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Thursday, July 19, 2001
Missing girl, 13, is found
Port A visitor is located in Corpus Christi
By Sara Lee Fernandez and Christine Spencer
Caller-Times

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Nola Wetterman says her daughter, Christina Rae Wetterman, has asthma and is on medication for a seizure disorder. The 13-year-old was found Wednesday night in Corpus Christi.


   A 13-year-old California girl was found in Corpus Christi Wednesday night after disappearing from a Port Aransas beach on Monday.
   Christina Wetterman, who had been vacationing in Port Aransas with her family since late last week, was found at about 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Albertson's Express, 5513 Saratoga Blvd., Police Chief Pete Alvarez said.
   "I don't know what to say and I'm totally amazed," Tom Wetterman, one of Christina's brothers, said from the family's motel room as other family members cheered her picture on a 10 p.m. newscast and waited for her return. "I guess I was all doom and gloom.
   "I kept trying to prepare the family for the worst," he said. "My heart's about to pound out of my chest."
   Alvarez said a man driving a red Ford Mustang dropped Christina off in the parking lot, and drove away.
   "When she tried to get back to the car, he was gone," Alvarez said.
   It was in the parking lot that someone recognized the 13-year-old and called police.

Christina Wetterman

   Police officers Sergio Ramirez and Larry Lopez were eating dinner when a citizen flagged them down after recognizing the girl.
   Christina had been wandering around for about 10 minutes outside Albertson's. Police said that when officers approached her, Christina gave them a false name and age and asked what she had done wrong.
   Mark Soliz, 19, said he saw Christina walking around the parking lot and crying. He said he asked what was wrong and she replied that her boyfriend in a red Mustang had dropped her off.
   Soliz said she told him she didn't know where she lived, but she needed a place to stay.
   Alvarez said police are treating the case as a kidnapping. He said officers weren't able to talk to Christina much because she was having an asthma attack.
   Her parents were called and Christina was taken to Driscoll Children's Hospital so she could be checked for injuries, Alvarez said.

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Christina Rae Wetterman, 13, was barefoot and had no personal items with her when she left her family for a walk on the beach.

   Her parents were on their way to Corpus Christi late Wednesday.
   Christina had last been seen at about 5:30 p.m. Monday on Mustang Beach near Beach Access Road 1-A after she went for a walk along the beach by herself. The FBI joined in the search on Wednesday, and on Tuesday authorities used helicopters to comb the beach and the dunes in an effort to find her.
   The family plans to leave for Waco today so they can attend a family reunion before returning to Hinkley, Calif. The family has been traveling for several weeks, first to New Mexico, where Christina attended a church summer camp, and then through Texas to Port Aransas.


Venessa Santos-Garza and James A. Suydam contributed to this report. Contact Sara Lee Fernandez at 886-3767 or fernandezs@caller.com

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