The Dallas Police Department has issued a critical update amid a search for a missing 13-year-old girl. Natalie Armstrong has been designated as an endangered missing person who “may be in need of assistance,” per ABC.
Natalie was last seen on foot at 10:08 p.m. Wednesday, October 21 in the 9300 block of Whistle Stop Place in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas. She has been described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing approximately 135 pounds. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.
Natalie was last seen wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and white shoes.
‘She’s on the spectrum, but high functioning’
Natalie’s mother, Megan Bernhardt, said that her daughter has autism, and is concerned that she could put herself in danger without realizing it.
“She’s on the spectrum, but high functioning,” Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt said that Natalie was anxious about school evaluations scheduled for the next morning.
“She was feeling anxious about those and ended up just taking off from home. And I wasn’t able to catch her in time and stop her,” Bernhardt said.
The mother said she believes that Natalie may have left the neighborhood on the light rail. The Lake Highlands DART station is just a short walk from the apartment complex where Natalie lives. Bernhardt said that Natalie has jumped on the train before, but has never been missing for this long.
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“Her thought process just is a little bit different from other people’s at times,” Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt said that she is worried her daughter may not be able to recognize certain dangers, like getting into a stranger’s car.
“She doesn’t always have those same sort of fears or concerns in in making those choices,” she said.
Anyone with information on Natalie’s whereabouts has been urged to call 911 or the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-4268, referencing case number 155505-2026.