HOUSTON – Driving past the creek near 400 West Rankin Road Monday morning, Bilie Jean Jackson could not believe what she saw.
“I had dropped my husband at work, and I was going home, and I was just driving I just happened to look over. She was there. I thought it was a mannequin,” said Jackson.
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Jackson told KPRC 2 Reporter Corley Peel she immediately called 911 around 6:15 am. She learned the 12-year-old girl she found was murdered.
“How can somebody do this? How can somebody leave someone lying there? It’s not something you expect to see anywhere,” Jackson said.
Mayor John Whitmire spoke during City Council Tuesday, sharing how the devastating timeline began.
“Her mother last saw her daughter at 10 p.m. when she put everybody to bed. Sometime between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. she left,” Whitmire said.
HPD said the girl snuck out of her apartment off Rankin Road. At some point, she spoke with her 13-year-old boyfriend on the phone.
“It appears that he last talked to her at a convenience store around midnight. He heard her talking to two grown-ups,” Whitmire said.
A source tells KPRC 2 the 7/11 off Rankin and Kuykendahl has surveillance of the girl inside the store.
Christian Goffney works at the store. He told Corley he sees the 12-year-old girl at the 7/11 on a regular basis. He said he just got off his shift when he noticed her hiding behind a nearby storage unit around 11:30 p.m. He noticed police in the area but did not think anything was wrong.
“I can’t forget that I saw her moments before she died. Waiting on my Uber. And if I would have known that the police was here to get the little girl to get the little girl that snuck outside, I would have made that call, 110 times over. Because that is not my child, but at the end of the day that could have been my child,” Goffney said.
Jackson hopes the discovery she made roughly six hours later, will bring the girl’s family justice.
“They all deserve some compassion right now,” Jackson said.
The girl has not been identified, but family members told KPRC 2 they are heartbroken and are waiting for police to release more information.
The medical examiner has not released the girl’s cause of death and her name has not been released.
At this time, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been named, but if you have any information you are asked to contact HPD or Crime Stoppers. There is an up to $5,000 reward for any information that can lead to an arrest. You can remain anonymous. (713) 521-4600.