HOUSTON \u2013 The search is intensifying for a missing Houston woman who is eight months pregnant, as volunteers and investigators expand efforts near the area where she was last seen.<\/p>\n
23-year-old Ashanti Allen has now been missing for six days. Her family says they are growing increasingly concerned and desperate for answers.<\/p>\n
Texas EquuSearch set up a command post Tuesday near Buffalo Speedway and Airport Boulevard, close to where Allen was last seen. The nonprofit search organization says it has significantly ramped up its efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done some banks of the bayous and the waterways and everything and you know we\u2019ve mapped out many areas,” said Miller.<\/p>\n
Miller says crews have been searching since Sunday and are continuing to follow up on tips and leads, though none have led to Allen so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime\u2019s not on our side,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe get more fearful that something has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Search teams spent Tuesday combing through wooded areas, brush, and nearby spaces, using drones and even ATVs.<\/p>\n
Allen\u2019s mother, Teresa Gaines Colbert, says the last time she saw her daughter was April 8, when Allen drove her to a medical appointment and returned home to their apartment building.<\/p>\n
Just two days later, she received a text message from her daughter\u2019s phone that immediately raised concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 3:50 a.m. on April the 10th, I received a strange text that says, \u2018I\u2019m leaving and not coming back,\u2019\u201d Colbert said.<\/p>\n
Her family says that message does not match Allen\u2019s personality or her current situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was happy she had her first apartment. She was happy that she was having a baby. She\u2019s happy she got her new job,\u201d a family member said. \u201cSo why would she all of a sudden at 3 o\u2019clock in the morning say, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m leaving, not coming back?\u2019 That\u2019s random.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colbert says she immediately went to check on her daughter but did not find her at home.<\/p>\n
As the search nears a week, both volunteers and family members say the urgency is increasing \u2014 especially given Allen\u2019s pregnancy.<\/p>\n
Miller says while there is no confirmed evidence of foul play, there is also no indication Allen left on her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day that goes by, we get more fearful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Colbert, the emotional toll is overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel helpless,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Texas EquuSearch crews wrapped up Tuesday\u2019s search around 6 p.m. and plan to resume early Wednesday morning. Miller says the search could continue to expand as more information comes in.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information about Ashanti Allen\u2019s whereabouts is urged to contact Houston police.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 The search is intensifying for a missing Houston woman who is eight months pregnant, as volunteers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[94943,94942,56,58,57,28209,94941],"class_list":{"0":"post-250374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-family-desperate-for-answers","9":"tag-family-seeks-answers","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-headlines","12":"tag-houston-news","13":"tag-missing-woman","14":"tag-search-efforts-houston"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}