Houston Mom of 3 Vanished Weeks Ago After Leaving Friends House, Family Is 'Desperate' for Answers 

The search for a missing mother-of-three continues three weeks after she disappeared.

Erica Hernandez was last seen leaving her friend's southwest Houston home at about 2:30 a.m. on April 18. Thirty minutes later, she sent a text saying she was "five minutes away from getting home," her family told KTRK.

However, Hernandez never made it home and she remains missing three weeks later, according to Texas officials.

"We can't imagine there's not someone out there with information, so the family is begging for people with any kind of information," Congresswoman Jackson Lee said at a May 26 press conference. "We don't know what might've happened, but we know that she's a loving mother, and she has three beautiful children that want her to come home."

Hernandez is a single mother who works full-time to provide for her three children, ages 3, 16 and 19. She donates plasma twice a week to make extra money for her family, her family told KTRK.

In an effort to raise awareness about her disappearance, Hernandez's family has put up electronic billboards, handed out flyers and even hung banners with the words "Find Erica Hernandez" over highways.

The FBI, Texas EquuSearch and the Houston Police Department's Missing Persons Unit, along with dozens of volunteers, are helping with search efforts.

Last week her son, Dennis, celebrated his 16th birthday.

"It does get to me sometimes, but I'm going to have to be strong, and I have to be OK for my family," Hernandez's daughter, Briza Armenta, a student at Texas A&M, told KHOU. "We're all just trying to stay positive."

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On Thursday, a vehicle was found underwater at a Missouri City park by search crews looking for Hernandez. But it was identified as not belonging to the missing mother, according to the Houston Police Department.

"We still need to find her. That's the whole point, you know. Whether I think the outcome is going to be good or bad, we still need to find her and we still need her. We need her for her family, so I'm not exactly sure where their mind is at, but my mind is not in a good place," her sister, Ashley Hernandez, told KTRK.

Hernandez's family has started a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the search. They've also started a Facebook page called "Let's Find Erica Hernandez" to share news and updates on the case.

Hernandez drives a 2020 GMC Black Acadia with Texas plates MKJ 3303. She was last seen wearing a teal V-neck shirt, jeans and black and teal shoes.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Houston Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at 832-394-1840 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.