Body found inside submerged car in search for missing Texas mom Erica Hernandez

An SUV with a physique inside was found submerged in a Texas lake throughout a search for a missing Houston mom, cops mentioned.

Erica Hernandez, a 40-year-old mom of three, disappeared on April 17 after leaving a good friend’s house in southwest Houston. The police division’s dive group recovered a automobile matching the make, mannequin and license plate of her black GMC Acadia in a man-made lake in Pearland, cops advised reporters Tuesday.

“Our condolences exit to the household as they undergo a painful time of ready for a constructive identification on one person that was found inside the automobile,” Houston police Commander Kevin Deese mentioned.

The identification of the individual found inside shall be confirmed by the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Workplace, authorities mentioned. Deese declined to say whether or not the sufferer was a person or lady.

Proof reveals that Hernandez’s SUV struck a curb earlier than coming into the physique of water in Pearland that reaches depths of 15 ft, Deese mentioned. He didn’t point out whether or not investigators imagine foul play is concerned.

The search for Hernandez, which concerned FBI investigators, led cops to the lake in a subdivision. Deese mentioned the automobile appeared to have been there for an “prolonged time period” — probably when Hernandez went missing.

“We received’t definitively say that the search for Erica Hernandez is over as a result of there’s a course of that also must be adopted,” Deese advised reporters.

Hernandez’s household mentioned it’s unclear why her car was on the location, KHOU reported.

“We found her car, however we nonetheless must maintain going,” sister Ashley Hernandez advised the station. “There’s no purpose for her to be over right here. I feel any individual needed to have made her go in this path for no matter purpose.”

Hernandez’s youngest baby, a 3-year-old boy, nonetheless believes he’ll be reunited together with his mom, Ashley mentioned.

“I imply, he was nonetheless asking for her only a few days in the past,” she advised the station. “Is she coming again? When is she coming? [His grandmother] simply tells him, ‘She’ll be again later.’”

Hernandez labored at Neighborhood Well being Selection, the place she verified insurance coverage advantages, the Houston Chronicle reported.

“She’s the kind of mom who would do something for us,” Hernandez’s 14-year-old daughter, Briza Armenta, advised the newspaper.