AUSTIN, TEXAS: Sixteen-year-old Candace Rose Olson's disappearance has left her father, Christopher Soto, with a single, puzzling clue.
On September 9, as she was trying on homecoming dresses in their Texas home, when she vanished without a trace.
An open window, a mysterious call, and a puzzling message
Soto's initial discovery was unsettling – Candace was nowhere to be found, and her bedroom window was wide open, suggesting an unplanned departure.
"The window was just wide open," he told local CBS affiliate KHOU-TV.
Fearing the worst, he attempted to contact his daughter via Facetime, only to be met with a surprise.
A mysterious man answered her phone instead, a disconcerting twist to the already worrisome situation.
"I talked to the gentleman," he said.
According to Soto, this unidentified individual claimed to have found Candace's phone abandoned on the road and kindly offered to return it.
Alarmed by this strange encounter, Soto immediately reached out to local law enforcement, summoning the Harris County sheriff in Houston to accompany him.
Upon retrieving the phone, it became evident that something was amiss – all of Candace's social media accounts had been wiped clean, save for one message from someone offering to send an Uber.
A father's desperate search
In response to his daughter's disappearance, Soto filed a missing person's report with the Harris County sheriff's office and enlisted the help of other family members to circulate pictures of Candace in the hopes of locating her.
This ordeal is especially distressing, considering that Candace had only recently moved in with her father in March of that year.
Soto expressed his anguish, saying, "It's hard when you have a daughter you love. She just came here. I just got her. Now she is gone. I don't know where she is. I just want her back."
Compounding the concern is the fact that Candace requires medication for her seizures and mental health issues, which she has been unable to take since her disappearance.
Soto worries about the potential dangers that could arise during this withdrawal period, emphasizing the risk of suicidal ideations when abruptly ceasing such medications.
"Quitting cold turkey can cause suicidal ideations," Soto explained.
Despite their best efforts, the family has been met with frustrating silence, with no new information emerging about Candace's whereabouts.
Christopher Soto, a retired veteran, expressed his desperation on Facebook, stating, "We just want Candace Rose home, and we love her beyond measure."
This is so scary and upsetting as we still have not received one single lead even since the news story," he added.
The situation remains dire, and anyone with information about Candace Rose Olson's location is urged to contact the HCSO's Missing Persons Unit at 713-755-7427, in the hopes of reuniting her with her worried family.
