HOUSTON – There are nearly 48,000 people in Texas who vanished back in 2022, that’s according to the Texas Center for the Missing.
There is a native Houstonian who dedicates his free time to help find some of those missing people.
Albert Flores conducts most of his searches using his own personal drone, yes its a very expensive piece of equipment, but he says it’s not nearly worth the priceless relief families get when he helps them find closure.
“I’m able to say hey I did what I could do, I got involved,” Flores said, who juggles between working full-time as a utility locator for a fiber optic company, and volunteering in missing persons cases.
“I dedicate my free time as far as trying to give individuals closure,” he said.
The individuals he’s referring to are families searching for missing loved ones.
“I’ve been involved in missing persons for the past 4-5 years, I’ve probably been involved in cases…probably I would say 20 cases,” he said.
Some cases topped headlines, like that of 26-year-old Delano Burkes who disappeared in November of 2022 after leaving a bar in The Heights.
“Actually went out there and met his mother Karen Jeffley and we searched for him,” Flores said.
Police say Burkes’ body was found nearly two weeks later floating in the Houston Ship Channel by tug boaters. Houston Police are still asking anyone who knows what happened to him to give them a call.
Flores spoke about other cases he’s helping with where people are still missing altogether.
“We’re still trying to find information on Deuandrea Ford,” he said.
Police say Ford, a five foot four, 170 pound mother of a 4-year-old vanished this past September after leaving her job at Divas Bikini Bar and Grill in East Houston.
“Her case is still open, we haven’t had a location to look for her,” he said.
And then there are bodies of missing people who Flores found himself. Like that of 68-year-old Carlton Floyd, who had dementia and wandered away from the care facility he lived at in northeast Houston.
“Someone said they saw him going in an easterly direction and two blocks down it led me to a field,” Flores said.
Flores said he found Floyd’s body in 20 minutes. Police do not believe foul play was involved.
“I found Trevion Butler,” Flores said.
In November, Flores spoke with KPRC 2 after the missing 19-year-old Sugar Land man’s mother sought his services, and directed him to an area near Grand Fountain Drive and Buffalo Speedway in southwest Houston. It’s where she had found video of her son in the area.
“Sent the drone down there and seen something that caught my eye, and sent the drone down there and seen something that caught my eye,” Flores said in a previous interview after locating Butler’s body.
Flores found Butler shot to death near an abandoned building. Houston Police are asking for anyone with information in that case to come forward. In the meantime, Flores says he’ll continue his work.
“My big thing is we have to be a community and look for answers for our missing loved ones,” he said.
Flores says he doesn’t charge families a dime for his services and if you are someone out there who thinks you can use his help, you can contact him via Facebook messenger here.