A body has been discovered during the search for a Texas teenager who went missing on Christmas Eve, authorities announced Tuesday.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office last saw Camila Mendoza Olmos, 19, on Wednesday morning. Sheriff’s deputies and volunteers have been searching for her around the clock since then, with intelligence indicating she was in “imminent danger,” according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.
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While searching an area Tuesday afternoon, investigators discovered a body in a field approximately 100 yards from Mendoza Olmos’ home in northwest Bexar County. Salazar stated.
“At this point we don’t suspect foul play,” he said during a press briefing.
According to Salazar, the body has not yet been officially recognized, and the local medical examiner has not determined the reason or method of death.
“We hope that we can try to expedite that process to be able to get the community answers,” he said.
Salazar noted there were some indicators of self-harm.
Salazar reported that a firearm was discovered near the body. A firearm belonging to a relative of Mendoza Olmos has gone missing, he added. Authorities have not yet determined if the lost firearm matches the one discovered at the scene, he said.
Salazar stated that one potential reason authorities were looking into surrounding the teen’s disappearance was “fear of self-harm,” and that there were some “indicators of suicidal ideation” and undiagnosed signs of depression.
“From what’s being described to us, it sounds like it was a young person going through a very tough time in their life,” he said.
Salazar said the body was recovered shortly before 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The location had already been searched, but police from the sheriff’s office and FBI returned on Tuesday, Salazar said. The field includes long grass, so authorities believed it would be beneficial to check it again, he said.
Salazar said the body was discovered in clothing that matched a description of what Mendoza Olmos may have been wearing when she went missing.
“This is certainly not the outcome we were hoping for,” he said.
During the search for the teen, investigators released a dashcam video from someone who was heading to work on Wednesday morning and saw a woman strolling alone. Salazar said Tuesday that it’s still unclear whether that person was Mendoza Olmos.
