A family in Texas is in mourning after a loved one was discovered dead near her wrecked car more than two days after she was reported missing.
According to FOX affiliate KDFW and NBC affiliate KXAS, the body of Yesica Martnez, 25, was discovered Sunday behind a fence along the North Stemmons Freeway southbound service road by family members.
According to reports, her SUV crashed on an overpass about 48 hours prior.
Martinez’s husband, Mario Morales, told The Dallas Morning News that her body was discovered “pretty beat up and half clothed” about a half mile away from her car.
According to the newspaper, Morales last heard from his wife early Friday morning as she was driving home from her new serving job at a Dallas bar.
According to the report, Martnez had not returned to the couple’s Pleasant Grove home by 2 a.m. Morales reported his wife missing to 911.
“[The dispatcher was] like, ‘Well, it’s not uncommon for young ladies to … break up or leave a relationship just that way without giving notice,’ ” Morales told KXAS.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Morales later went to a Dallas police station to file a missing person report and was told again that Martnez was free to leave whenever she pleased.
According to the report, Morales learned that the car his wife was driving had been involved in a wreck on Interstate 35E near the Woodall Rodgers connector.
According to KXAS, an officer told Morales that Martnez appeared to be arguing with a male individual during a 911 call placed the morning of the crash.
“But you could hear her asking for help,” Dario Manzo, Martínez’s brother, told KDFW.
According to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO), officers searched the area around the empty vehicle but did not see anyone nearby at the time.
According to KXAS, Manzo said it took family members only two hours to locate his sister on Sunday.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Manzo told KXAS, “and it really makes me sad to know that in a city like Dallas with so many police officers and sheriffs that none of them could take the time to actually try and find her.”
Martnez’s body was discovered in a ditch near the former Landmark Cabana Motor Hotel, according to KDFW.
According to KXAS, Morales claimed that DCSO officers “didn’t search the area” for his then-missing wife when they arrived at the scene Friday morning.
The DCSO has reportedly disputed Morales’ claim.
“Deputies checked the area at the time of the accident and after Ms. Martinez was reported missing, but did not locate her in the immediate area of the accident,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement to sent to KXAS.
An investigation into the “unexplained death” is ongoing, per the reports. A cause of death has not been released.
