Destin Henderson

Henderson, circa 2023; Henderson's forearm tattoo; Davante Clark; Karen Miles

  • Missing Since 10/24/2023
  • Missing From Houston, Texas
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race Black
  • Date of Birth 05/29/1984 (40)
  • Age 39 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'6 - 5'7, 150 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A white t-shirt and black jeans.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Henderson has a tattoo of his name "Destin" on his forearm and a tattoo of the initials "DHL" on his upper arm. A photo of the "Destin" tattoo is posted with this case summary. He had braces on his teeth at the time of his disappearance.

Details of Disappearance

Henderson was last seen at his apartment in the 400 block of Highland Cross in Houston, Texas on October 24, 2023. He had recently moved to Houston from Los Angeles, California for work, and kept in touch with his mother, Lawana Shaw, by phone. He usually called her multiple times a day.

On the day his disappearance, Henderson spoke to Shaw at 9:19 p.m. and said a friend was with him at the apartment. She said he should call her back later. He never called.

On October 26, this friend called Shaw and asked if Henderson was okay, saying he hadn't heard from him. He sent Shaw photos of the inside of Henderson's apartment. Shaw asked what he was doing there, and the friend admitted he had lied to Henderson's apartment management and claimed to be Henderson's brother in order to get access to the apartment. Henderson had previously told his mother he wasn't comfortable with this particular friend having access to his apartment. When he called Shaw, the friend had her son's work phone, laptop and other personal belongings.

Henderson's car was found abandoned less than a mile from his apartment several months after he went missing, but its recovery didn't yield any significant leads. There was a Hilton Hotel key card inside it with a checkout date for the day Henderson went missing, but video surveillance footage from the hotel was no longer available by this point due to the passage of time.

In August 2024, ten months after Henderson's disappearance, a 61-year-old woman named Karen Miles went missing from Missouri City, Texas. A few days later, Davante Clark was arrested in Pearland, Texas while driving Miles's SUV, which had been reported stolen. He had altered the license plate to give it a different number. Miles was still missing at the time, but in September her skeletal remains were found behind a church in a heavily wooded area. She'd been shot to death.

Clark was charged with capital murder in Miles's case; investigators believe he killed her in order to steal her car. At around this time he was publicly named as a person of interest in Henderson's disappearance; he and Henderson were friends with each other. When Henderson's family was trying to find him and reached out to Clark, he said he hadn't seem him.

Miles's family had never heard of Clark prior to his arrest. He did, however, sometimes stay in the parking lot of Miles's apartment complex; he and his girlfriend were homeless and living in her car, and felt the parking lot was a safe location to spend the night because it was well-lit.

Photos of Clark and Miles are posted with this case summary. Clark is awaiting trial in her death. He has not been charged with anything in connection with Henderson's disappearance.

Shortly before his disappearance, Henderson had a conversation with his mother in which he indicated he had an Apple tag (a device that can be used to track location) in his car and that someone had gone too far. Although police have not found any hard evidence of foul play in his case, Shaw thinks her son is dead. She is being treated for lung cancer but has been active in the search for Henderson.

His disappearance remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Harris County Sheriff's Office 713-221-6000

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated December 4, 2024; casefile added.