case closed

After mysterious Christmas Day disappearance, young family located in upperLouisiana

Haley Vilven, top, Amanda Jindra and Atorian Buckner-Brown are safe afterdisappearing for four days following a Christmas Day dinner.
Photos courtesy of Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
Recovery teams combed the Woodlands area for the couple's 2011 MitsubishiOutlander, before suspending the search on Saturday.
Photos courtesy of Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office

A pair of Houston area families are resting easier this New Year after two adults and a child were located safe and sound following a four-day disappearance that started on Christmas Day.

On Dec. 27, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) issued a statement asking for the public's help in locating 35-year-old Woodlands resident Amanda Jindra, her 5-year-old daughter Haley Vilven and her boyfriend Atorian Buckner-Brown, 20.

While there were no immediate signs of foul play, Jindra's parents nervously told reporters that their daughter would never leave without one of her children.

Last Thursday, KPRC reported that Amanda Jindra — along with her boyfriend, daughter and 9-year-old son — had a holiday meal with some of her family members on Christmas in southern Montgomery County. The couple planned to take the children to the park, but dropped off Jindra's son with a family friend instead. By 9 p.m. that evening, the remaining three were gone.

While there were no immediate signs of foul play, Jindra's parents nervously told reporters that their daughter would never leave without one of her children and that the disappearance was very much out of character.

Jonathan Jindra, the missing woman's brother and a well-known artist in Houston, helped to spread word of the search on social media along with Burnett Specialists, a placement firm with whom Amanda Jindra has worked as a recruiter since 2011.

"None of us expected anything like this," Jonathan Jindra told CultureMap on Friday. "Like anyone, Amanda has had her ups and downs, but she always tried to remain in good spirits. This seems so random and comes as a total surprise."

Found safe

According to Sherry McKinney of Texas EquuSearch — the all-volunteer recovery team that lead the search effort — the couple made contact with family members early Saturday afternoon from a location near Shreveport, La.

"We suspended the search immediately and, by Monday, we confirmed that they were safe with their families," McKinney told CultureMap.

"EquuSearch runs entirely on donations and volunteers, and we want to thanks the Woodlands community for the incredible support last week. We're all very glad to hear that Amanda, her daughter and Atorian are all OK."

No other details were immediately forthcoming about the disappearance.

unspecified

take the tour

Local Foods owner serves up French bistro with caviar service, regional classics, and a duck-short rib burger in Rice Village

Photo by Jenn Duncan

The burger uses a short rib and duck patty.

A veteran Houston restaurateur will open his new project next week. Eau Tour, Benjy Levit’s take on a French bistro, opens March 21.

Located in the former Thai Spice space above Levit’s Local Foods in Rice Village, Eau Tour is an intimate, second floor restaurant with seating for 60 in the dining room and 11 at the bar. Designer Brittany Vaughan of Garnish Designs, who also created the interior of Levit’s wine bar Lees Den, gave the space an art deco look that includes custom stained glass windows and restoring the original terrazzo floors, which date back to the space’s history as a bank in the ‘60s, according to a release.

The menu, developed by executive chef Kent Domas (The Classic, Alice Blue) and Lees Den chef Maria Gonzales is built around the restaurant’s wood burning oven. Dishes include baked mussels with snail butter, steak frites, seared snapper with cauliflower meuneire, and seared duck breast a la orange. A double cheeseburger is built around a patty that blends beef short rib with duck.

Meals at Eau Tower start with an extensive selection of cold and raw seafood dishes such as oysters, marinated crab claws, scallop crudo, and tuna tartare. An on-trend caviar service offers four different varieties along with accompaniments that include housemade potato chips (on the menu as kennebec gaufrettes).

Eau Tour caviar service Caviar service with accoutrements.Photo by Jenn Duncan

Eau Tower’s wine list features bottles from France and French-style American wines. Similar to Lees Den, they’re priced at a lower markup than typical restaurants. Those who prefer cocktails will find a few twists on classics, including a mezcal-based take on the French 75, as well as non-alcoholic options.

“Our goal is to open an intimate space with a refined but not too serious dinner party atmosphere with food meant to be passed around accompanied with fun tunes”, Levit said. “Eau Tour is a spot for the community to hang and enjoy happy habits.”

The new restaurant joins Gratify Neighborhood Bistro and Aaron Bludorn’s seafood restaurant Navy Blue as French-influenced concepts in Rice Village. Add in PS21, Master Chef of France Philippe Schmit’s new restaurant in Upper Kirby, and it appears a new wave of Francophilia may have Houstonians humming the tune to “Oh, Champs-Élysées.”

Photo by Jenn Duncan

The burger uses a short rib and duck patty.

openings rice-village news-you-can-eat