A 16-year-old San Antonio boy has not been seen in more than a week, and police are now asking the public for help finding him. William “Donnie” Donald Henderson IV was last seen Sunday, Oct. 4, near U.S. 90 and Military Drive West on the city's West Side.
San Antonio police asked the public for help finding the teen after he had gone unseen for more than a week, according to WOAI. Henderson is described as 6 feet tall and about 165 pounds, with brown, ear-length hair and green eyes. He is right-handed and has a heart-shaped birthmark on his lower left shin, a detail police included to help identify him.
When he was last seen, Henderson was wearing a black hat, a black T-shirt, navy blue cargo shorts, white Nike Air Force Ones and a black backpack, per the same report. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SAPD Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660.
A Citywide Pattern of Runaway Cases
Henderson's disappearance fits into a much larger pattern playing out across San Antonio. In 2024, at least 2,770 people had been reported missing in the city since January, with another 583 reported missing in Bexar County during the same period, according to the San Antonio Report. About three-quarters of SAPD cases to date in 2024 involved teens or juveniles reported as having run away from home, the outlet found.
The San Antonio Report also noted that 70 percent of people still missing in Bexar County are people of color. At the San Antonio Police Department, a team of 16 agents was working on 153 missing-person cases as of Oct. 23, 2024, the outlet reported, underscoring the scale of the workload facing investigators even as individual cases like Henderson's draw public appeals for tips.
What Texas Law Says About Harboring a Runaway
Texas law classifies harboring a runaway child as a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, the WOAI report noted. The statute addresses a person who knowingly harbors a child while being criminally negligent about whether that child meets the circumstances described in the law, according to the Texas Children's Commission Bench Book's summary of Penal Code Section 25.06, which can be reviewed in full through the Texas Children's Commission Bench Book.
No update on Henderson's case has been released since the initial report. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to reach out to the SAPD Missing Persons Unit.
