Grandmother hoping for safe return of missing Houston mom Deaundrea Ford

NBC News
Kyani Reid
October 3, 2023

“I know she’s trying to get home,” Bridgette Carriere told Dateline. “We’re trying to get her back as soon as possible.”

Bridgette’s granddaughter, Deaundrea Ford, has been missing for over two weeks. The 21-year-old was last seen on September 21, 2023, in Houston, Texas.

Bridgette told Dateline that their family is from Houston. “She was living with me,” she said. “She has a brother and two sisters.”

Deaundrea also has a 4-year-old son. “She’s a loving mother, she’s very friendly,” Bridgette told Dateline about her granddaughter. “It’s nothing she would not do for nobody.”

Bridgette told Dateline that Deaundrea had a new job at Diva’s Bikini Sports Bar and Grille. “She was working there about two weeks,” she said. “She had just started.”

That’s where Deaundrea was on September 21.

Bridgette said she started getting concerning phone calls from family and friends the next day. “She had spent the night — a couple of nights at her friend’s house,” she said. “I started getting calls asking me had I heard from her. That’s how I knew she was missing.”

Brigette said she found out that around 2 a.m. on September 22, Deaundrea tried to call a friend. “But the friend was asleep and she missed the phone call,” she said. “Her friend tried calling her — just calling her.” But the calls went straight to voicemail.

Other friends and family tried calling Deaundrea as well and got no response. Bridgette said she reported her granddaughter missing that day.

Houston Police Department Spokesperson Jodie Silva told Dateline that Deaundrea was last seen being dropped off by a family member at 11927 East Freeway in Houston around 10 p.m. on September 21.

Silva went on to say that reports indicate that Deaundrea told her family that she was supposed to be picked up later that night by a friend.

According to Bridgette, Deaundrea was captured on security footage leaving Diva’s Bikini Sports Bar and Grille in a white van with an unknown male.

The HPD Spokesperson told Dateline that the Houston Police Department cannot confirm the white van or the security footage at this time but said the circumstances surrounding Deaundrea’s disappearance are actively being investigated.

Bridgette told Dateline that it is extremely unlike her granddaughter to just disappear. “She always stayed in contact,” she said, adding that Deaundrea would never go this long without speaking to her son who lives with Bridgette. “She always calls, or — he knows how to use the phone. He’ll call her.”

It’s now been weeks since Deaundrea’s son has heard his mother’s voice.

Agencies like the Black and Missing Foundation have been working with Deaundrea’s family to get the word out about her disappearance.

Dateline spoke with Natalie Wilson, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of the organization, who said she believes it is critical that people speak up if they know something about Deaundrea’s case. “There’s a sense of distrust with the minority community and law enforcement, we get that,” she said. “So if anyone has information, reach out to the Black and Missing Foundation. We just need to bring Deaundrea home.”

Bridgette told Dateline that her family is praying Deaundrea comes home safe. “I love her and try to hold on,” she said, and then appealed directly to Deaundrea: “Don’t try to get [yourself] hurt or nothing.”

Deaundrea is 5’4”, 170 lbs., and has brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing tan pants and a black tank top.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Houston Police Department at 832-394-1840.

Photo credit: The family of Deaundrea Ford