Missing doctor found in El Campo

Fehintola Omidele of Katy, a doctor at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, called her sister Sunday from a Wal-Mart in Wharton County. Her﻿ dis-appearance mystified her family and friends. Fehintola Omidele of Katy, a doctor at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, called her sister Sunday from a Wal-Mart in Wharton County. Her﻿ dis-appearance mystified her family and friends. Photo: Pin Lim, Freelance Photo: Pin Lim, Freelance Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Missing doctor found in El Campo 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 25-year-old doctor at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital reported missing a week ago was found safe in El Campo Sunday, her family said.

Fehintola "FT" Omidele borrowed a phone from an employee at a Wal-Mart Super Center in Wharton County to tell her sister, Shayo, where she was, according to accounts.

"From what I know, she is OK. I have not talked to her since she telephoned her sister who went down to pick her up," her father, Segun Omidele, an oil company engineer, said late Sunday afternoon.

The last time Omidele had contact with the young doctor was when they ate dinner together Nov. 30 at her apartment on West Bellfort. The next day he received a text message informing him that his normally responsible and punctual daughter failed to show up for her job as an intern. He went to her apartment, where he discovered that she and her Toyota Camry had vanished. Her cellphone was still in the apartment.

After the aspiring pediatrician was back home Sunday night, her family issued a statement requesting privacy so they might have time to "regroup" before sharing any more details about the disappearance. The statement said the young doctor is healthy and "happy to be back home with her family."

"We are truly grateful for all the support and love everyone has shown over the past week, and we are overwhelmed with the efforts put forth by friends, family and everyone involved," the statement said.

'We're clueless'

Houston Police spokesman John Cannon said authorities would know more about the reasons behind her strange disappearance once they had an opportunity to interview her Monday. "Right now it's a family matter," he said. "We're clueless as to what happened."

During earlier interviews with family and friends, Cannon said investigators had never found any obvious evidence of foul play.

Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit search and rescue organization, called off volunteers who had mounted a massive search in the vicinity of her apartment on Sunday. He had no idea why the doctor wound up in El Campo.

"Bottom line: She's alive and that's all that matters at this time," Miller said.

Hannah Yee, who met the doctor when both were resident assistants in a University of Texas dorm, had been participating in the search Sunday when she got word that her friend was found. She expressed relief to know she was "safe and sound," but knew nothing about why she vanished.

Omidele, who goes by FT, was born in Nigeria, but came to the United States when she was 8, spending four years in New Orleans before moving to Katy. The standout student graduated from high school at 16 with a 4.3 grade point average.

Pediatrics a natural fit

She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in biology and child development. When she enrolled in medical school at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, she wasn't even old enough to legally drink alcohol.

Though she didn't initially know what area of medicine she wanted to go into, Omidele told the Houston Chronicle in a profile of her in April that pediatrics was a natural fit.

"I've always loved children," she said. "I'm drawn to them. Personally, I consider myself a kid at heart. In college, I worked at the child development center."

After graduating in May, Omidele began her three-year internship in pediatrics at Children's Memorial Hermann. "I love the people here," she said in the spring when she found out she would be staying in Houston with UT Health. "They're the people that got me into pediatrics. To train here for another three years is going to be great."

Fluent in Yoruba and English, Omidele told the Chronicle in April that she was interested in one day working for the international group Doctors Without Borders.

Reporter Leah Binkovitz contributed to this report.