Ashlee Hattermann, the 13-year-old runaway from Katy, Texas, has been found safe in Mexico, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said on Twitter late Sunday evening cooperation from authorities in Mexico helped to ensure the girl was found safe. HCSO also thanked the FBI San Antonio Laredo office for their help in the search.
BREAKING: Ashlee Hattermann, 13, has been found safe in Mexico with cooperation from authorities there. Thank you @FBISanAntonio and all who helped in this search. #hounews
— HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) December 4, 2017
Deputies said Ashlee was found in Mexico City. Her condition is unknown at this time.
Big thanks to @ICEgov and @DHSgov for their work helping recover Ashlee Hattermann in Mexico City this evening. #hounews
— HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) December 4, 2017
The teen was reported missing by her parents after she left school on Friday and boarded a bus destined for the Mexico border.
Keith and Tiffany Hattermann said their daughter was on her way to meet a man with whom she had been corresponding on social media, covert messaging apps and through phone calls for the past year.
“We found a note in her room,” said Ashlee’s father, Keith. “She calls the guy ‘daddy’ and herself ‘baby girl.’ [The note read] ‘Daddy owns my body and my soul,' over and over and over again down this sheet of paper.”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office sent a tweet with a physical description of the girl late Saturday afternoon and were seeking the public’s help in locating the teen.
The FBI San Antonio, Laredo office joined in the investigation Sunday afternoon.
Officials believe she traveled to Laredo and crossed into Mexico Friday night.
In a tweet, the office asked for anyone with information to call 210-225-6741 or the nearest US Embassy or Consulate.
Images obtained from surveillance video at the Greyhound bus stop in Katy showed the young teen along with an unidentified woman.
KHOU 11 spoke with the woman pictured in the surveillance image. She has asked that her name not be used.
The woman says she was approached by Ashlee at the bus stop on Friday and was mislead into purchasing the bus ticket for the young teen.
“I asked her how old she was; she said 18,” the woman told KHOU 11. “She told me she was here all week, visiting her boyfriend. She told me that [her parents] lived in Laredo and that she had been up here to visit her boyfriend and she was trying to get back to her family.”
The woman says she bought the girl lunch and the bus ticket to Laredo.
“I’m just devastated, I’m so upset,” the woman said. "I’m devastated for this little girl. I’m devastated for her family.”
Keith and Tiffany Hattermann say they discovered their daughter was exchanging graphic sexual images and messages last May through her phone, by using the covert messaging apps.
The couple says they took away their daughter’s phone and turned it over to HCSO’s Cyber Crimes Division. They say when they tried to get updates on the status of their case, deputies would not return their phone calls or emails.
The Hattermanns say they learned yesterday from one of their daughter’s friends that Ashlee had been communicating with someone on an iPhone for months in the Thornton Middle School library.
The parents say they do not know where Ashlee may have gotten the phone.
Tiffany said her daughter told her last spring the man she was communicating with is 29 years old and lives in Mexico.
“We just feel helpless,” Keith said. “We just want her back. We just want her safe.”
A Houston sex trafficking expert told KHOU 11 on Saturday, the man's behavior shows classic signs of grooming of young girls for the sex trade.
To learn more about grooming and how American girls are being targeted watch the video below or click here.
