What happened to Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia?

When 15-year-old Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia went missing in early October, Houston police eventually located him — but a series of identity checks, agency handoffs and conflicting public statements left his mother in the dark while the teen was placed under federal care. This investigation reconciles timelines and statements from HPD, ICE/ORR, advocates and the hospital, documents how Emmanuel came to need an emergency appendectomy while in custody, and highlights the reporting errors and unanswered questions city officials must address.