A Texas philanthropist Karen Miles has been missing for nearly three weeks and a man was arrested for allegedly driving her car with a stolen plate. The man has not been charged in connection with the missing woman’s disappearance, People reports.
According to the report by People, Karen Miles, 61, was last seen on Aug. 21, in Houston and reported missing by family members on Aug. 29, the Missouri City Police Department said in a statement at the time.
Karen Miles was reported missing from her home in nearby Missouri City, Texas, per the statement issued on Aug. 30.
Days before she was reported missing, however, a man named Davante Clark was seen in nearby Pearland on Aug. 25, allegedly driving Miles’ car with a stolen license plate, according to Pearland police officer Chad Rogers. Authorities allegedly found a gun in Clark’s car.
Clark was charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon, knowingly altering a license plate and for being a fugitive because of active warrants out of Harris County, Rogers says.
The active warrants are for evading arrest and unauthorized use of a vehicle, Rogers said, adding that those charges have no connection to Miles’ disappearance. Clark has not entered a plea.
However, Missouri City police consider Clark a person of interest, per Click 2 Houston, ABC 13 and CW 39. Police did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comments for further information.
An active member of the community who was always in contact with her friends and family, Miles’ absence on her social media was promptly noticed by some, per Click 2 Houston.
Wendy Lewis Armstrong, who has worked with Miles through several community platforms, told the outlet she began to get worried when she saw others posting on Miles’ Facebook to get her to respond.
“I saw the second [Facebook] message and called her phone and it went straight to voicemail,” Armstrong told the outlet.
Friends went to her home to check on her, per the outlet, and notified Miles’ family members when she didn’t respond.
Karen Miles is a member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Black Heritage committee, per Click 2 Houston and KHOU 11.
“She’s a part of so many organizations. She gives so much, she’s constantly volunteering,” her friend Danessa Bolling told ABC 13.
Now, the community she actively and devotedly served is rallying to help raise awareness about her disappearance and pushing authorities to speed up their investigation.
“(She) is light, and so, this feels dark because we don’t know where she is,” Bolling said, per ABC 13.
“My mom is a pillar in the community is what I will call it,” her daughter Janice Bond said, per Click 2 Houston. “One of the things I noticed throughout this process is the sense of community. She’s always volunteered and did a lot of things, but I never caught a sense of what that actually meant until now.”