NEW CANEY, Tx \u2013 A New Caney family is pleading for the public\u2019s help finding a woman who has been missing for nearly two weeks as search-and-rescue crews comb a sprawling area near Highway 99 and FM 1485.<\/p>\n
Maria Veronica Ortiz Estrada was last seen by family members around noon on July 20, according to her daughter, Carla Ortiz. A person who lives nearby reportedly saw her around 6 p.m. that day but said she appeared disoriented and unsure which direction to walk.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know where she\u2019s at most of the time,\u201d Carla said. \u201cSometimes she doesn\u2019t remember us, and we\u2019re very concerned that she could be anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maria may also use the name Maria Veronica Ortiz. She was last seen wearing a blue Houston Texans jersey with the number 10 on the back, dark blue Adidas shorts and black sparkly Crocs in a size 7. Carla said her mother has short, thick hair and may have been carrying a plastic bag.<\/p>\n
Carla said her mother has shown significant signs of dementia for approximately six years. Her condition appeared to worsen after she lost her job and her daily routine during the COVID-19 pandemic, around the same time her own mother died.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants to go to her mom\u2019s house,\u201d Carla said. \u201cSometimes she doesn\u2019t remember us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not the first time Maria has wandered away. Carla said her mother went missing last December but was found at a nearby park within 24 hours. This time, nearly two weeks have passed without her return.<\/p>\n
Search-and-rescue teams spent hours Sunday searching near Highway 99 and FM 1485 using drones and ATVs. Family members and volunteers have also searched on foot and by bicycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been on foot, on bikes, on drones, four-wheelers\u2014everywhere in the nearby area,\u201d Carla said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a lot of acres to cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
The search has taken an emotional and physical toll on Maria\u2019s family. Carla said they have lost sleep and their appetites while spending nearly every free moment checking social media for possible sightings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re desperate to find her,\u201d she said. \u201cEven if it\u2019s not reliable, we still go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carla is asking people to report possible sightings directly to 911 instead of relying solely on social media comments. She said that would allow authorities to respond quickly and determine whether the person seen is her mother.<\/p>\n
The family has also tried playing some of Maria\u2019s favorite music while searching. Carla said her mother enjoys listening to Vicente Fern\u00e1ndez and that Sprite is her favorite drink. Maria responds to both Maria and Veronica.<\/p>\n
The family is especially hoping Maria will return in time to celebrate her second grandchild\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve really been wanting to celebrate it with her,\u201d Carla said.<\/p>\n
Anyone who sees Maria or has information about where she may be is asked to call 911 or 936-538-5900.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW CANEY, Tx \u2013 A New Caney family is pleading for the public\u2019s help finding a woman who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[139157,139159,139158,47428,139160,139156,27,29,28,89555],"class_list":["post-396036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-family-searching-for-loved-one","tag-maria","tag-missing-grandmother-texas","tag-new-caney","tag-ortiz","tag-report-missing-person-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-search-and-rescue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396036","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=396036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}