Texas Teen Vanishes on Christmas Eve — Everything We Know

Authorities in two different countries. are on the lookout for a missing teenage. girl last seen on Christmas Eve. Her. family, her friends, they spent the. holiday desperately searching for any. trace of her after she apparently. vanished in the early morning. What. could have happened to her? Are we. talking about the possibility of human. trafficking? And what can you do to help. with this investigation? Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. [Music]. By the way, I got to tell you about. something that we use here at Law &. Crime that can actually be very, very.

useful to you. It's called TruthFinder. It's a powerful public records search. service that we actually use to do. research here on Sidebar. Talk about a. useful research. You plug in a name, you. get address information, you get. criminal history. Let me just say, this. can give you some peace of mind. TruthFinder is one of the largest public. records search services in the United. States. And with a paid subscription, you can get access to unlimited reports. about almost anyone. And that includes. looking up registered sex offenders in. your area, too. You might even be. shocked to look up yourself and see. what's out there. So, stay informed, stay safe. Check public records with.

TruthFinder now at. truthfinder.com/lcsidebar. We have this rapidly developing. situation out of San Antonio, Texas that. we need to talk about. Law enforcement. there are asking people who live in the. northwest part of Bear County to check. their surveillance cameras and call. authorities right away if they spot. anything suspicious happening around. Christmas Eve. Why? Because that is when. the Bear County Sheriff's Office says. 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos was. last seen. And now they're saying she.

could be in, quote, "imminent danger.". According to authorities, Camila was. last seen just before 7:00 a.m. on. Wednesday, December 24th in the Caspian. Spring neighborhood. The Sheriff's. Office believes that she was spotted on. a neighbor's surveillance camera right. outside her home searching for something. inside her car. The footage then. reportedly cuts out. This is per. deputies, but it is believed that she. left on foot because her car was still. at the house when her mom called 911 to.

report her missing. This is, by the way, after her mom reportedly called Camila's. boyfriend and father. This is according. to NewsNation. Now, deputies say she may. only have had her car key and her. driver's license on her. Her phone was. inside the house. Though this is very. unusual, this is very unlike her. according to family and friends. Camila's mother, Rosario Olmos, told. Texas media outlet KSAT, quote, "I. called her cell phone, but the cell. phone was there on the bed and it was. turned off. I put it to charge and went.

out to look for her. I thought I would. find her like other times walking and we. would come home together. But obviously. that is not what happened." And here's. something else. Camila was reportedly. supposed to go dress shopping for an. event with her best friend, also named. Camila, on the day that she disappeared. The friend told the New York Post that. Camila's last words on the phone to her. the night before she disappeared were, "Bye, Cami. I love you." So again, very. unusual. This is potentially why. authorities are saying she is in.

imminent danger. Bear County authorities. say that Camila, who's around 5'4", 110. lb, she was wearing this reported black. North Face sweater. It has baby blue. accents. She was wearing baby blue. pajama shorts, white shoes. The. Sheriff's Office activated what is known. as a CLEAR Alert. That stands for. Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult. Rescue. According to the Texas. Department of Public Safety, the CLEAR. Alert assists law enforcement in. locating and rescuing missing,

kidnapped, or abducted adults or adults. who are in immediate danger of injury or. death, as well as aid in locating any. potential suspects. It is used when an. individual is 18 to 64 years of age and. their whereabouts are unknown. There is. also a criteria for there to be a. preliminary investigation that verified. the adult is in imminent danger of. bodily injury or death, or is the. disappearance involuntary, such as we're. talking about an abduction or we're. talking about a kidnapping. And this. CLEAR Alert request was done within 72.

hours of an individual's disappearance. And also, another part of the criteria. is sufficient information available to. disseminate to the public to help locate. the individual, a suspect, or the. vehicle that was used in the incident, which is why the information about. Camila is so important to get out there. Now, the New York Post is reporting that. according to family, more than 100. people have shown up and searched a. 3-mile radius near where Camila was last. seen. KSAT reported that the FBI has. also aided in this search and. investigation. By the way, Fox News is.

reporting that Homeland Security is a. part of this as well. The Bear County. Sheriff's Office said in a statement. that was released on Facebook over the. weekend. Camila's mother stated that. Camila normally goes for a morning walk. However, she became concerned when. Camila did not return within a. reasonable period of time. The Bear. County Sheriff said that Camila and her. boyfriend apparently broke up earlier. this year, but claims that it appears. the separation was amicable. He also. added, quote, "We definitely don't want. to miss anything. The ground search is.

