Mom’s haunting words after cops found body during search for missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos
The heartbroken mother of missing teen Camila Mendoza Olmos hauntingly uttered the same four words as officials recovered a body near the family’s San Antonio home on Tuesday.
Rosario Olmos was left in shock when sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents recovered human remains in a Bexar County field nearly a full week after the 19-year-old disappeared during her Christmas Eve walk.
“So close to home,” the elder Olmos repeatedly uttered, according to Frank Trevino, who has helped with the search for Camila.
“Her eyes were not there,” Trevino told the Daily Mail about Rosario after the haunting discovery.
The body found Tuesday was noted to have been in the field for about five or six days, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters.
A firearm owned by a relative was reported missing from the home after Olmos disappeared.
A gun was recovered near the body, but officials haven’t announced if it was the same one that had gone missing at the family’s home.
The gun found in the field was a 9mm Luger pistol, according to the Daily Mail, reporting it to be the same make as the one that went missing.
A source told the outlet the remains also matched the description of Olmos.
Camila Olmos, an aspiring orthodontist, was last seen by her mother getting out of bed on Christmas Eve, believed to be going on her regular morning walk.
Video footage from outside the home captured the teen, wearing pajama shorts and a black hoodie, rummaging through her car before the clip cut off.
It wasn’t known what Olmos was looking for, but officials revealed the teen had left her phone at home.
Officials had previously searched the field roughly 250 yards from Olmos’ home, but returned after learning they missed some parts due to the high brush in the area.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has not identified the remains or the cause of death.
Foul play is not expected in the death of the unidentified body, with indicators pointing to results of “self-harm,” Salazar said.
Salazar revealed that authorities have discovered information leading them to believe that Olmos, 19, was experiencing suicidal ideations and exhibited signs of depression.
He added it appeared Olmos “was a young person going through a very tough time in her life.”
She was having a “tough time” with school, work, and a relationship that had recently ended, Salazar said.
The sheriff said he hopes the medical examiner’s office will identify the remains “in the next day or two” and confirm the cause and manner of death.
Olmos’ dad, Alfonso Mendoza, denied the suggestions that his daughter would take her own life.
“People talk. But they don’t know my daughter like I do,” he said, noting that her recent breakup was mutual and respectful.
“It ended on good terms, in a lovely way,” he said, and “wasn’t something she was depressed about.”