Tennessee DCS Foster Teen, 15, Missing Since Dickson County Fair; Sheriff Fears Trafficking

Dickson, Tenn. — Odilia Gomez Santizo, a 15-year-old girl in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has been missing since Sept. 6, when she left the Dickson County Fairgrounds with a man investigators have not identified, and the sheriff’s office says it suspects she may be a trafficking victim, according to the Dickson Post.

The Dickson County Sheriff’s Office released a photo of the man and said the girl may be traveling in a black Infiniti sedan. Her cellphone has reportedly been off since the day she disappeared, during the closing weekend of the county fair.

Sheriff: “no proof,” but trafficking suspected

Capt. Jennifer Caruthers, the sheriff’s office public information officer, told the Dickson Post the girl left the fair with the man pictured.

We have no proof that she is being trafficked, but suspect that may be the case.

Capt. Jennifer Caruthers, Dickson County Sheriff’s Office, to the Dickson Post

The Dickson Post’s report on the search was published Sept. 22, more than two weeks after she disappeared. The published reports do not say when DCS or her foster family first reported her missing, whether the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Endangered Child Alert, or whether she had run from placements before.

A child with no family nearby

The girl was placed with a foster family and has no family in the area, the Dickson Post reported. She had spoken about having to move around after her father was deported several years ago. She is in the legal custody of DCS, which means the state is her guardian and is responsible for her safety and for searching for her.

Tennessee law requires agencies to enter a missing child into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center within two hours of an initial report, Hoodline noted, and federal law requires state child welfare agencies to report children missing from foster care to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Tennessee’s record with children in its care

Tennessee has about 9,000 children in foster care and roughly 4,000 licensed foster homes, according to figures cited by Hoodline. A July 2026 federal audit by the HHS Office of Inspector General found Tennessee reported 1,845 temporary emergency placements, such as offices and hotels, between January 2022 and June 2023, among the highest of any state, Stateline reported. DCS Commissioner Margie Quin is named as a defendant in two proposed class action lawsuits alleging the department warehouses and mistreats children.

A state that takes custody of a child takes on the duty to know where she is. When a 15-year-old in state care can vanish from a public fair and the public learns of it more than two weeks later, families and lawmakers are owed an accounting of what DCS did in those first hours. FAN’s guide to foster care system problems explains how children missing from care become targets for exploitation.

How to help

Anyone with information is asked to call the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office at 615-446-8041 or email Tips@DicksonCoSheriff.gov.

How to help

As of Oct. 19, FAN found no public report that Odilia has been found; the sheriff’s office named her publicly to aid the search. Anyone with information is asked to call the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office at 615-446-8041.

Key facts

• A 15-year-old in Tennessee DCS custody disappeared from the Dickson County Fairgrounds on Sept. 6, 2026.
• The sheriff’s office says she left with a man shown in a released photo; he has not been publicly identified.
• She may be traveling in a black Infiniti sedan, and her phone has been off since she vanished.
• The sheriff’s office says it has “no proof” of trafficking but suspects it.
• She was placed with a foster family and has no relatives in the area.
• Tips: Dickson County Sheriff’s Office, 615-446-8041.

Sources

• Dickson Post (Main Street Media of Tennessee) — Authorities searching for missing teen last seen at Dickson County Fair (2026-09-22)
• Hoodline — Dickson County Teen Missing Since Fair (2026-09-23)
• Stateline — Most states temporarily house foster children in hotels, offices (2026-07-30)

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