SAN ANTONIO — UPDATE 9/10
Emma Allison was reported "found safe" on Sunday, September 10.
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The search for a missing San Antonio teenager is intensifying as a private investigator joins the case.
On August 21, Emma Becker Allison, 17, was last seen leaving her home in the 300 block of Pike Road on the northeast side.
San Antonio Private Investigator Charlie Parker says the first step in the case is searching for proof of life. The good news, he says, is they've found it.
"I want to say to Emma: I know she's out there I know she's on the streets... I know where she is, she has a cell phone," said Parker. "I want to help her get back home."
Officials with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) says Allison, a former MacArthur student, also has a diagnosed medical condition.
"All we want to do is negotiate and talk to her," explained Parker.
Parker began working alongside SAPD's Missing Persons Unit one week ago. He said other private detectives are using X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to help find Emma.
"We found proof of life, and that's one of the main things," said Parker. "Now we've gotta find her."
To avoid jeopardizing the investigation, Parker couldn't share how they know Allison is alive.
What he could share is that her friends and their families are starting to help.
"We've interviewed just about everybody that she knows," he explained. "I want to say to her friends on Instagram and TikTok to reach her somehow for me."
Allison's family believes she's staying with friends who don't realize the severity of the consequences for harboring a runaway.
"She could be with someone that's influencing her," Parker thought. "If she's being held against her will, if she can give word (on) where she is, I will come for her and I will bring her back."
Allison is 5 foot, 11 inches, with green eyes and blonde hair, and was last seen wearing a black Marilyn Monroe shirt, grey sweat pants and black tennis shoes.
Harboring a runaway is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine and/or up to a year in jail.
If you have any information on Allison's whereabouts, Parker can be reached at 210-823-1993. You can also call SAPD's Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660.
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