNED BODY FOUND IN EMC



Filed Sat, May 22, 2010 by Scott Engle

Local / Area News

A tip Friday afternoon led Montgomery County Detectives to a dirt road running to the west off the southbound feeder of US59 between Roman Forest ands FM1485.
The information they had was there was a dead body on the path. Detectives discovered a burned plastic trash can with the remains of what appears to be that of a female inside it. Judge Metts also arrived at the scene and ordered the body was taken to the Southwest Forensic Center in Conroe. Additional detectives arrived as did Harris County detectives and Houston Police. The Forensic Unit was also dispatched to the scene which started the almost ten hour investigation.
In the end Precinct Four Constable Rowdy Hayden took a suspect into custody. That suspect according to Montgomery County Detective Franklin is identified as 26 year old Robert Henton and is being held on a charge of Abuse of a Corpse.
Detectives braved the afternoon heat as they searched the entire area for evidence. A representative from the Montgomery County District Attorney was also present.
The case continues to be investigated.

I hope this isn't Ali,it's only about 15 miles north from us...anyways it's someone that should not have died that way.I'm surprised they have someone in custody.Someone must have seen him.

I hope it is not her either, but it is awfully close by.

There is a 17year old girl missing from Conroe ! I did not even know...she is presumed to be a runaway ,she's from Desmoines and her mom send her to live with her grandparents here in Conroe.According to her facebook she planned to runaway back to Desmoines.
I hope it's not her.Robert Henton is not a sex offender but he sure had a rap sheet.
Here's his little crime spree from 2009.
http://www.familybadge.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=News+1-2&search=&Startrow=4&MenuGroup=Home&NewsletterID=16185&&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
...they opened up an adult video store next to the Burger Barn today....not that I have anything against adult video stores but I think it's like a slap in the face that they would open that in a residential neighborhood within walking distance from 2 day care centers.The neighborhood is already saturated with sex offenders.There's a girl missing.It's like,what the hell....