Haunting photos show the final moments of a ‘kind’ 12-year-old Texas girl who was found raped and strangled in a creek after sneaking out of the house at bedtime

Horrifying images show the final moments of a 12-year-old Texas girl who was found raped and strangled in a creek after sneaking out of the house after going to bed.

Jocelyn Nungaray is seen next to a man who has been branded as one of the persons of interest in connection with the murder as she enters a Houston supermarket.

Another photo shows the young girl in the store’s parking lot, hours before she was found strangled and raped in shallow water under a bridge.

Police said earlier this week that she called her 13-year-old boyfriend from the store around midnight and that he heard her talking to two adults.

Nungaray had lived with her family in an apartment complex not far from where her body was found. Police believe she sneaked away on Sunday evening.

Her body was then found in a shallow stream by passerby Billie Jackson shortly after 6 a.m. on Monday morning.

Speaking to ABC13, Jackson said, “I drove by and when I looked up the creek, I thought it was a mannequin.”

“I turned around, stopped on the bridge, turned on my indicators, looked down and noticed that someone was there. I parked right here and immediately called 911.”

Her grieving mother, Alexis Nungaray, is now struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“It’s like it’s not real,” she told Click2Houston. “I hear everything all the time, and everyone tells me everything, and I hear it, but it doesn’t get through.”

She remembered telling her daughter on Sunday not to stay up too late because she had to go to her job the next day. Those would be the last words she ever said to her daughter.

Alexis said she noticed Jocelyn’s cat “going crazy” at 3 a.m. Monday, but she assumed the cat was with her daughter, who always slept with her pet at night.

It was only when she woke up at 6 a.m. and woke her five-year-old son and Jocelyn as usual that she realized her daughter was missing.

Nungaray began frantically searching throughout the house and apartment complex for her daughter before calling her cellphone, which traced the trail back to the creek.

Her mother is now demanding justice for her little daughter, adding that she does not believe she knows the two men seen with Jocelyn in the supermarket.

She suspects that the two either live in the apartment complex or walked to the store from a nearby national park.

“I want karma to hit her. I’m angry,” Alexis told Click2Houston. “They took advantage of her. She’s so young, she’s 12.”

“I want justice,” she continued. “Whoever saw them, please call the police. They took my baby away from me.”

Alexis also said she didn’t know why Jocelyn sneaked out of the house, but noted that she had been struggling with her mental health over the past few months.

“I don’t know why, what made her walk around here at night,” Alexis said.

“I always told her never to leave the house, never to leave her unattended and always to take care of herself.”

“There are crazy people here. I don’t think she ever expected it to happen to her.”

She and other family members described the teenager as a loving and caring child.

Her uncle Joamel said, “Jocy was a smart, loving and caring young lady. She brightened up the room every time she passed by and was loved by everyone around her.”

Alexis also described her as the “best friend” who was “very silly.” “She had ambitions for life,” Alexis said. “She loved everyone, was so kind.”

A GoFundMe campaign has now been set up to finance Jocelyn’s funeral, and as of Thursday morning, it has already raised over $19,000.

“Her family was not prepared for such a loss and (needs) help to give their daughter the memory she deserves, to honor her memory and to say our final goodbyes,” it said.