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Police are still searching for missing Texas student Caleb Harris one month on. Here’s what we know

Authorities are on the lookout for aTexas A&M Corpus Christi student who has not been seen for a month, reports Amelia Neath

Friday 05 April 2024 00:01 BST
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21-year-old Caleb Harris “vanished without a trace” last month
21-year-old Caleb Harris “vanished without a trace” last month (Corpus Christi Crime Stoppers)

A Texas A&M Corpus Christi student “vanished without a trace” from his off-campus apartment a month ago in the foggy early morning hours of 4 March.

Now a month has passed, detectives are continuing to investigate the disappearance of 21-year-old Caleb Harris, who left his keys and wallet in his apartment and an Uber Eats order he requested outside his front door.

In the hours leading up to his disappearance, everything seemed normal: he was hanging out with his friends playing video games, playing with his roommate’s girlfriend’s new puppy and ordering snacks for his lunch that day.

His family said he had made plans with friends, spoke with family often and had even signed on to a lease for an apartment next year.

Yet, the student is currently nowhere to be found.

Police have scoured the area, conducted interviews and assessed surveillance footage, but they are still unaware of where the student, described as a “homebody”, would have gone.

Here’s everything we know about the disappearance of Caleb Harris:

Environmental science student goes missing

Mr Harris’s roommate found an Uber Eats order that was bought by Mr Harris in the early hours of the morning still sitting outside when he opened their apartment door at 11am.

The missing Environmental Science student’s pickup truck was parked in front of the apartment, his wallet and keys were left in the apartment, and all that appeared to be missing was Mr Harris himself and his cell phone, but it has now been turned off.

This was unusual for his roommate, who described Mr Harris as a “homebody and a creature of habit” and immediately became alarmed by his absence.

After his roommates looked for their friend for a short while, they contacted the Corpus Christi Police Department to report him missing.

A preliminary search of the apartment and the immediate area did not show any signs of struggle or violence, nor did it indicate a hit-and-run accident.

Mr Harris is described as approximately 5ft 11in tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

‘Parent’s worst nightmare’

His father Randy Harris told KRIS-TV that he spoke with his son, who is originally from New Braunfels, the night before he vanished and everything seemed fine, but hours later, he received the news from his wife that he was missing.

Mr Harris says the ordeal has been a “parent’s worst nightmare” and added that his son’s disappearance does not seem to make sense.

“There’s just nothing there that would cause us to believe he was in any danger or leaving,” he said to KIII. “He had actually ordered in his food for the next day for school.”

Caleb is described by his father as the “kind of person that would just stop and help people” (Corpus Christi Crime Stoppers)

“We just pray for patience and for the stamina to continue just anything and everything we can," Mr Harris said to KRIS-TV.

His father said that his disappearance seemed odd, as he stayed in contact with his family often and had made upcoming plans with friends.

“It’s his intentions. I mean, texting us, Snapchatting his friends, everything," his father told the outlet. "They just got a new dog that evening and they were out playing with the dog and signed the lease on his apartment for next year.”

He said that his son came to study at Texas A&M University in the hopes of eventually working outdoors as a Texas game warden or an environmental lawyer.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi said in a statement that they “ask our university community and the public to keep Caleb and his family in your thoughts. TAMU-CC remains hopeful for Caleb’s safe return.”

His father described him as the “kind of person that would just stop and help people," Harris said.

“If somebody’s got a flat tire, he’s going to do what he can to help them,” he added.

‘Nothing appeared out of the ordinary’

The Texas student spent the evening of 3 March, the day before he was reported missing, inside his apartment along with his two roommates and a mutual friend, police said.

Mr Harris and his friend played online video games for over an hour with another former high school classmate who lives in Colorado.

At 12.56am, a doorbell camera at a nearby apartment captured Mr Harris, his friend, and one of his roommates in the parking lot playing with a puppy belonging to the girlfriend of one of his roommates.

Police said there was “nothing appeared out of the ordinary,” and the three men returned to the apartment.

Shortly after his, their mutual friend left the apartment.

At around 2.20am, one of Mr Harris’ roommates told the missing student that he was going to bed, but Mr Harris said he would stay up and order snacks through Uber Eats for his school lunch later that day.

At 2.44am, Mr Harris sent his younger sister a Snapchat video of him walking the puppy through what appears to be the apartment complex lot.

He also sent a Snapchat photo to a high school friend in San Antonio at 3.03am - the picture depicted a small bridge over a drainage ditch within a few hundred feet of the entrance to his apartment complex.

That area is under close investigation his father told NewsNation.

“That area was hand-to-hand walking in the creek,” he told the outlet. “The creek wasn’t flowing at the time, so it’s just a muddy bottom creek. It’s very easy to see into it thoroughly.”

Shortly after this, at 3.12am, Mr Harris’ cell phone last shared location data with the nearest cell phone tower.

Uber Eats delivery

At 3.20am, the Uber Eats delivery driver brings the order to Mr Harris’ apartment, leaving it outside near the front door as the order requested.

However, at 11am, one of his roommates discovered the order still sitting outside the front door.

Detectives got in contact with the 31-year-old woman who delivered the Uber Eats in the early hours of the morning, telling them she was driving alone that night and did not see the missing 21-year-old or anyone else at or near the apartment complex.

They added that she had been eliminated as a suspect in Mr Harris’ disappearance.

According to a statement from Uber to PEOPLE, Caleb’s order was completed without any reported incident. The company has reached out to the police to offer assistance.

Multiple agencies still working the case

Police have carried out an exhaustive search of hundreds of acres surrounding Harris’ apartment complex on the 1900 block of Ennis Joslin Drive.

Detectives then turned their efforts towards establishing a timeline for Mr Harris in the hours and days preceding his sudden disappearance.

They also interviewed roommates, friends, family members and acquaintances.

The detectives said that “have no reason to suspect any of these individuals had anything to do with Harris’s disappearance.”

Aside from the interviews, they went door-to-door around his and the adjacent apartment complex to try and find any possible witnesses or surveillance video, as well as searching thirty vacant apartments for Harris.

The Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and Organized Crime Unit, the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and the United States Marshals Service, along with three Forensic Computer Examiners, and one civilian crime analyst are all continuing to work on the case of the missing student.

Three weeks after Mr Harris vanished without a trace, detectives said they have extensively searched businesses and residences, retrieved footage and traffic camera video, as well as written 16 electronic search warrants among other tactics.

If you have information regarding the disappearance of Caleb Harris, authorites are asking people to contact the Corpus Christi Police Department at (361) 826-2840 or you can submit an anonymous tip at Crime Stoppers 888-TIPS (888-8477). The tipline number set up by the Harris family is (361) 826-2950.

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