Dad and 9-year-old daughter vanish while visiting Texas national park, officials say

Update, Feb. 15: The dad and daughter were found in Mexico and will be reunited with family in the U.S., officials say.

Original Story

A father and his 9-year-old daughter vanished while visiting Big Bend National Park, officials say, and they haven’t been seen in more than a week.

Hector Flores Jr., 49, and his child, Luna Flores, were last seen on Jan. 28 — the same day they traveled from their city of Fort Stockton to the Texas national park in a blue 2005 Dodge 1500 pickup truck, according to a news release from the National Park Service.

They are still missing as of Feb. 7.

“Flores’ truck was later found abandoned along the northern end of the remote Old Ore Road with many of their personal belongings inside,” officials said. “It is believed that they may be traveling on foot and may not have the proper clothing or equipment to camp inside the park.”

The National Park Service, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Texas Department of Public Safety are helping search for the dad and daughter. The search is being conducted by teams hiking, driving backcountry roads and looking from the air in helicopters.

It is not confirmed the two are still in Big Bend National Park, but investigators do believe they may still be in the park, according to the news release.

Flores has black hair and brown eyes, is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds, officials said. His daughter has black hair and brown eyes, and they both have family living in San Antonio.

Anyone with additional information regarding their disappearance is asked to call the Federal Bureau of Investigation tip line at 800-225-5324 or submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

Big Bend National Park is about 410 miles southwest of San Antonio and 100 miles south of Fort Stockton.

The park website describes Big Bend as a place “at the end of the road” for “splendid isolation” with more than 150 miles of trails in the mountain range and desert, and vast areas of backcountry wilderness.

This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Dad and 9-year-old daughter vanish while visiting Texas national park, officials say."