Texas Teen Missing for a Month

Sept. 2, 2011— -- A 14-year-old girl with a history of running away has been missing in Texas for more than a month--and no one has any clue where she could have gone.

Sharon West was last seen July 30 in Fannett, Texas, by her boyfriend; he was going to bed around 2 a.m., and she said she wanted to stay awake. West was staying at the boy's house for three months while her mother went to look for work in Dallas, about five hours away, according to Deputy Rod Carroll, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

Around 5 a.m., West sent text messages to friends from a soccer field near her boyfriend's house, telling them to come hang out with her there. By 6:30 a.m., she had sent the last text, and no one has seen her since, Carroll said.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has listed West as a missing endangered child and has searched the soccer fields and surrounding canals and ponds with cadaver dogs and divers. Though the girl had a history of running away from home, she always contacted friends to let them know her location, according to Carroll.

"No one's heard from her. If this were a typical runaway, going to stay over at a friend's house or this or that, usually friends hear where the person is and tell parents and we go pick them up. We don't know where she is," he said.

Carroll said the department interviewed friends and family members but have no leads into her disappearance and no suspects into any possible abduction. They also did home visits to registered sex offenders in Jefferson County without developing any leads.

The organization Crimestoppers is offering a $1000 reward for information about the whereabouts of the missing girl. She is described as 5'6 and 115 pounds with a small build. She has deep red and purple dyed hair and a mole below her left eye. Anyone with information is asked to call Jefferson County detectives at 409-835-8411.