Dallas police are asking the public for help finding Daytrese Owens, a 27-year-old woman last seen barefoot in a pink robe covered in hearts on the 3000 block of Lenway Street. She disappeared around 11 a.m. yesterday, and investigators have classified her as a critical missing person — a designation reserved for cases where officers believe someone may be in danger or in need of assistance.
According to the Dallas Police Dept, Owens is described as a Black female standing 5 feet tall and weighing approximately 100 pounds, with brown eyes and black and blonde twist braids. Police say she may have been barefoot when she vanished, and she was last seen wearing the pink, heart-patterned robe. The department is tracking the case under reference number 131595-2026 and is directing anyone with information to call 911 or the Missing Persons Squad at (214) 671-4268.
***Critical Missing***
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) September 6, 2026
The Dallas Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Daytrese Owens.
Daytrese Owens is described as a 27-year-old Black female with brown eyes, and black and blonde twist braids. She is 5’00” tall and weighs approximately 100 lbs.… pic.twitter.com/9JBqY9iDYa
What the Critical Missing Label Means for the Search
Dallas Police Department policy allows critical missing classifications to trigger an immediate, 24-hour active field search by patrol teams, without any mandatory waiting period, according to WFAA. The department reserves the designation for missing individuals facing diminished mental capacity, medical risks, potential self-harm, or other circumstances suggesting danger. It remains unknown which specific risk factors led investigators to apply that classification to Owens's case, and whether a state or federal alert has been formally activated for her has not been disclosed.
Owens was last seen in the 3000 block of Lenway Street, a residential stretch of South Dallas's 75215 ZIP code near Fair Park where roughly 62% of households are renter-occupied, per Niche. The same block drew police attention last September, when officers investigated the fatal shooting of 31-year-old Raushaun Kirkland there, a case Hoodline covered at the time.
Texas Adults Go Missing by the Thousands Each Year
Owens's disappearance adds to a substantial caseload facing Texas investigators. The Texas Department of Public Safety recorded 3,655 adult missing person entries from Dallas County into the FBI's National Crime Information Center database during 2024. Statewide, the nonprofit Texas Center for the Missing found that of 40,309 total missing person reports filed across Texas in 2025, 12,080 involved adults 18 and older.
Texas created its Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue network, known as the CLEAR Alert, in 2019 specifically for missing adults between 18 and 64 believed to be in imminent danger. The legislation traces back in part to the 2014 kidnapping and murder of 24-year-old Black Dallas resident D'Lisa Kelley, whose family pushed for the alert framework after what they said were delays in the police response to her case. Separately, a national Missing Endangered Persons alert code took effect through the Federal Communications Commission's Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts on September 8, 2025, giving law enforcement nationwide a broadcast option for endangered missing adults beyond traditional Amber or Silver alerts.
A Broader Pattern in Missing Black Women's Cases
Owens's case also falls within a documented national disparity. A U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs report found that of 271,493 girls and women reported missing nationwide in 2022, more than 36% — 97,924 — were Black, even though Black females make up only about 14% of the U.S. female population. Research cited by the Black and Missing Foundation, as reported by Essence, found that while people of color account for over 40% of missing person reports in the country, only an estimated 7% of those cases receive national news coverage.
That gap is one reason advocates point to local reporting as a critical link between families and the public. For now, Dallas police are continuing to ask anyone with information on Owens's whereabouts to come forward, as detectives work the 24-hour field search tied to her critical missing classification.
