Henderson Teen Missing For Three Weeks

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Local law enforcement officials are looking for a Henderson teen, missing now for three weeks.

Maria Guadalupe “Lupita” Dominguez-Galvez, 17, left her home with someone driving a black Ford Explorer the evening of Thursday, Mar. 27, according to family members.

WIZS News spoke with a family member early Friday afternoon who said they still haven’t heard anything from Lupita. HendFact, a local Latino advocacy group, is among other groups supporting the family as the search continues to locate the teen.

In a press release issued Friday afternoon, Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame said the family had reported her missing on Mar. 28. Family members said she left her home between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The Vance County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division received the case and are actively investigating. Maria has been entered into the various National Databases for Missing Persons/Children. Law enforcement resources are being utilized, and Federal Agencies have been contacted to assist.

 At this time, there is no information indicating that Maria left involuntarily. Also, there are no suspects, associates, or vehicles known to law enforcement that attributed or are associated with Maria leaving her residence, according to the press release.

She is a sophomore at Vance County High School, local media outlets report.

Sheriff’s Office Maj. William Mitchell told the Dispatch there is no indication the child has been harmed and local LEOs do have some information on her whereabouts and “negative tendencies.” According to investigators, Dominguez-Galvez left a note for her family before exiting her home without her cell phone.

Anyone with information about the teen’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Vance County Sheriff’s Office at 252.738.2200.

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TownTalk: State of the County

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It didn’t take long for Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry to address what she called “the elephant in the room” during the “State of the County” report hosted by the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the Henderson Country Club.

Perry and Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones reviewed goals, economic development successes, as well as several challenges the county faces as it moves forward.

When she became county manager in November 2023, Perry and county staff had in front of them a few challenges to sort through – including that “elephant in the room” that Perry mentioned: A former finance director who embezzled $1.4 million in county funds.

Perry said $1 million of that has been recouped, and she and her team are looking to the future.

Making financial lemonade from lemons, Perry said the county has overcome its past and now has much stronger internal controls in place to protect citizens’ tax dollars.

“We have a committed team of leaders who strive every day to make Vance County thrive,” families flourish” and stay strong, she said.

Always forward-facing, Perry said “our past does not define us. It’s the work we’re doing now” that counts.

Key to Vance County’s growth is economic development, and Perry said she supports responsible growth to create a stronger, more vibrant community.

The Board of Commissioners has chosen to keep their goals from last year and add to the list, Perry said.

The goals include:

  • purchase land for an EMS substation in Williamsboro and an EMS central station
  • pursue land acquisition, construction of a new detention center
  • take next steps for the recently completed fire study
  • continue construction of Phase 1B of the county water system and increase water connection signups by 20 percent
  • work with city to build better relationships for services offered
  • plan for using opioid settlement money and identify programs to reduce drug dependency
  • retain or assist in creation of 150 jobs and $10 million in new investment

The county has 90 vacancies, most notably in social services – 42 vacant positions – and the detention center – 20 openings.

It’s tough for a rural county to compete with more lucrative packages that nearby counties can offer. Wake and Durham counties are just a commute away, Perry said, and that makes Vance County an ideal spot to live – but not to work. Simply put, Vance County just can’t match bonuses and other incentives that larger, more urban counties can.

The county did enact, however, a 7 percent COLA (cost of living adjustment), effective July 1, 2024.

She encouraged those in attendance to stay positive and hopeful for a positive future.

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TownTalk: Vance County Child Well-Being Landscape Analysis February 2025

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The executive summary of a 47-page report released earlier this month paints a sobering picture for children in Vance County, and includes information about challenges, disparities and gaps in a range of services in the community to support children’s well-being.

A project team from Positive Childhood Alliance North Carolina gathered information from 16 community partners who agreed to participate in the study. Through these structured interviews, the team learned about current programs and services available to children and families in the county, as well as identify the most pressing issues and challenges children here face and how those challenges affect children’s well-being.

“Children in Vance County face significantly greater challenges than those confronting the average child in North Carolina,” the executive report states. “This disparity can be significantly reduced by increasing collaboration among the agencies and organizations that serve the most vulnerable families and children in Vance County.”

PCANC provided a project team for the study and worked in partnership with Cara Gill, executive director of Strength and Mending Child Advocacy Center of Henderson. The study was commissioned by Triangle North Healthcare Foundation with support from the John William Pope Foundation.

In the North Carolina Public School Forum’s 2023 report called The Roadmap of Need: A Whole Child Needs Assessment for North Carolina Youth, Vance County ranked 93rd worst out of 100 counties for “indicators of wellness across five domains: economic development, physical health, mental health and safety, education inputs and education outcomes.”

The recently released TNHF report uses this information, as well as information from a 2022 vulnerability assessment for the Kerr-Tar COG which states that “Vance County residents, specifically near the county seat of Henderson, should be considered the most vulnerable group in the region.”

The TNHF report includes a list of programs, agencies and resources in the county that work to meet the needs of children and families, from social service agencies to food, housing and day care, to name a few.

The study participants identified mental health needs among the top needs that affect the children in the county. A shortage of programs and staff means more than half the county’s children and adults aren’t able to access the behavioral health care they need.

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