{"id":312351,"date":"2025-10-18T03:08:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T03:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/312351\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T03:08:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T03:08:24","slug":"former-texas-house-first-lady-julie-straus-found-safe-after-going-missing-late-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/312351\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Texas House First Lady Julie Straus found safe after going missing late Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Texas House First Lady Julie Straus was found safe on Friday afternoon after going missing from a San Antonio-area neighborhood the night before, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Straus, 64, is the wife of former House Speaker Joe Straus, who retired from office in 2019 after seven terms in the House \u2014 five of them as speaker.<\/p>\n

She had been last seen in Terrell Hills around 6:40 p.m. Thursday, according to police. The DPS canceled its silver alert<\/a>, which broadcasts missing older Texans, just after 3 p.m. Friday. <\/p>\n

The former speaker said late Friday in a statement that the search for his wife had involved several agencies, including first responders from the San Antonio area, the DPS, the Texas Rangers, and Texas Parks and Wildlife, along with the Terrell Hills Police Department.<\/p>\n

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\u201c[Daughters] Sara, Robyn and I are incredibly grateful for the heroic persistence and true professionalism of local and state law enforcement, as well as our many friends and neighbors who searched night and day until Julie was found,\u201d Joe Straus said in the statement. \u201cOur family will always appreciate the outpouring of support and prayers we received from across Texas. Julie is home safe and in good spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relief poured from the halls of the state Capitol after news spread that she had been found.<\/p>\n

\u201cElisabeth and I are relieved to hear that Julie has been found safe,\u201d Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows posted on X. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful to law enforcement and the Terrell Hills community for their swift action and care. We continue to keep Joe and Julie in our prayers and are so thankful for this good news.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPraise the Lord!\u201d said Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Texas state leaders sent prayers and hope to their former colleague earlier Friday as authorities combed the San Antonio area for Julie Straus <\/p>\n

State lawmakers, some of whom served in the House with Straus, were quick to offer support as the search wore on earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts are heavy as we pray for the safe return of Julie Straus,\u201d Burrows, R-Lubbock, posted on X. \u201cElisabeth and I are holding the Straus family close in our thoughts, and the entire Texas Legislature is embracing them with love and support.\u201d <\/p>\n

Leach, who joined the House two years before Joe Straus, shared the news with a phone number Texans can call for tips. <\/p>\n

\u201cJulie Straus is as sweet and as strong as they come,\u201d Leach posted on X. \u201cPraying diligently for her \u2014 and for Speaker Straus and their entire family.\u201d <\/p>\n

Texas House Republican Caucus Chair Tom Oliverson posted a prayer for her safe return. <\/p>\n

\u201cPraying for Julie Straus, former First Lady of the Texas House, her husband @SpeakerStraus<\/a> and her family. May God put a hedge of protection around her and may she be found quickly.\u201d <\/p>\n

Former House Speaker Dennis Bonnen joined the chorus of concern for his friend and former colleague\u2019s family, saying on X that his family is \u201cheartbroken to hear that our dear friend Julie Straus is missing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cShe is one of the kindest, warmest people you\u2019ll ever meet,\u201d the statement said. \u201cOur hearts ache for the Straus family, and we are praying for Julie\u2019s safe return and for strength and comfort for Joe and their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Texas House First Lady Julie Straus was found safe on Friday afternoon after going missing from a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":312352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,359,80,7202,7203,358,5524,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-312351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-austin","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-san-antonio","12":"tag-sanantonio","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-texas-politics","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115392971068437777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}