by Sarah Williams 
Missing Heights Teen Found in Houston
I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since we receive the news of the Houston Police Department finding a 16-year-old girl missing for about 2 months, after receiving a call for alleged burglary.
Turns out the victim of burglary testified he let a young lady and her boyfriend stay at his apartment for a few days, but then he asked them to leave.
Missing Heights teen found in Houston apartment responds to the name of Kamrion Broussard. Her mother, Lakeesha Edwards confessed this wasn’t the first time her daughter disappeared and suspected her daughter was a victim of human trafficking, as this is what local authorities reported when found the teen earlier that year in a hotel room.
She seemed a normal teen until then and gave her mom no reason or alert to worry about. In March that year, Kamrion started dating an 18-year-old boy from her school and problems began to show up. Mom says her daughter ran away with him both times and that he made her “dress sexy” to attract older men in that hotel.
After March events, mom and daughter worked their way back to normal life until June 2. That day, Broussard told her mother via Facebook she went to a friend’s house as a man from the previous incident was looking for her friend at school. Lakeesha didn’t hear back from her kid again after that text.
She was found in Houston by the end of July, almost 2 months later. She was safe and sound and no charges were pending. They’re trying to start over one more time.
The truth about human trafficking
You may have heard about human trafficking on social media or the news, but you might not know that it affects children in every community across the United States.
Every year, thousands of men, women, and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. It can happen in any community and victims can be of any age, race, gender, or nationality. But according to 2017 statistics show that women and girls are disproportionately affected, accounting for 71% of all victims.
I know parents would do anything to protect their kids, but what can you do to fight this enemy? Experts advice to:
- Know what your kids are doing online.
- Know who your kids are with and where they are hanging out.
- Teach your children resiliency.
- Help your child build strong self-esteem from an early age.
- Maintain open communication with your child. Be someone the teens in your life can talk with.
By helping your child develop and maintain a good self-esteem and healthy relationships, you reduce the risk that he or she will be targeted by traffickers.
