Body found during search for Camila Olmos, sheriff says; still undetermined if remains are missing 19-year-old

Sheriff Javier Salazar said the Bexar County medical examiner still must determine the identity of the remains found Tuesday.

SAN ANTONIO — Sheriff Javier Salazar said a body and gun were found Tuesday amid the ongoing search for 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos, who disappeared from her Bexar County home on Christmas Eve.

Salazar said Tuesday evening that the medical examiner still has to confirm the identity of the remains, as well as a cause and manner of death.

“But we hope to expedite that process to get the community answers,” the sheriff said, adding he hopes clarity will come from the ME’s office “in the next day or two.”

Salazar said the body was found in a field “very close to Camila’s home.” It was located during a search by sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents in a field they decided to scour again due to high brush in the area.

A CLEAR Alert for Olmos was issued on Christmas Day. A neighbor’s surveillance video captured her standing near her vehicle around 7 a.m. on Dec. 24, in the 11000 block of Caspian Spring.

Her mother, Rosario Olmos, said she and her daughter were sleeping together that morning when she felt Camila get up. About an hour and a half later, Rosario said, she woke up and could not find Camila, although her car was still at the house.

“I called her cell phone, but the cell phone was there on the bed and it was turned off,” Rosario Olmos previously told KENS 5. “I put it to charge and went out to look for her. I thought I would find her like other times, walking, and we would come home together.”

The only other footage authorities had obtained, Salazar previously said, is a portion of dash camera video that appeared to show someone walking on the side of the road—that person, authorities believe, was Olmos.

Olmos’ disappearance has sparked large, daily search efforts in the area she was last seen, focusing their efforts on an eight-mile radius around her home.  At a vigil held Saturday night, the community came together to pray for her safe return and provide support for the family.

“We are hopeful every day,” Rosario told KENS 5 on Sunday. “At times we are broken, but we are staying strong because my daughter is missing and we don’t know where she is.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which issued the original CLEAR Alert, discontinued that alert Tuesday evening, shortly after Salazar’s remarks.

‘Check on people’

Salazar added on Tuesday that authorities had developed information that Camila might have been experiencing “some suicidal ideations,” saying it appeared she “was a young person going through a very tough time in her life.”

“Check on people,” Salazar added. “Don’t take anything for granted… If you’re going through a crisis yourself, reach out and get help.”