HOUSTON, TEXAS: Deundrea Lakelsia Ford, a 21-year-old Houston resident who worked as a dancer, has been missing ever since she was last seen stepping into a van outside the Diva's Bikini Sports Bar & Grill.
Local news sources claim that the young mother, who has been missing for over a week, was a crucial witness in a case involving capital murder.
Ford was last spotted in east Houston on September 28. She apparently met a man that evening while working at Diva's Bikini Sports Bar and Grill, who no one there knew.
She left that night with the unidentified man, and nobody has seen her since, per The Independent.
Ford was described by authorities as a Black woman, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 170 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
She was last seen, according to the police, sporting a black tank top and tan jeans.
Given that Ford has a 4-year-old boy, her grandmother, Bridgette Carriere, said it is unusual for her granddaughter to disappear and not get in touch.
Her grandma Carriere stated, "I just hope she's alive."
Deundrea Ford is the primary witness in capital murder trial for Jarrell Wheeler
Ford is a key witness in a capital murder case concerning a former detention officer, Jarrell Wheeler, but family members are unsure if the events are related.
According to the records, Ford and another woman, Quitiana Taylor, 21, flew to Baton Rouge on May 10 to perform as dancers and prostitutes for clients who had been introduced to them by a man by the name of Otis Parker.
With the money they earned in Louisiana, Parker was taking the women back to their home state on May 18.
Authorities claimed Taylor intended to rob Parker of $1,500 in cash. Parker was shot and killed as the three were traveling to the Villa Americana Apartments on Selinsky Road.
Ford was identified as a passenger in the front passenger seat, per FOX 26 Houston.
According to court records, the shooter was 22-year-old Jamal Brown. Along with Mariah Green, 20, and Taylor, Jarrell Wheeler was also named as an accomplice.
A month later, Brown was killed in a gunfight with the police. The other two suspects are still being held in custody along with Wheeler.
Parker died in May, and Wheeler and three other people were charged with his murder. They were also accused of the additional charge of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, while Ford is listed as the victim.
Deundrea Ford disappeared one day before Jarrell Wheeler was charged
Ford suddenly disappeared on September 21, one day before Wheeler was officially charged.
She was last seen leaving the Houston bar and getting into a white van, while who drove the van remains unknown.
Kevin Carriere, Ford's uncle, informed FOX 26 Houston that his niece had only recently started working there as a dancer.
He claims to have personally viewed the club's security footage, which shows Ford and a patron sitting in the van for well over an hour before moving out of range of the establishment's cameras, per the local news source.
Houston police urged anyone with information on Ford's whereabouts to contact the Houston Police Patrol at 713-884-3131 or the Houston Police Missing Persons Division at 832-394-1840.
