Ali Lowitzer's Strange Disappearance: What Happened to Her?

The story of 16-year-old Ali Lowitzer’s sudden vanishing has perplexed law enforcement for well over a decade.

On a sunny April afternoon in 2010, the teen got off her school bus and headed to the Burger Barn to pick up her weekly paycheck.

**Photo of Ali Lowitzer released by the FBI.**

She was also going to check in and see if she could pick up a shift for that evening.

The walk from the bus stop to the burger restaurant was less than a quarter of a mile, a route she’d taken many times over the years.

It only took her a few minutes to hop off the school bus and head to work. However, on this particular day, something got in the way of Ali making it there. Or, perhaps, as many people think, someone got in the way of Ali making it to work.

She never made it to her destination that day, and she hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

The sudden vanishing of the happy and creative teen has left the Lowitzer family heartbroken, and law enforcement baffled.

But what could have prevented Ali from successfully making the five-minute journey from the bus to her workplace?

And, 14 years on, is there any hope that Ali—who’d now be in her 30s—will ever be found?

The Day Ali Vanished

Monday, April 26, 2010, began as most weekdays did for Ali Lowitzer. She got up early, got ready for school, and just made it in time for the bus.

She attended Spring High School in Texas, where she excelled at art and enjoyed playing softball.

While Ali liked her own space, she had a circle of friends with whom she would occasionally hang out after school. More often than not, though, she’d prefer to be alone in her room, drawing and creating artwork.

As with most teenagers, Ali sought greater independence as she hit her mid-teens.

She’d recently begun working shifts at the local burger bar for some extra cash, and she was looking forward to picking up her paycheck later that afternoon.

Since she had no plans for that evening, she decided to see if a shift was available for her. After school, she called her mother, Jo Ann, to see if it was okay if she worked that evening. Her mother agreed.

After all, the walk from the bus to the Burger Barn was barely anything, and there’d be other kids getting off the bus at the same time as Ali. It was broad daylight, and the teenager had her phone on her for emergencies.

The walk from the bus to her workplace was safe, so Jo Ann didn’t feel there was any reason to stop her daughter from taking an extra shift that day.

Ali got off the bus just before 2:30 pm alongside three other teens. The group of boys who got off at the same time walked ahead of Ali, who was walking slower due to texting at the time.

This wasn’t uncommon for Ali, though her slower pace meant they all disappeared in front of her, all making their own way home.

At 2:57 pm, Ali sent her last known text to a friend.

She didn’t make it to the burger restaurant to get her paycheck, and she didn’t return home that evening.

Since Jo Ann thought her daughter was working a late shift, she didn’t begin to worry until around 8 p.m.

By this point, Ali would usually have been in touch about getting picked up, but messages to Ali’s phone went unanswered.

This wasn’t like her; Ali would always respond and text her mom on her work break. Jo Ann began to worry.

Since the restaurant closed at 9, she decided to head out just before then to pick Ali up. Perhaps there’s something wrong with her phone, Jo Ann thought, though the idea that something bad had happened was at the forefront of her mind. Perhaps it was mother’s intuition.

On a closing shift, Ali usually exited the Burger Barn at 9:30, but everything was shut down when Jo Ann got there.

The place was empty, the lights were off, and all employees had driven home. Her heart sank—it seemed her gut feeling was right.

Jo Ann called everyone in the immediate family to see if they’d seen Ali. The teen’s father, John, hadn’t heard from her, nor had anyone else. The family rang and knocked on doors, trying to find Ali, but they quickly realized they needed the help of law enforcement.

Police officers attended Jo Ann’s home, looked around Ali’s room, and offered a nonchalant take on the teenager’s disappearance. “Call us tomorrow when she comes home,” the officer told the panicked mother.

It seems law enforcement felt that Ali was simply another runaway, a teenager acting out in the face of authority. Ali’s family knew this wasn’t the case; she had nothing to run away from.

Her belongings, prized possessions, and creature comforts were all in her bedroom. She wouldn’t have taken off without them. Plus, she never picked up her paycheck, meaning she had no funds.

No tangible report of Ali’s disappearance was taken that night, leaving Jo Ann and the extended family to do their own investigations. They called Ali’s friends and drove around her usual haunts to no avail.

With law enforcement unable to help, the family contacted The Laura Recovery Center the day after Ali vanished.

