Human remains have reportedly been discovered near the site where a missing woman’s car was found in late September.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, 24-year-old Jennifer Mendez Olascoaga disappeared after dropping a friend off at Creekside Mobile Home Park in Seagoville. The friend said she received strange text messages afterward asking if she was missing anyone and suggesting she could be “next.”
“Her friend she dropped off got those messages,” said Marco Barroso, Mendez’s brother-in-law, according to NBC 5 DFW. “Hey, do you miss someone? Do you miss someone? You’ll never find her. She’s gone. Jennifer Mendez, and you’re next.’”
The text messages have been turned over to the Seagoville Police Department, the lead agency on the case.
Mendez’s car was found over by the intersection of Milam and Lawson Roads in Mesquite last week, and now police are saying they found human remains roughly one mile away from the vehicle. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to identify the deceased, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Mendez’s family and friends, and even complete strangers, have been searching for her for weeks now, recently surveying the area where her car was discovered.
“It’s horrible in there. There’s a lot of thorns and everything,” said Litzy Mendez, Jennifer’s cousin, per NBC 5. “We tried to search around here just to see if we could find evidence like shoes or wallet or phone, but there’s nothing, like no clue whatsoever that will take us to her.”
Mendez was reportedly last seen on September 27, when a surveillance camera caught her at a QuikTrip in Dallas by the intersection of South Belt Line Road and U.S. Highway 175.
In Dallas, kidnappings have been on the rise this year, with the Dallas Police Department logging 141 incidents as of October 13, marking a 12.8% increase year over year, according to the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard. There were only 125 incidents reported during the same period last year.
Murders are also up amid a serious shortage of officers at DPD. The department maintains fewer than 3,200 officers at present, far fewer than the 4,000 recommended by a City analysis that states a city the size of Dallas needs about three officers for every 1,000 residents.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Downtown Dallas has been feeling the police shortage, logging much higher crime rates than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is reportedly patrolled by a special police unit and private security officers.
There have been 198 murders reported this year in Dallas, 10% more than the 180 logged this time in 2022.