DPS: Car possibly spotted in Bastrop but Texas A&M student remains missing

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - The Texas Department of Public Safety tells KBTX there has been a probable sighting of Tanner Hoang’s car in the Bastrop area but the Texas A&M student remains missing as of Monday night as authorities continue to follow up on potential leads and tips that are coming in from across the region.

On Monday, law enforcement and family members determined Hoang traveled west on Highway 21 on Friday following a stop to get gas around noon at a convenience store in Caldwell.

These are the latest clues into the disappearance of the 22-year-old who was last seen by his roommates on Friday, Dec. 16, around 11 a.m. at their home on Colgate Drive in College Station.

According to the Amber Alert Network Brazos Valley, an organization that assists local law enforcement with sharing messages of missing people, Tanner left the area in a silver 2009 Lexus ES350 with Texas plates BS2C737.

His family has shared on social media that they were in town to attend a graduation ceremony on Friday and he went missing before meeting with them for lunch. His father sent him a text around 8:30 a.m. and it was read before Tanner’s phone was turned off.

The family has shared that they came to College Station expecting to see Tanner graduate, but after he went missing they learned he had fallen short of graduation requirements. They confirmed with the university that he was not part of Friday’s commencement ceremonies.

On Monday, DPS expanded the search area to Lee County and areas west of Burleson County. Volunteers and family members, including Tanner’s father, gathered in Caldwell to coordinate efforts to find additional surveillance videos that could show where he traveled.

“DPS always teams up with our local law enforcement to try to figure everything out,” DPS Sergeant Justin Ruiz said. “It’s going to be big agency-wide, not just DPS, but other agencies coming together to figure out where exactly this missing person has gone.”

Amber Alert Network Brazos Valley Executive Director Chuck Fleeger said it’s critical people share important, actionable information.

“If they have a definitive time frame, if they have a direction of travel, if they have a very specific vehicle description and in this case, there is a very specific description,” Fleeger said.

Hoang and his family are from Flower Mound near Dallas and updates are being shared on a Facebook group page called “Finding Tanner Hoang.”

If you have any information please contact the College Station Police Department at 979-764-3600.

We will share more updates on this story as details are confirmed by law enforcement and family.

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