South San Antonio Man, 25, Found Safe After Vanishing on Foot From Andalusite Way

A 25-year-old South San Antonio man who walked away from his home without a cellphone has been found alive and well, according to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Dakota Ray had been reported missing from the 20600 block of Andalusite Way, and deputies said his whereabouts were unknown before he was located.

Ray left his residence on foot, and investigators said he was believed to be in danger before he was found, according to a Bexar County Sheriff's Office Facebook post. He was last seen wearing a black shirt with white lettering, black and red shorts, and tan shoes, and was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. The 20600 block of Andalusite Way sits in the Ruby Crossing residential development in the 78264 ZIP code near Southside High School, according to HAR.com.

Deputies Asked Public for Help Before Resolution

Before Ray was found, the sheriff's office asked for the public's help locating him and shared a phone number, 210-335-6000, for anyone with information. The sheriff's office also provided an email address, [email protected], for tips related to the case. The update confirming Ray had been found alive and well came the same day deputies were still asking for the public's help in a separate case.

That same evening, the sheriff's office also requested help finding 18-year-old Zeke Richardson, who had vanished off Babcock Road with his cellphone powered off, as reported by KENS 5. Ray's case was one of several active search bulletins Bexar County deputies issued in late August, following appeals for 13-year-old Andres Juan-Woods, who left his far West Side home on foot without a cellphone, and 15-year-old Avery Carol Robles, who went missing for the second time this year.

How Bexar County Handles Missing Person Reports

Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 63, law enforcement agencies must accept missing person reports and begin investigating immediately, with no mandatory waiting period, per FindLaw. That legal framework allowed the Bexar County Sheriff's Office Missing Persons Unit, established in 2017 to handle these cases separately from violent crime investigations, to act as soon as Ray was reported missing.

Adult disappearances like Ray's don't automatically trigger the kind of statewide alert issued for children or seniors. A CLEAR Alert, created under 2019 legislation known as HB 1769, requires law enforcement to verify that a missing adult between 18 and 64 is in imminent danger of bodily injury or death, or that the disappearance was involuntary, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Absent that threshold, agencies like Bexar County's often lean on direct social media bulletins and community tips to resolve cases quickly.

The scale of that caseload is significant. Bexar County Sheriff's Office data showed deputies handled 583 missing persons reports in 2024 alone, with roughly three-quarters involving runaway juveniles and teens, according to the San Antonio Report. The state also maintains a Missing Persons Clearinghouse with a toll-free helpline, 800-346-3243, to coordinate searches across Texas agencies.

Ray's swift recovery followed a pattern seen elsewhere this month, including the case of 15-year-old Justin Sierra, who was reported missing from West Bexar County earlier in August. As with those other cases, the sheriff's office has not released further details on where or how Ray was located.