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.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”