Search underway for two young people missing since Sunday

Friday, June 23, 2006

(6/22/06 - KTRK/SUGAR LAND, TX) (KTRK) -- Police found the car, but can't find the people who should be with it. A teenager and young woman are both missing. It's an unusual case of two people who have not been seen for four days.

The woman's car was found in Humble and investigators say that vehicle may have been used in a crime in Mission Bend -- not far from where she lives in Sugar Land.

Maria Chrisalee Aparece, 23, was gone for two days before her family realized she was missing, instead of with a friend. They got the shocking news when Fort Bend Sheriff's deputies knocked on their door on Tuesday.

"They were looking for a car, which has my daughter's plate number, telling me that it was involved in a crime," recalled Maria's father Protasio Aparece. "They said four black males robbed a house."

Protasio said Maria had gone to see a friend on Sunday. That friend is Huy Ngo, 17. Deputies say he is also missing.

Authorities say Maria's car was identified by the victim of the home robbery. Her Toyota was reportedly found in the Humble area on Wednesday evening. Arrests were made in connection to two carjackings. The two missing people were reportedly seen by the suspects.

Fort Bend County Sheriff Milton Wright said, "I think they have acknowledged to some degree that they did see the two individuals but they didn't harm them in any way. The fact that neither one of these individuals called in since Sunday... It doesn't look well."

Protasio also told Eyewitness News that Maria's friends who work at a bank checked on her credit card activity since Sunday.

He said, "There were charges done at an Humble Wal-Mart, Whataburger and gas stations. It was unlikely for my daughter to be spending $90 at McDonalds, because some of her friends say, my daughter is stingy. She does not spend more than $5 on a meal. So I smelled something was not right."

The family has requested Equusearch's help in looking for Maria and Huy. Equusearch officials set up a command center Friday morning at Alperton near T.C. Jester in northwest Houston. For information on how you can help in the search, log on to TXEQ.org.

This is a case that covers several jurisdictions. If you know anything about it you can make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers in Houston at 713-222-TIPS or in Fort Bend County, at 281-342-TIPS.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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