Texas girl, 14, has been missing for a week; mother says wait for news is excruciating

Giana Smith was last seen on Feb. 17.
Giana Smith was last seen on Feb. 17.(KXII)
Published: Feb. 25, 2021 at 11:08 AM CST
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SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - A Sherman teen has been missing for a week, and her mother, Manda Turner, says not knowing where she is excruciating.

She says lead after lead has come up a dead end and she hasn’t heard from her daughter in seven days.

“You know in most cases, runaways come home after a certain amount of days. In this case she has not returned and nobody has heard from her,” said Sherman police Sgt. Brett Mullen.

Feb. 17, was the last time Turner saw her 14-year-old daughter Giana Smith.

“The last time I saw her was at 9 p.m. in her bed. The cameras at our apartment actually picked her up walking right through this area with a small bag at about 11:30 p.m.,” Turner said.

The surveillance video has not been released to the public.

Manda told KXII in Sherman the video shows her daughter, wearing a black jacket and shirt, black leggings and pink rain boots, heading toward the parking lot.

She says she was carrying a small backpack, and she thinks Giana had a pair of Crocs inside because she noticed they were missing.

“My only child, I had her when I was 19, it’s just been me and her. She’s my entire world,” Turner said.

“The investigation is progressing,” said Mullen.

“There has been a detective assigned, we’re just asking anyone with information to please call us and let us know, so we can try and get her located and get her home safe.”

Turner says Giana’s phone has been off since the day she disappeared.

“No, she had never run away before. No, this was very outside of her normal,” Turner said.

Her mother says Giana does suffer from depression and anxiety, and she was recently released from a behavioral health inpatient facility but says it’s not like her to leave without her medication.

“It’s just the worst feeling ever, because every second of every day, my life has been consumed with this perfect child that I love so much and I haven’t heard from her in literally seven days, so I’m mortified” Turner said.

Turner says she believes her daughter is out there somewhere.

“If she’s somewhere, if she’s anywhere, if you know anything... please,” Turner said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sherman police at (903) 892-7299.

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