ROUND ROCK, Texas - Authorities announced on Wednesday that two girls missing out of Texas might be in Southern Colorado, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
An Amber Alert was issued earlier in the week for two girls from Round Rock, Texas, after their mother was found dead under suspicious circumstances.
Lilianais Victoria Cake Griffith (Lily), 14, and Luluvioletta Mariposo Bandera-Magret (Lulu), 7, are both considered in danger. Griffith is 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds with brown eyes and a right nose stud with braces. Bandera-Magret is 4-foot-5, 75 pounds with curly brown hair and brown eyes.
Police in Round Rock say that on New Year's Eve, officers conducted a welfare check at a residence there and found a dead woman inside; Tonya Bates, the girls' mother.
Terry Allen Miles, 44, is believed to be connected to their abduction, Round Rock Police told our sister station, KVUE in Austin, Texas. He is also a person of interest in Bates's death.
Authorities say Miles lived with Bates and was last heard from in Round Rock on December 30.
Miles is 6-foot-2, 200 pounds with a beard and hazel eyes covered by glasses. He drives a gray 2017 Hyundai Accent with Texas license plate JGH9845. There is also a white sticker on the upper right hand corner of the back window.
Originally, police thought he may be headed to Louisiana due to a lengthy criminal record in the state. New information led investigators to northern New Mexico and southern Colorado on Monday.
Miles was seen on security cam footage provided by a business Trinidad, Colorado on December 30 - the only Colorado sighting of anyone in the Amber Alert, investigators say.
"The girls were not with him in the business," explained Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks. "What I encourage our community to do is look at gas stations, convenience stores, fast food restaurants and truck stops."
Authorities say they don't know where he's going. Tips continue to come in of sightings in Colorado as late as Wednesday.
Anyone with tips is asked to contact 512-218-5500 extension 0. If anyone sees the girls, Miles or the car, call 911 immediately.
Police have received several tips saying people have seen the girls, but say they are not sure how many are credible.
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KVUE-TV contributed to this report.
