By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-04 00:19:17 | Updated at 2024-10-07 12:31:46
3 days ago
Authorities in Texas are frantically searching for a missing teenager with mental health issues who vanished after going for a walk with her father on Sunday.
Zoe Rowbotham, 16, was last seen at around 8.30pm that night near the intersection of Bluebonnet and Arwine Drives in Hurst, where her father momentarily left her as he ducked back into their house to grab his cellphone.
Her adoptive parents, Catrina and Andre, told NBC DFW that she was agitated by some chores that night and had been facing anxiety after learning that she may be leaving for a long-term care facility in Arkansas.
The teenager had been diagnosed earlier in the year with conduct disorder, borderline personality disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression - making her parents even more worried about her safety.
Andre explained to CBS News that she is 'very, very, very smart' but has 'low executive function skills' affecting her maturity, impulse control, ability to tell the truth and making her confuse fantasy with reality.
Zoe Rowbotham, 16, was last seen at around 8.30pm that night near the intersection of Bluebonnet and Arwine Drives in Hurst
'Zoe has never met a stranger,' he added, noting: 'She has a huge, huge heart.'
Making matters worse, her parents said she did not have a cellphone on her or any money at the time of her disappearance.
Andre explained that he took his daughter for a walk after she became agitated on Sunday.
At first, he said, they walked their normal route through the neighborhood, but at one point, Zoe insisted on going a different way.
'We had made it basically halfway through the walk and she just got really defiant,' he recounted.
'She wasn't going to go the way I wanted to head back, the shorter way. She was going to take the long way, and so I figured I'll head back, get my phone and then catch her at the top of the hill.
'And Catrina knew that I was having a hard time with her and she picked me up in the car. And by the time we got to the top of the hill where she should have been, she wasn't there.'
Her adoptive parents, Catrina and Andre Rowbotham, have spent days putting up flyers and searching for their teenage daughter
They have said they are worried about Zoe because she has mental health issues
The Texas couple spent the next few days on the phone and printing out flyers as family, friends, colleagues and law enforcement looked for their daughter.
They learned Zoe had been spotted by another family on the other side of a neighborhood park later on Sunday, but they remained unclear on where she may have gone.
'I don't know where she is, and I don't know if someone is hurting her,' Catrina said. 'I know, from having her for four years, that is such a distinct possibility.'
By Tuesday, officials issued an Amber Alert for the missing teenager, which Catrina said is when the situation really hit her.
'I mean it was real, but the Amber Alert hit, and I was like, "My baby is a missing child,"' she said.
'I just want my kid,' Catrina added. 'I don't know where she's at, I'm worried for her because of the mental illness and her propensity to find trouble and not know she's in trouble.'
In an update on Facebook Wednesday, Catrina said, 'Zoe is still not home' and announced that dogs involved in the search have lost her child's scent.
Zoe is described as five-foot-six-inches tall, weighing 240 pounds, with dark hair with blond stripes in it
Authorities believe Zoe is traveling on foot, and have noted she has a diminished mental capacity and is in need of medications.
Police are also asking neighbors to check their surveillance or doorbell security footage for any signs of the teenager.
She is described as five-foot-six-inches tall, weighing 240 pounds, with dark hair with blond stripes in it.
Zoe was last seen wearing a black t-shirt with white lettering, black bicycle shorts and white shoes.
