Nixle Subscriber Helped Locate Missing Teen with Autism

Last night, the San Angelo Police Department put out a Nixle alert for community awareness of a missing 13-year-old teen that with autism. Officer Tracy Gonzalez, public information officer, said Noel Antu had not made it to his designated pickup area after school. 

Officials conducted a lengthy search in the area surrounding Lee Middle School and McGill Elementary School, but failed to locate Antu.  

“Just before 9:40 p.m., San Angelo Public Safety Communications received a call from a citizen who said she received a Nixle alert about the missing teen and believed she might have seen the young man in the area around the Hunter’s Run Apartments located in the 4400 block of Southwest Blvd,” explained Gonzalez. “Patrol units responded and searched the new location, but the teen was not located.”

After the secondary search proved unsuccessful, a Detective who had been called out to aid in the investigation found the teen just after 10:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the Alamo Village Apartments, 4400 block of Green Valley Trail.  The Detective had stopped to make a phone call when he looked up and noticed the teen. 

“There is no doubt that the young man could still be missing had it not been for the citizen who acted on the Nixle alert and called police,” said Detective Jake Russell. “We knew the temperature would drop and we were very concerned about the young man wandering and being exposed to the elements or worse.  We would have continued to waste valuable time searching the initial area had we not received the call.”

Over the last several years, SAPD, along with other agencies across the U.S., have experienced multiple success stories with locating missing persons with the help of Nixle and citizen engagement, stated Gonzalez.

Detective Russell wanted to give full credit to the citizen subscriber, and to thank the many members of the community who assisted in the search.

“We are blessed to live in a caring community,” noted Gonzalez.

For more information about Nixle Community Engagement, visit http://www.nixle.com/resident-faqs/

To subscribe to local Nixle alerts, visit https://local.nixle.com/register/.