Crystal McDowell told her boyfriend she was fleeing Houston ahead of Hurricane Harvey, but no one has heard from the\u00a0<\/span>real estate<\/a> agent since Aug. 25.\u00a0<\/span>Police are still searching for her.<\/p>\n The last time anyone had\u00a0heard from McDowell\u2014a sales associate with Virginia Malone & Associates in Baytown, Texas\u2014was \u201cabout 24 hours before the worst of the catastrophic hurricane hit the Houston area,\u201d CBS News reports.<\/p>\n McDowell, 37, was scheduled to show a new construction property in Crosby, Texas, that morning but the appointment was canceled due to the impending storm. Her uncle Jeff Walters reported her as a missing person on Saturday. The Chambers County Sheriff Office has posted information on social media but the department has been overwhelmed with responding to the hurricane, CBS News reports.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are hampered by some of the flood issues, but we are as aggressive as ever trying to locate and find Crystal McDowell,\u201d\u00a0Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said on \u201cCBS This Morning.\u201d\u00a0However, Hawthorne said he is \u201cvery, very confident\u201d that McDowell is not a storm victim.<\/p>\n On the morning of Aug. 25, McDowell told her boyfriend\u00a0<\/span>that she was going to pick up her children at her ex-husband\u2019s home. He lives about 18 miles away from Baytown.<\/p>\n \u201cShe texted me to say road conditions were good around 8:30 a.m.,\u201d\u00a0Paul Hargrave, her boyfriend, told CBS News.<\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s car was found partially submerged in flooded waters outside a Motel 6 in Mont Belvieu. Two people who were spotted inside McDowell\u2019s car have been detained by police and were taken in for questioning.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do not believe they were involved with Crystal\u2019s disappearance,\u201d\u00a0Hargrave said.<\/p>\n The family has increased its reward to $15,000 for information on McDowell’s whereabouts and the arrest of any individuals involved, according to the Missing Pieces Network.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just want her found safe and as quickly as possible,\u201d Hargrave said.<\/p>\n Source: \u201cSearch for Houston-Area REALTOR\u00ae Who Vanished Before Hurricane Harvey,\u201d CBS News (Sept. 1, 2017)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Realtors.org <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\n
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