Ring doorbell camera shows missing Houston mom the night before she disappeared
New footage has been released courtesy of a Ring doorbell that shows missing mom of three Erica Hernandez leaving her sister-in-law’s home just hours before she disappeared without a trace.
In the early morning hours of April 18, after spending some time at a friend’s house in southwest Houston, Hernandez went missing. Authorities have said that at the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a teal T-shirt with jeans and was driving a black 2020 GMC Acadia with Texas plates.
“We called the hospitals, we asked for her name and asked for Jane Does, nothing,” said Eldia Hernandez, Erica’s sister-in-law to Houston ABC affiliate KTRK. “We’re all frustrated. We’re all in disbelief because this is not like her. This is not her routine. Her kids are her world, and she would never ever leave her kids.”
At 3:04 a.m. on the night of her disappearance, Hernandez’s friend who she just visited texted her and asked her if she made it home. According to an Houston NBC affiliate, “Erica replied she was five minutes away” and was never heard from since.
Hours before her disappearance, Hernandez dropped off food at her brother and sister-in-law’s house while her kids aged 3, 15 and 19 waited in the car. Ring doorbell cameras caught her walking back to her car after leaving the house.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee met with the Hernandez family last weekend and held a press conference on Monday to get the public involved in helping the family and police find the missing 40-year-old woman.
“Someone has seen something, someone knows something and someone isn’t saying anything,” Jackson Lee said.
At the press conference, police also announced that the FBI would be joining the search for Hernandez alongside Texas Equusearch, the Houston Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit.
On Saturday, volunteers combed through a detour route Hernandez might have taken while going home but have yet to find any sign of her.
Houston police have not ruled out foul play in this case.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family to help pay for search operations.
Anyone with information on Hernandez’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Houston Police Department at 832-384-1840, HPD crime stoppers at 713-521-4600 or Texas Equusearch at 281-309-9500.
