San Antonio police are asking for the public's help finding a 15-year-old boy who vanished from the Northeast Side on Sunday. Xavier Herrera was last seen near the 4000 block of Hunters Glen, and investigators have released a detailed physical description in hopes that someone recognizes him.
According to KABB, Herrera stands 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs around 130 pounds, with brown eyes, brown hair, and a medium complexion. He is left-handed and has curly, ear-top-length hair, and he has a scar on the right side below his jaw that could help identify him. Police say he was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, black basketball shorts, white socks, and tan slides.
Anyone with information about Herrera's whereabouts is asked to contact the San Antonio Police Department's Missing Person Unit at 210-207-7660, the outlet's report notes. No further details about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance have been made public.
No Waiting Period Required to File a Report
San Antonio Police Department policy requires no waiting period before a report can be filed for a missing person or juvenile runaway within city limits, according to the City of San Antonio. That policy dovetails with state law: under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 63.00905, agencies receiving a missing child report must immediately begin an investigation and enter the minor's details into state and national databases within two hours, per the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
That urgency, however, does not automatically translate into a statewide public alert. Amber Alerts in Texas require confirmed evidence of a child abduction and immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death before state authorities will issue public emergency broadcasts for missing minors under 18, per the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is why localized juvenile reports like Herrera's don't automatically trigger one.
A Legal Line Between Runaway Status and Harboring a Minor
Texas law treats a minor under 17 who runs away from home as a status offense rather than a crime, meaning it is handled as a civil matter indicating a need for supervision under Texas Family Code Section 51.03, rather than a criminal case. Juvenile courts cannot commit status offenders to state juvenile correctional facilities as a result.
Adults who knowingly shelter a runaway face a different legal standard. Under Texas Penal Code Section 25.06, an adult who knowingly harbors a runaway child under 18 and is criminally negligent about whether the child meets the statutory circumstances commits a Class A misdemeanor — punishable by a fine not exceeding $4,000 and up to one year in jail, per KABB's report — unless they notify law enforcement or a legal custodian within 24 hours, or are related to the minor within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity, according to Varghese Summersett.
Part of a Larger Pattern Across Bexar County
Herrera's case adds to a steady stream of juvenile disappearances across San Antonio this year. Hoodline previously reported on 16-year-old Ava Sophia Hernandez, who was also last seen on the Northeast Side. Fifteen-year-old Elektra Star Ojeda went missing on the Northwest Side in early October.
Statewide, Texas law enforcement agencies logged 40,309 total missing person reports in 2025, with children under 18 accounting for 28,229 of those filings — more than 70 percent of all cases, according to the Texas Center for the Missing. Locally, authorities field between three and 10 missing-person calls every day, per the San Antonio Report, which also notes that missing teenagers make up roughly 70 percent of all missing person reports countywide.
That caseload has strained local resources. Bexar County commissioners approved $370,000 in fiscal year 2026 budget funding to establish a dedicated Missing Persons Unit within the sheriff's office, aimed at addressing a backlog of more than 600 open cases that had previously been managed by a single investigator juggling other criminal duties, per the San Antonio Report.
Nationally, voluntary runaways account for 80 to 85 percent of all missing child reports, while non-family abductions make up just 3 to 4 percent and stranger abductions less than 1 percent, according to the Texas Center for the Missing. Even so, a January 2024 report from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System ranked San Antonio among the top 10 U.S. cities for unresolved missing persons cases, with 157 open cases recorded at the time, according to KENS 5.
For now, police have not released additional details about what led to Herrera's disappearance. Anyone with information is urged to reach out to the SAPD Missing Person Unit using the number listed above.
