Missing dad, 9-year-old daughter found in Mexico weeks after vanishing from Texas park

More than two weeks after a dad and his 9-year-old daughter vanished while visiting a Texas national park, officials say they were found trying to buy food in Mexico.

Hector Flores Jr., 49, and his child, Luna Flores, had last been seen on Jan. 28 — the day they traveled from Fort Stockton to Big Bend National Park, McClatchy News previously reported.

The National Park Service, alongside other agencies including U.S. Border Patrol and Mexico State Police, began a search on Feb. 5 after Hector Flores’ truck was found abandoned with many personal belongings inside, officials said.

Sixteen days after the father and daughter disappeared, on Sunday, Feb. 13, residents in a remote Mexican community reported that a man and young girl who fit the Flores’ descriptions were in the area trying to purchase food, according to a news release from the national park.

Mexico State Police found them in Coahuila — a state across the Rio Grande, adjacent to Big Bend National Park — in healthy condition on Monday, Feb. 14.

Hector and Luna were detained by Mexican authorities, officials say, and they’ll be reunited with family in the U.S.

An investigation into their disappearance is ongoing.

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 15, 2022 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Missing dad, 9-year-old daughter found in Mexico weeks after vanishing from Texas park."