Shreveport mother charged with failure to report a missing child

Shreveport, LA (12/7/2022) – Detectives with the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested a Shreveport woman for failure to report her son missing, said Sheriff Steve Prator.

On Thursday, Dec. 1, 41-year-old Stephanie Horache reported her teenage son missing three days after he ran away from home. The child was found on Monday, Dec. 5, and Horache was issued a summons to appear in court.

By law, a child thirteen years of age or younger is to be presumed missing if the child’s caretaker has not been in contact with them for twelve hours; and a child over the age of thirteen is to be presumed missing if the child’s caretaker has not been in contact with them for a period of twenty-four hours.

“A child’s caretaker shall report to an appropriate authority that a child is missing within two hours of the expiration of the period provided,” per Louisiana Revised Statute 14:403.7.