somewhat limited to a couple of square. miles. We're also not ruling out that. this case may take us outside the. borders of the continental United. States." And it was confirmed that. authorities outside the US are also on. the lookout for this 19-year-old. The. Attorney General's Office of Nuevo Leon, across the border in Mexico, apparently. put out a notice with Camila's picture. asking for information. So of course, now the question is, what could have. happened to her? Did she run away from. home with someone on her own? Maybe.

unlikely. Could she have been abducted. from her quiet neighborhood? Now, I will. say this. Since Texas is a border state, it has long been a focus for authorities. hunting down human trafficking. We got. to talk about this. According to a. National Human Trafficking Hotline. report in 2024, the hotline received. more than 2,000. signals. So these could be emails or. online chats or text messages or actual. calls. Nearly 700 of those signals came.

from victims or survivors of human. trafficking. This is according to the. report. Those signals then led to more. than 1,000 cases being identified in. 2024 involving more than 2,000 victims. This is a real issue. This is a real. concern. You know, back in 2022, this. outlet, KSAT, they spoke with Char. McMichael, the executive director of the. trafficking division of nonprofit BCFS. Health and Human Services. And according. to McMichael, Bear County creates the.

perfect corridor for human traffickers. because there are multiple major. highways that intersect there. And. McMichael claimed that around 80,000. minors are victims of trafficking in. Texas, which involves, by the way, not. only sex work, but also slave labor. So. we're talking about places like. factories and kitchens and hotels. And. runaways are especially vulnerable. Again, not saying that's what happened. here, but something to keep in mind. In. fact, McMichael told KSAT, "Statistics.

will show that within 24 hours, one in. three runaways is sold into sex. trafficking. Approximately 40% of. runaways end up in labor trafficking.". Again, to be clear, we don't know what. is happening. We don't know what is. going on with Camila. But right now, it. is still unclear if she left on her own, if she was taken, but it is important to. mention this and put it into context. nonetheless. Her family, though, says. that her to run away, her to disappear. entirely out of character for her to. just leave, especially especially.

without her phone. Bear County Sheriff. Salazar also said that he wanted to make. sure that Camila hadn't been swept up in. an immigration raid. So that was a. concern, too. The sheriff says that she. is a US citizen, but it was possible she. could have been mistakenly detained. The. sheriff told ABC News, quote, "That was. a personal concern. So I had to check to. make sure there were no stops, no. detentions, that she's not somewhere in. a federal detention facility. That is. something we needed to check." And while. Sheriff Salazar told ABC News that.

Camila could be in imminent danger, he. didn't seem to provide more specifics. about what that entails or why. Now, Rosario, Camila's mom, told KHOU, "Pray, pray, pray, and ask from the heart to. God and the angels and the Virgin Mary, whoever you believe in, to please for my. daughter to return." So this is where. you come in. As I mentioned, if there's. any surveillance footage you may have. that captures someone resembling. Camila's description, alert authorities. Anybody with information on her.

whereabouts is asked to call the Bear. County Sheriff's Office. The number is. there on the screen. We're going to put. it in the episode description as well, but it's 210-335-6000. You can also send a message to the BCSO. Missing Persons Unit at. missingpersons@bear.org. Again, if you have information, if you. have credible information, please alert. authorities. Okay, so I want to bring on. right now law enforcement instructor, jury consultant Sunny Slaughter, who we. haven't had on in in quite some time. So.

it's good to see you, Sunny. Um I wish. it was a. uh not the situation we're talking. about. Um I I described the search. efforts. I described the different. agencies uh that are involved. What do. you think law enforcement is doing. behind the scenes right now? What stands. out to you? Great to see you, Jess- um Jesse, it's. great. I haven't seen you in so long. But um so I was looking at this case as. it has been evolving. And one of the. things that I was just checking before. we went on air, I know that they have.

the FBI, they have uh Homeland Security. And, you know, Homeland Security, which. is I was DHS Flexi um instructor uh. formerly. But they have HSI because they. mentioned human trafficking. So HSI is. Homeland Security Investigations, which. is a very unique branch of the unit for. uh human trafficking. They are highly. trained in human trafficking and I was. looking to see if they.

were cuz it's close to the border and. there was some talk about human. trafficking if they had been doing any. interdiction stops. And uh currently. it's saying according to what's. available to the public that they're. not. However, because of the federal. units federal law enforcement agencies. that are involved because of its. location and proximity and human. trafficking I believe that they are. currently running down all of their. leads with informants, those who are.

connected to human trafficking rings to. see. if uh. there is any potential there. They're. also doing a um. an identity mapping is what I'll call it. to identify. recent human trafficking cases and does. uh. Camellia fit that uh Camilla I think. that's how you say her name same middle. name. Does does she fit the description. for those individuals and based on what.

