Chapter Closes as Texas Girl, Missing for 13 Years, is Finally Located

A young girl who disappeared from Amarillo, Texas when finally been located.

Jessica Delgadillo was 14 years old when she was reported missing by her family ion October 20, 2013. it was reported to the Amarillo Police Department that she had not returned home from school.

A missing persons investigation was opened, then eventually turned over to APD's Homicide Unit due to a lack of leads. But according to officials with APD, Jessica's disappearance was "diligently worked on by many investigators throughout a ten-year span".

The big break in Jessica Delgadillo's case came when APD's Cold Case Unit was established late last year. The special unit was formed in order to tackle the numerous missing persons and unsolved homicides that had languished over the years.

Read More: These Are The Unsolved Murders of Amarillo, Texas

After the unit was formed, investigators reached out to NCMEC (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children) for assistance on three cold cases regarding missing children, Jessica's being one of them.

The NCMEC sent out representatives from Team Adam, a subsidiary resource group that "provides rapid, on-site assistance to law enforcement agencies and families in critical cases of missing children."

With the help of Team Adam, a revived effort in public outreach for information was done. In these outreach campaigns, disappearance details and age progression photos were dessiminated.

Finally, on Thursday, November 2nd, 2023, investigators received a call from a woman who stated she was Jessica Delgadillo. The individual confirmed that she was aware she had been reported missing and after further communications, she consented to the collection of DNA swabs to be sent to the University of North Texas for genetic testing.

Several months later, the DNA confirmed that the woman was indeed Jessica Delgadillo.

According to the release from Cpl. Carmela Ogden with APD, Jessica has requested that her location and further details of her disappearance not be released.

Two other cold cases aside from Jessica's were examined by Team Adam and APD's Cold Case Unit, Brandy Noble and Dorien Thomas.