The Laura Recovery Center is a now-defunct non-profit organization that aimed to prevent abductions and to help find the victims of these crimes.

The charity was named after 12-year-old Laura Kate Smither, who was abducted and slain near Friendswood, Texas.

The charity responded to Jo Ann quickly, making arrangements to look for Ali. They also prompted the police to investigate the case more closely.

Officers went on to question witnesses, such as the teen boys who’d gotten off the bus with Ali, but with no evidence and no clues, they again suggested she’d run away.

Everybody knew that Ali’s vanishing wasn’t of her own doing. She loved nothing more than painting and drawing in her room. She was a homebody, a young girl who rarely hung out at her friends’ houses.

If she wasn’t at school or at home, she was at work. Although the police didn’t see it that way, the signs were pointing to foul play.

Still, there was little they could do with the distinct lack of evidence. There were far more questions than answers.

Had a malignant stranger intercepted Ali during the short walk to work? Was it someone she knew? Or had she encountered some kind of tragic accident?

Unanswered Questions And Theories

Since she was labeled a runaway almost straight away, Ali’s case lost momentum during the crucial first 48 hours. The more time lapsed, the less likely it was that she would be found.

As the years passed, the police maintained their runway stance because there was no evidence of a crime taking place.

Ali’s family firmly disagrees. They knew her best, and running away wasn’t something she’d ever done before.

She had made plans in the coming weeks with friends and had been looking forward to her best friend’s birthday gathering.

Her personality—introverted and preferring quiet time at home—just didn’t align with the police’s insistence that she had left of her own accord.

Plus, as Ali’s family explains, she left all her clothes and valuable items at home. Surely, she’d take her belongings with her if she were to run away?

The investigation screeched to a halt. All Ali’s family knew was that her phone had stopped transmitting signals shortly after she vanished, pointing to the idea that something happened pretty quickly after she got off the bus.

With the police no longer looking at the case, Ali’s family hired a PI to see if he could dig up any clues. Eventually, according to Jo Ann, law enforcement told the PI to stop contacting them.

Now, all that’s left are theories and unanswered questions.

Some have theorized that Ali was abducted by a predator. Maybe this person was watching her, perhaps for weeks, in the lead-up to her disappearance.

While the walk from the bus to the Burger Barn wasn’t long, it didn’t see much footfall. Had a stalker used this to their advantage to snare the teenager?

Then there’s the suggestion that she was trafficked. While this is undeniably an awful scenario, it’s the only one, aside from the suggestion that Ali is a runaway, provides hope that she’s still alive.

Some theorists say Ali may have been taken by someone she knew. Since there was no physical evidence—no signs of a struggle or DNA or scattered belongings—it suggests Ali may have trusted the person who attacked her and went with them willingly.

There’s the small possibility that Ali had a fatal accident on her way to work. The chances of this are slim since, again, no evidence was found.

No blood, no screams, and nothing that drew the attention of nearby residents that day. If she had endured some kind of accident, it’s likely she would have been found pretty quickly after her disappearance.

The Lowitzers Relentless Hope

For Ali’s family, the heartache of her disappearance hasn’t lessened over the years. In the aftermath of her child’s vanishing, Jo Ann Lowitzer refused to let the story be buried as time passed.

She maintains a website, alexandrialowitzer.com, dedicated to finding Ali and has given countless interviews to the national press over the years.

She also refused to cut Ali’s phone line, hoping that one day, the phone would work again and that Ali could call her mother.

Almost 13 years later, though, she decided she had to cut the line, perhaps acknowledging that the cell phone was now long gone.

Still, Jo Ann hasn’t given up hope. She knows that someone, somewhere, knows what happened to Ali.

She also wants to remind people that Ali would now be 30 years old and has had an age progression image created to show what she may look like today.

Jo Ann feels as though people may still be looking for the 16-year-old girl, which may hinder a possible sighting since she very likely wouldn’t look the same anymore.

Every year, on Ali’s birthday, the Lowitzers commemorate and celebrate her by holding vigils. Ali’s birthday also marks a time when the family can remind people of her vanishing and again ask people to reach out if they have any information.

While the case may seem ice-cold, advances in forensic technology and the possibility of witnesses coming forward can’t be ruled out.

As Jo Ann says, someone out there knows what happened to Ali; even after all this time, it’s not impossible to imagine that they may come forward and shed light on this tragic case.