Neural Newscast

Welcome to Neural Newscast. I am Mark Holloway. And I am Daniel Brooks. You know, Mark, today we're looking at a developing public safety situation in Bexar County, Texas. Authorities there have spent the last week, well, really the better part of the holiday, managing several high-priority missing persons cases involving teenagers. Yeah, it has been a lot to keep track of. The most recent update comes from a press conference held by Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. On Tuesday evening, a joint task force, that's Sheriff's deputies and FBI agents, discovered a body in a field in the far northwest area of the county. The discovery happened during an active search for 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos, who had been reported missing on Christmas Eve. The location is actually pretty significant from an urban search perspective. The body was found in an area of tall grass near a local landscaping business, which sits only a few hundred yards from where Olmos lived. In many of these missing persons cases, the initial search radius is just so critical, and authorities had been combing this specific area when the recovery was made around 4.40 p.m. Mm-hmm. Now, Sheriff Salazar noted that a firearm was recovered near the body. This weapon had been identified as an item of interest earlier in the search. While the scene is still being processed by the medical examiner to confirm the identity and the cause of death, the sheriff mentioned that current indicators are consistent with a possible self-harm rather than a homicide. but they are not drawing any final conclusions until the forensic reports are finished. Right. And the timeline here is quite tight. Camila Olmos was last seen leaving her home around 7 a.m. on December 24th. That sighting was actually confirmed through dashcam footage from a neighbor's vehicle. You know, this use of private surveillance and commuter data has really become a backbone of modern urban investigations. It provides a hard time stamp for the last known location. It's true, but this case is really just part of a broader, more complex week for Bexar County law enforcement. There were actually three separate reports of missing teenage girls in the San Antonio area within a very short window of time. I mean, that kind of clustering naturally raises questions about public safety and whether these cases are interconnected. Totally. And the Sheriff's Office has addressed those concerns directly. They have stated there is no confirmed connection between the cases at this time. We do know that 14-year-old Sophia Gabriela Peters-Cobos, who had been reported missing, has since been found safe. That is a positive outcome for that specific investigation at least. Right, but the search is certainly not over for everyone. 17-year-old Angelique Johnson remains missing. She was also reported missing from the San Antonio area recently, and authorities are still urging the public to come forward with any information regarding her whereabouts. Now, the clear alert for Camila Olmos has been discontinued following the discovery of the body. That's standard procedure when the search transitions from a rescue to a recovery operation. From a policy standpoint, these alerts are designed to mobilize the public quickly, but they rely heavily on the speed of the initial report and the availability of descriptive data like the dashcam footage we discussed. It really is a somber reminder of the challenges law enforcement faces during the holiday season when resources are often stretched thin. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office and the San Antonio Police Department are continuing to process the scene and investigate the remaining open cases. Exactly. If you have any information that could assist in the search for Angelique Johnson or provide more context for these investigations, please contact the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Public participation remains one of the most effective tools in these scenarios. We will continue to follow the medical examiner's report for official confirmation on the identity of the remains found. Thank you for joining us today. If you want to support our work and stay informed, please subscribe. Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.