Texas Teen Who Sparked National Manhunt Dies Two Months After Reuniting With Her Family

A Texas teenager whose disappearance sparked a national manhunt has died just two months after being reunited with her family.

On Feb. 3, the family of Heaven Ray Cox of Mauricevile, Texas announced of Facebook that the 15-year-old had passed away, her mother, Tammy Day Cox, writing “Our sweet Heaven left us to be with Jesus this afternoon around 4:00. Some bright lights are not meant for this dark and cruel world. I know that Dusty and Gracie were there to welcome her. Sing with the angels sweet girl. I love you.”

News of Cox’s death comes just two months after the teen had vanished, allegedly running away with a much older man that she had met on Snapchat.

On Nov. 26, the teen’s parents discovered a note left in their daughter’s room claiming that she was on her way to California and would not be reachable by phone. Cox, who suffered from bipolar disorder, had left her house without her medication. She had also taken her passport with her.

“[Heaven Ray Cox] is in the company of a man much older than her. The man she has been talking to is a predator, who has apparently been manipulating her for some time, and in her current state of mind, she believes that he is her friend,” Cox’s mother wrote on Facebook following her disappearance. “I am asking everyone to share this to their wall, and particularly those who live in California and every state between there and Texas. This man told her that he would be in San Antonio for Thanksgiving and that he would pick her up.”

Cox’s disappearance sparked a nationwide manhunt, authorities fearing the worst, though they never commented on the family’s claims that Cox was with an “online predator.”

On Dec. 1, authorities found Cox in Louisiana in the home of a relative of someone she knew, the Daily Mail reports. She was reunited with her family shortly after.

The cause of Cox’s death is not yet clear.