Mother knowingly houses 'missing child' away from legal conservator

SAN ANTONIO - The grandmother of a 16-year-old juvenile had reported the child's disappearance to the San Antonio Police Department on April 18, 2022.

On May 10th, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and the Gang Intelligence Unit began their surveillance. Authorities believed the missing child was living at the Grove Apartments on San Antonio's Northside.

When officers arrived, the apartment manager was giving an eviction notice to Priscilla Danielle Cueva, 36, who was the suspect of this case. Authorities spoke with the manager who said that the missing child was seen inside the apartment.

Police went to the apartment room and spoke with the defendant's boyfriend at the door to see if they could speak with the 16-year-old, but he told officials that he was alone. Once authorities were allowed inside the apartment, Cueva came from one of the bedrooms to say that she hadn't seen the 16-year-old since the day before. She told officers that the San Antonio Police Department visited last week looking for the child, but was still not around.

Cueva told detectives that the child was at the apartment earlier, but had left before she could call the police. Cueva insisted to call the child's grandmother to see if she would be at her house. While officers were in the apartment, they were allowed to search each of the rooms. When detectives were searching the apartment, they heard a noise in one of the bedrooms and found a damaged window screen in the window. Detectives were not able to find anyone else in the apartment.

As authorities left, they spoke with other detectives that were outside the complex at the time. Authorities say that they saw the child escape from that same bedroom window and ran out to another apartment complex. At this point, officers were aware that the missing juvenile was eluding and evading marked units. It took about 40 minutes until authorities were able to detain the child. The 16-year-old was charged with evading on foot and had an active warrant for failure to identify. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office now has the child placed in custody.

Upon further investigation, detectives were able to reveal that the child was living with her mother, Cueva, for several months. Cueva knew that the police were looking for her and was later charged with harboring a runaway child. Detectives observed that a custody agreement stated that the grandmother was the permanent managing conservator of the child and Cueva had terminated her parental rights.

Priscilla Danielle Cueva intentionally and knowingly retained the child when she knew it would violate the order of the court and faces a State Felony.