The body of a 17-year-old girl has been found dead in a ditch by police in Texas just an hour after she was reported missing, according to local authorities.
Texas police are searching for the person who killed Kaitlin Hernandez, from San Antonio, Texas.
Police said they found the young girl’s body dumped in a ditch “like an animal.”
San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officers located Hernandez’s body just before 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Her remains were found in a “drainage ditch” beneath a bridge on the 7600 block of Dell Oak Drive, SAPD said in a Wednesday Facebook post.
“We need to find out who did this because she didn’t deserve to be left there like an animal,” Angie Hernandez, the victim’s mother, told FOX San Antonio.
“It’s just very ugly and cruel.
“I don’t know what this person was thinking, why they targeted her. I don’t understand.”
On Thursday, SAPD announced that they had detained a person of interest, who is “cooperating and assisting in the investigation.”
“Detectives are still investigating,” SAPD said in a statement.
“This is an active and ongoing investigation.”
“The person of interest shown in our previous social media post is cooperating with the investigation.
“There have not been any arrests at this time.”
According to FOX San Antonio, Hernandez died of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.
San Antonio Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in the case.
Crystal Rodriguez, Hernandez’s aunt, organized a GoFundMe for the teenager’s grieving family.
She says the family is in a “state of shock” after Hernandez was “found murdered” just four months after her sister died.
“[T]his feels so unreal to us,” Rodriguez said in a description of the GoFundMe page.
“We ask that you help out with anything.
“We’re trying to have a proper funeral service for her.
“As we just laid her sister down to rest [four] months ago, now they’re together in heaven.”
On the night she went missing, she left home to go on a walk with a male friend, Hernandez’s family told FOX San Antonio.
The friend returned home, but Hernandez did not.
Police detained the friend for questioning, in addition to the person of interest, but authorities have not made any arrests so far.
Hernandez was about to graduate from Roosevelt High School in May, her aunt said.
“She was funny, always making other people laugh,” Rodriguez wrote.
“She loved her family so much and we loved her.
“She loved her dogs, she always slept with them. We miss her dearly.”
To provide any information leading to the identity of this person of interest, please contact the SAPD Homicide unit at 210-207-7635 and provide them with case number SAPD24055687.
A vigil for the teenager will be held on Friday at 6 p.m. at 118 Ashland Drive.
