A 16-year-old Waco boy with autism and intellectual disabilities was last seen Friday afternoon near the 1800 block of South Fifth Street not far from his family’s apartment on Baylor University’s campus. Avery McGarry stands about 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs roughly 128 pounds, and has brown eyes and brown hair. He was wearing a gray fleece jacket when he disappeared, and authorities are asking anyone who spots him to call 911 right away.
The exact timing of his disappearance is disputed between accounts. An alert reposted by The Katy News lists his last-seen time as 3:30 p.m. on Friday, while his mother told KWTX he vanished from the family’s Baylor campus apartment around 3:20 p.m. that same day. The Texas Department of Public Safety is asking the public to help locate him, according to a report from KABB, which lists him as endangered missing.
McGarry’s mother told KWTX he left without his phone, with very little money, no food, and not dressed warmly enough for the weather. She said he might be in a state of confused thinking, pointing to his autism as a factor in his disappearance. Accounts also differ on what McGarry was carrying when he left: the missing-person notice described faded green bags, while a separate report from FOX 44 said police described a green suitcase and a dark-colored backpack.
A Pattern Emerging Over the Past Month
This is not the first time McGarry has gone missing from the same campus. His mother told KWTX that he disappeared from Baylor’s campus on October 15 as well, and was gone for five and a half days before he was located. A separate report from FOX 44 frames Friday’s disappearance as the second runaway report involving McGarry in a month, noting he had been reported as a runaway in October before later being found and reported safe.
FOX 44 also reported that McGarry was reported as a runaway to the Baylor University Department of Public Safety on Friday evening, suggesting campus police were alerted shortly after he was last seen. A social media post from the account X @TX_Alerts referenced a discontinued missing endangered alert for McGarry tied to an earlier October 20 date, though that post does not speak to the status of Friday’s disappearance.
How to Help
Anyone who sees McGarry is asked to call 911 immediately or contact the Baylor University Police Department at 254-710-2222. The family’s renewed appeal for public help comes as investigators and campus police work to determine where the teen may have gone this time, with his mother stressing that he left home unprepared for the cold and without a way to call for help.
