North Richland Hills police on Wednesday released a photo taken at a store in Abilene of a missing 14-year-old and the 26-year-old man believed to be with her.
Ruby Contreras, who was last seen at North Oaks Middle School in Haltom City, has been missing for one week. Police believe she is with Stephan Cox, an Ohio man who earlier this year was charged with unlawful sexual contact with a minor.
Investigators believe Cox picked Contreras up from school on April 24.
Her parents reported her disappearance that evening.
Police said Contreras and Cox took a Greyhound bus from Fort Worth to El Paso on April 24, stopping in Abilene during the trip.
The photo of Contreras and Cox entering a convenience store in Abilene was taken at about 10 p.m. on April 24. She is wearing different clothes than when she disappeared, police said.
The pictures seem to show that she is not being held against her will and that she may not have any idea she could be in danger, police said.
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Contreras and Cox were last seen when they arrived in El Paso on April 25.
Police say they don't know how the two met but suspect they met in person for the first time on April 24.
Cox Faces Sex Charges With Pennsylvania Teen
Cox currently faces sex charges after a teen girl from Pennsylvania reportedly stole her parents' car to drive to Ohio to meet him.
The girl's parents told investigators that their daughter and Cox met online.
Court records show that Columbus, Ohio, authorities in January charged Cox with two counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor.
Cox, who has been on house arrest since February, was supposed to have an ankle monitor.
He is due in court in Ohio on Tuesday.
The Texas Rangers, the North Richland Hills and El Paso police departments, the State Operations Center, the FBI and law enforcement agencies in Ohio are working on Contreras' disappearance.
Contreras Family "Scared for Her"
The Contreras family has been hanging up missing-person fliers all around North Richland Hills.
"I’m scared for her. I don't know what this man is telling her. I don’t know what he's doing. I'm just scared for her," said her sister, Jiovanna Contreras.
Their father, Alfonso, has had several sleepless nights waiting for any word from his daughter.
"I don't know why this happened," he said. "I can't believe it."
Family members say they knew something was wrong when Ruby Contreras didn't walk through the door after school.
"She always came home at 4:12 p.m. every day," her sister said. "I was here waiting for her every day. She didn't come home that day."
Jiovanna Contreras says it is just not like her little sister to vanish. Her family reported the teenager missing last Wednesday.
The North Richland Hills Police Department originally called said that an Amber Alert had been issued in the case, but the Texas State Operations Center has refused to classify the case as an Amber Alert because of the lack of information on a vehicle in which she and Cox may be traveling.
North Richland Hills police say even though the case does not have an Amber Alert, they still need the public's help in locating her. Anyone with any information about Contreras or Cox should immediately call 911.
NBC 5's Eric King contributed to this report.
