North Texas tracker who finds the missing through deduction, observation continues search for Mesquite man, Waid Robison
North Texas volunteer tracker Alfonso Solis uses meticulous observation and deduction to help locate missing people, trafficking victims and runaways.
For Solis, every snapped twig or footprint could be an important clue.
Tracking missing persons, runaways, and trafficking victims
"I try to put myself in the mind of the person I am looking for," Solis said. "It's a lot of research involved. I can pretty much calculate whether the direction of travel is and what the crossing a certain path and I can say they're going to be at this area around such and such time."
Solis has helped bring more than two dozen people home in the past two years, cases ranging from missing persons, trafficking victims and runaways.
"I don't charge a fee. This is all volunteer," he said. "If a family asks for my help, I will make myself available to help them."
Solis said tracking is a passion that's personal to him after his wife Cecilia died suddenly nearly two decades ago.
"I was 29 when my first wife passed away from a brain aneurysm, just out of the blue," said Solis. "So, I know what it's like to be in a cold, sterile waiting room, waiting for answers when someone disappears. That family is feeling that exact same way that I did."
Mesquite man missing since April 2024
But Solis said he's haunted by the one person he hasn't been able to find yet: 22-year-old Waid Robison, a Mesquite man who went missing in Forney the morning of April 2, 2024, after crashing his car on Highway 80 and FM 460.
"I've never seen someone who went missing where so many resources were thrown to find him. Forney sent everyone to look for him," Solis said.
Authorities have yet to find any trace of Waid, a beloved son and friend, who is also an Eagle Scout and accomplished baseball player, according to his mom, Diana Robison.
"It's a feeling that you wouldn't even wish on your worst enemy," said Diana Robison, who said she still can't accept his disappearance.
"I pray that he's alive, but I don't feel like he's alive," she said with tears in her eyes. "It's like a roller coaster and your gut—just wrenching to where you just don't know what to do, and you try to continually, to keep faith."
It has been a little over a year since Waid Robison went missing, and Forney police said it has exhausted all resources but is still accepting tips and not giving up. Meanwhile, Solis is ramping up his search even more.
The North Texas tracker's method
Solis has canvased a corner of Forney dozens of times in the past year, walking Waid Robison's path, retracing his steps over and over.
"I'm looking for anything that doesn't belong. I'm looking for a heel, I am looking for a toe," he said.
Solis' theory is that after Waid Robison crashed his car around 6 a.m., he walked away barefoot from the crash site, headed east into a nearby field, encountered a closed gate and detoured into a creek-bed.
"It was at this point that I actually saw his footprints going this way," Solisa said. "I know that, because when you walk in vegetation, not only are we looking for tracks, but you will see where the plants are being moved. So, I followed his line directly through the creek."
Solis has been part of countless searches for Waid Robison over the past year involving horse teams, dive teams, and, just recently, Texas K-9 search crews. Despite his best efforts, Solis has grappled with the fact that Waid might not come home, but is not giving up hope.
"There was no sign of him ever leaving the creek. I walked this area," he said. "He's there somewhere, and I'm going to bring him home."
Missing Waid Robison's mother holds onto hope
In the meantime, Waid Robison's mom continues to hang onto the hope that Solis and others can find answers and closure.
"I remember Wade would say, 'Mom, it doesn't matter where you live. You're always here in my heart,' I hold onto that. He's in my heart," Diana Robinson said. "If you have kids, hug 'em and hug them for me."
