Sheriff Javier Salazar says it is too early to tell if the body is Mendoza Olmos; firearm found near body
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A body was found during the search for missing 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Tuesday.
Salazar said it is too early to tell if the body is Mendoza Olmos, who was last seen on the morning of Dec. 24 outside her family home in the 11000 block of Caspian Spring in northwest Bexar County.
Around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, a joint team consisting of FBI and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office members went back to a previously searched area when they found the body in tall grass, Salazar said.
The body was found 10 minutes into the search, at the Burnin’ Bush landscaping company a few hundred yards from Mendoza Olmos’ residence. According to Salazar, a firearm was also found near the body.
Salazar said investigators were looking for a family member’s missing firearm. It’s still unclear if the recovered weapon is the same one reported missing.
The sheriff said investigators don’t suspect foul play but believe self-harm may be a “possibility.”
The clothing on the body matched one of the descriptions of Mendoza Olmos’ clothing when she went missing, Salazar said.
“Don’t take anything for granted … sometimes when everything seems to be OK … they are coming to peace with the fact they are ending their life. … Reach out and get help,” Salazar said.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm identification of the body, along with the cause and manner of death.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Newly released dashcam footage is believed to show missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos on the night of her disappearance, according to the lead investigating sheriff.
The video, which shows someone resembling the 19-year-old walking close to her home around 7 a.m. Christmas Eve, was shared on Monday by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
“If you commute through this area or have dash cam or home surveillance footage that may have captured Camila — please contact the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office immediately,” the office said in a Facebook post.
Camila Mendoza Olmos, 19, has been missing since Christmas Eve.
Facebook/Help Find Camila Mendoza Olmos
The brief clip, taken near her San Antonio home, was sent to the police by a motorist.
“The motorist got to thinking, I may have seen somebody that matched that description on my morning commute the other day,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”
Olmos vanished after going for one of her regular walks around the neighborhood early Dec. 24, her mother said.
She was last seen wearing a black North Face sweater with blue accents, baby blue pajama shorts and white shoes, according to police.
Cops have not ruled out kidnapping or human trafficking at this stage, although they are also investigating the possibility she disappeared of her own volition, Salazar told “Cuomo.”
“She could have just wanted to get away, gather her thoughts. There is a concern regarding self-harm, so that could be what’s going on here … she may have gone and harmed herself, or she could have been abducted,” he said.
The Texas teen was last seen on Dec. 24 in Bexar County, near San Antonio, walking to her car.
KSAT
“At this point, we’re looking at that whole spectrum of possibilities until such time as some prevailing evidence emerges that leads us one way or the other,” Salazar added.
Before the release of the second dashcam video, the previous sighting of Olmos was in surveillance video around 7 a.m., showing her searching in her car for something before leaving her house on foot.
Olmos only had her car keys and possibly a driver’s license on her when she went missing, with her cellphone left on her bed, investigators said.
The teenager had recently ended a romantic relationship, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department.
Facebook/Help Find Camila Mendoza Olmos
She had made plans to go shopping with her best friend on the day of her disappearance.
Salazar was speaking after the search for the teen was extended to Mexico, with authorities in Nuevo Leon state in the northeast of the country issuing an alert.
Authorities previously confirmed that Olmos, a US citizen, wasn’t detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The operation has since expanded to involve multiple agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local and state police forces.
Her ex-boyfriend, Nathan Gonzales, has been among those to join in the search for the missing teen, telling the local press about the “nightmare” the family is going through.