I've seen her pictures and everything. she absolutely does fit that. description. People don't just go. missing and she's a 19-year-old. not on her cell phone. She left out. usually walking in the morning. Someone. may have been tracking her pattern of. behavior and notice that was something. that she would do. So she didn't just go. missing something has happened to her. and law enforcement is currently trying. to retrace her steps, look for other. video camera footage in the area asking.

doing conducting interviews knocking you. know knocking talks. That's good with. the FBI usually does that and then you. know just trying to figure out where she. could possibly be and if human. trafficking is one of the elements. whether or not she's made it across any. borders or whether she's still confined. to the area and it's been several days. so it's a lot going on. Let let me just. expand upon that for a minute. So.

obviously we don't know for sure. what's going on here. But if we assume. for a moment that human trafficking is. an element here. if someone is caught up in human. trafficking. how difficult is it to find out what. happened to them and how difficult is it. to recover them? It is very difficult to find out what. happened particularly if no one saw. anything and if there are rings. operating in the area and no one is. speaking then it's even harder because.

folks can go underground quickly and. because she was gone for several hours. whether it's human trafficking or. I hate to say it this way or a simple. kidnapping that has no human trafficking. element people can go missing really. quickly things can go underground very. fast and then it is difficult to bring. people back from human trafficking. schemes that are well connected and that.

have a lot. of invisibility I'll say. where people can just go missing. quickly. I I mentioned at the top that. law enforcement is asking people to hand. over surveillance footage or look at. their surveillance footage. How useful is that going to be and how. does law enforcement sort through that. to see if they can find her to develop a. timeline how does that work? So one of the things that most people. don't realize is that when people hear.

law enforcement they always think the. individuals with the badge. But law. enforcement has sworn and civilian. individuals that work processes. So what. is probably happening is they have a. task force they have a group they are. have a command station and the. individuals are watch they are separate. individuals who are watching all of the. footage. They're watching from home for. their also watching from businesses and. what they will do is they will take the. center part of where she was.

and where they last saw her missing and. from all of the footage that goes out. they will look at businesses banks. stores that and places and the highways. to determine what the route could. possibly be identify those cars. Those. are individuals are who are analysts who. are watching and scrubbing videos and. then they are sending that information. out to the sworn law enforcement. professionals who are doing the. interviews and they're trying to tamp. down on any miscommunication.

or misinformation. so they're not going in a hundred. different directions. It's a very. tedious task because one they don't. necessarily know what they're looking. for or who they're looking for other. than the identified victim. It is. strenuous it is long it is very. coordinated and eventually you might see. the US Marshals get involved if they can. also help track down. They're some of. the best trackers in the world that we.

have those that work with the US Marshal. Services. So even though their names. have not been mentioned US Marshals law. enforcement is currently using every. tool in their arsenal. to go through footage to establish a. timeline closer to when they saw her. last and to review it's critical. information that everyone releases. whatever kind of footage that they have. if they see anything. How significant is.

it that this is now subject to a clear. alert I mentioned that before. what the criteria is for that that you. have the FBI involved and assisting that. you have Homeland Security assisting. there is this apparent coordination. between multiple agencies and the Bear. County Sheriff's Office you have. reportedly you know over a hundred. people who who were searching you have a. lot of eyeballs a lot of resources and. now the clear alert system a part of. this how significant is that and does it.

give you any. reassurance that perhaps we can find her. sooner rather than later? It's extremely unique that they've. issued the clear alert. because you don't always get that. The coordination of multiple law. enforcement agencies is not always. unique but in these particular cases. everyone knows what their job is what. their duties are and as long as you have. a strong command I believe that we'll.

know sooner rather than later. where and what potentially happened to. her. Hopefully she can be recovered quickly. from wherever she is. However, if that. does not happen. then the family has to contend with the. longevity of everything that they're. dealing with and the community. I would. suggest that everyone stay alert be on. your guard and cooperate with law.

enforcement fully. It's really really. important the cooperation not just from. the law enforcement agencies but the. community. How unusual is it at this. point at least what's being publicly. reported that we don't really have an. idea about what happened here we don't. have any physical evidence about what. happened here there's this weird footage. of her searching the car her phone left. behind she might have left with her her. license. but they're not finding anything.

