Woman travels to Texas to search for missing son

Texas, Louisiana search for 19-year-old Gabe Verdin

CHANNELVIEW, Texas – Authorities in Texas and Louisiana are searching for a teenager who went missing in Channelview.

Gabe Verdin, 19, was seen around 10 p.m. Tuesday leaving the Starlight Lounge on Market Street.

According to the Louisiana towboat company Verdin works for, Verdin and a co-worker docked their boat near River Terrace Park, where they were expected to spend the night and return in the morning.

Witnesses said Verdin, despite being underage, walked to nearby Starlight Lounge around 7 p.m. with his co-worker.

After a few drinks, Verdin asked a man at the bar for a ride back to the boat because his co-worker didn't want to leave just yet.

The two then left the bar. Witnesses said the man returned about a half hour later without Verdin. The co-worker was still there. That was the last anyone saw or heard from Verdin.

Verdin's family made the 325-mile drive from Montegut, La., to Channelview to look for the teen.

"I just want my son back," said Verdin's mother, Evelyn Chilton, wiping a tear from her eye. "If I can bring my son home, that's all I want. We've called the hospitals. We've called the sheriff's department. Something's just not right."

Investigators with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office are working with the Harris County Sheriff's Office on this ongoing case.