Young East Texas Mother And Child Reported Missing, Found

Thankfully Amber Alerts did not have to be issued for a young Smith County mom and her child who were reported missing Thursday morning to Smith County law enforcement.

Fifteen-year-old Lily Grimes and her 6-month-old daughter Elizabeth Johnson were reported missing Thursday morning from a home near Tyler. The Smith County Sheriff's Office received a missing persons call around 9 a.m. Thursday from Lily's mother saying her daughter and granddaughter were missing.

The back door of the residence was reportedly open when she discovered the pair were not home and that a diaper bag and bottles were missing, but the infant's car seat was left behind. Law enforcement searched the residence and area and came up with no concrete evidence as to where the pair were.

According to a press release from the Smith County Sheriff's Office, Lily Grimes and her daughter were located around 4 a.m. Friday morning and were found to be safe at a residence in Chandler.

Get our free mobile app

Sheriff's detectives learned of their whereabouts after interviewing a person of interest; Cameron Freeman, 18, of Bullard. After multiple conversations, Freeman led authorities to the home where Lily was staying in Chandler.

The pair have since been reunited and are at their Tyler area home.

As a result, an arrest warrant was issued and Cameron Freeman was arrested by authorities for making false statements deemed to be untruthful to investigators. He has been charged with the following:

• harboring a runaway (bond set at $75,000)
• false report to a peace officer (bond set at $75,000)
• sexual assault of a child (unrelated previous charge from December 10, 2024) (bond was set at $400,000)

Freeman was booked into the Smith County Jail and has bonds totaling $550,000.