How concerning or unusual is that and is. there a possibility that law enforcement. knows more than is just being publicly. shared? I mean they talk about an. imminent danger they talk about an. imminent danger without explaining more. what that is. You know. the public always wants more information. but sometimes the silence and what is. not shared is really critical because. one they need to ensure the safety of. the individual that they're trying to. recover and I'm sure they are doing. things and they have information that.

they are not sharing that is strategic. that is intentional and they have to. keep some things quiet because if they. have additional information they don't. want the perpetrators or perpetrator to. know exactly how close they could be. So. not withholding some information is. vital and just saying that imminent. danger is really important. People. should listen to the keywords the. buzzwords imminent danger without trying.

to focus on exactly what that is and. know that they don't use that type of. language unless they have already. identified risk. What does that mean. imminent danger? What does that mean. what what would lead them to that. conclusion? They may have found blood they may. have heard some information that she was. taken. I'm sure some type of evidence. that they're not sharing that says. imminent danger. They know something. otherwise they wouldn't use that.

particular language. Imminent danger. means a threat that is unknown to the. public potentially known to law. enforcement and that it is severe and. that they need to get as much. information from the public as they can. to to locate the individual what they're. searching for. Can you elaborate on that. last part in the sense aside from. surveillance footage which could be key. to this what more can the public do? I. mentioned. her description I mentioned the contact.

number. what can the public do at this point? Continue to. watch the footage watch the coverage. share any information that is put out by. reputable entities like like Law Crime. Network and law enforcement. Don't go. down the rabbit hole of conspiracy. theories leave the leg work and the law. enforcement stuff to law enforcement and. just continue to share the information. One of the things I want to say really. quick, Jesse, is a long time ago.

Jennifer Kesse went missing from. Florida. And her case has come back. around. This is like over 20 some years. ago. And something that I learned from. her parents when we worked for the. office of victims of crime that the. family should be aware of. A lot of. people like to put up posters, but. posters can be impacted by weather. elements. One of the things that. Jennifer Kesse's family did was they. created business cards with the. information that you are currently. sharing and that others are sharing with.

the name, the date of birth, the weight, and all of the particulars and a number. And what the business cards can do is. you can put them out everywhere. Yeah. In restaurants, you can just keep. dropping them by. So, if unfortunately she's not found right. away, and if a person in your family. goes missing, business cards provide you. a different sense of they're not big, but they speak very loudly because they. can be left in restrooms, they can be.

left anywhere, on the table when you're. going out to dine. And people tend to. pick up a business card, they won't. necessarily carry a flyer. Right. So, in the interest of helping. law enforcement, the the ability to. maintain that information and continue. to spread it out is really critical. That helps. And anything that you see, when when we say if you see something, say something, that is really true. Keep. her picture visible, keep her name in on.

our lips, and continue to talk about the. case until she is found. And and and one last part, you know, this idea of perhaps Mexico helping or. authorities outside of the US helping, the Attorney General's office of. the Waverly on, you know, they're they're putting a. notice uh. uh with this young girl's picture up. asking for any information. Um. how does that work? Do you have. confidence in authorities outside of the. United States assisting with this. investigation?

I do. I do. Although, you know, we don't. always believe based on television and. things that happen that all law. enforcement outside of the United States. have corruption. because I have worked these specific. types of cases in human trafficking and. involved Interpol in other law. enforcement agencies, we rely on our. counterparts overseas, outside of the. United States, because we are building relationships, sharing information, and looking to. recapture and recover individuals who.

are removed from the United States. The. fact that all of this is happening shows. just how much of an imminent threat that. there is and that law enforcement does. have information that they're not. sharing. Sunny Slaughter, thank you so. much for coming on, taking the time, and. explaining the situation to us. Really. appreciate it. Thank you for having me. And that's all. we have for you right now here on. Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much. for joining us. And as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcasts. You can follow me on X or.

Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. to you next time. [Music].