Andre and Catrina Rowbothan are heartbroken over their daughter’s disappearance as their AMBER Alert remains active for a fourth day.

Zoe Rowbothan, 16, of Hurst, Texas, went for a walk with her father Sunday evening after learning she would be entering a long-term facility next week for her mental health issues.

“We took a path that we walked daily against their fear. Her fears and anxieties were basically out of control and she just became defiant,” Andre Rowbothan said Newsweek on Friday. “We were near the park in our neighborhood where we usually chose to take the short way home or the longer way home. I tried to get her to walk the short way home and she insisted she would walk the other way. So I decided to walk the short way home, get my phone, get the car, and basically make sure I could take her home, and when I got to the top of the hill, she was gone.”

Texas officials issued an AMBER Alert Tuesday for the missing 16-year-old, who was last seen wearing a black T-shirt with white lettering, black shorts and white shoes. The teenager is described as white with brown hair and hazel eyes, is 1.75 meters tall and weighs 110 kilograms.

“We just want her home,” her mother said. “Zoe is sometimes afraid that she will literally be held like a baby because she needs that. I just want to hold my child.”

Andre Rowbotham narrates Newsweek that he adopted Zoe from a previous marriage when she was six weeks old. The parents say their daughter is impulsive and suffers from borderline personality disorder, ADHD and two depressive disorders. It is said that she often spins the truth into a fantasy story to make her life seem more interesting.

A family who lives across the park told the teen’s parents that they were talking to her at the time of her disappearance.

“She told them she was trying to get to her boyfriend’s apartment. She told them she was six months pregnant, but that wasn’t the case,” her father said. “She told them she was a foster child and didn’t know the area, so they offered to try to drive her where they thought she wanted to go, but she declined and left.”

Her parents say their daughter has neither a cell phone nor any money with her. It was initially assumed that she was on foot, but her parents fear that she may have gotten into a car by now.

History of mental health treatment

Her parents describe their daughter as “very intelligent”.

“She’s in advanced chemistry. She is in advanced English,” said Catrina Rowbotham. “She speaks Spanish fluently. She speaks a little Chinese. She can pick up languages ​​very easily. In sixth grade, she learned to play the violin in a few months, surpassing all the other children who had learned since first grade.”

But the teen’s parents say she has been in and out of hospitals over the past year that have changed her medications, which has hurt her.

“The medication she was taking was just to help her ease her anxiety and help her cope. “However, as we prepared to go into the facility, we worked to cut back on the medication as much as possible,” her father said.

Catrina Rowbotham spoke about her daughter’s mental health struggles.

“She craves constant attention, but when she gets the attention, she pushes it away,” her mother said. “There is constant self-doubt and self-hatred. Zoe will make her acquaintance often, she will take on her characteristics to fit in.”

The parents say their daughter had previously been in a residential treatment center but believe the long-term mental health facility is the best environment to help her borderline personality disorder. They said the facility offers dialectical behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Dialectical behavior therapy is a form of psychotherapy that helps people manage their emotions and improve their relationships. It is based on cognitive behavioral therapy and is intended to help people with intense emotions tolerate stress and avoid harmful behavior.

Parents’ request to the public

Andre and Catrina Rowbotham are asking the public for understanding about their daughter’s disappearance.

“Your life is a 16-year journey, and you get a glimpse of it in five days. Don’t judge, don’t assume you don’t know her whole story,” her mother said. “Don’t fill social media with comments because the FBI, police and investigators have to sift through these little things to see if there’s anything relevant, and a lot of it is just noise.”

“I would ask if anyone thinks they see her, look at her pictures and make sure it’s not just a young girl with dark hair. Does she have big eyes? Does she have blonde streaks? Is she disheveled? Does she look out of place?”

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Zoe Rowbotham should call the Hurst Police Department at 817-788-7180.

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