Found Deceased TX - Erica Hernandez, 40, Houston, 17 Apr 2021

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‘I am heartbroken’: Erica Hernandez positively identified as body found inside of vehicle pulled from Pearland lake, police says

Pearland police said Wednesday they positively identified Erica Hernandez as the body recovered inside her SUV that was found in a retention pond Tuesday evening.

Officials said they were notified by the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office.

...

“I am heartbroken,” Rafael Hernandez, Erica’s brother, told KPRC 2 Wednesday. “I wish I could tell her I love her.”


Rafael said he doesn’t believe this is the result of an accident and suspects foul play.

When asked, “If someone is responsible for your sister’s death, what would you want to tell them?” Rafael replied, “I hope they find you. I hope you get what you deserve for doing this.”

Rafael said closure for his family isn’t finding his sister-- it’s finding out what happened.

“There are no answers and it’s just getting started,” he said.
 
I google earth mapped it with street view. She must have been coming down Reflection Bay and missed the stop sign or just kept going straight. I’m going up and down it looking for a posted speed limit (not that any one drives speed). Road is 2 lanes in each direction with a median so at night she may have been moving faster than posted speed. Posted speed limit is 30mph. If she was traveling eastbound on Clearlake I have a hard time envisioning her being able to angle enough to end up in lake. You have light poles, stop sign, small patch of grass, side walk, large grass then lake. There are some trees around it too and possibly signs although image capture is from Feb 2017. I guess anything is possible with enough momentum, but the odds to me say Southbound on Reflection Bay.
 
Tbone144 said:
I google earth mapped it with street view. She must have been coming down Reflection Bay and missed the stop sign or just kept going straight. I’m going up and down it looking for a posted speed limit (not that any one drives speed). Road is 2 lanes in each direction with a median so at night she may have been moving faster than posted speed. Posted speed limit is 30mph. If she was traveling eastbound on Clearlake I have a hard time envisioning her being able to angle enough to end up in lake. You have light poles, stop sign, small patch of grass, side walk, large grass then lake. There are some trees around it too and possibly signs although image capture is from Feb 2017. I guess anything is possible with enough momentum, but the odds to me say Southbound on Reflection Bay.
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That’s what makes sense to me too.
 
If she fell asleep and went up the kerb, surely it would have jolted her awake momentarily to quickly press the brakes as a natural instinct reaction?

The surrounding grass should have had some marks on it, surely?

But main main concern: if she did fall asleep for a moment, would her foot still be pressing the gas pedal down?? I don't think so.
 
Where Erica was found is is not a direct route home nor a freeway or highway. No reason to be going that way.

Also, it's a residential area. So obviously going to meet someone or dropping something off at someone's house.

But not dropping off food, because she would've done that first before spending 5 hours at her friend's. I think all food drops were done before she took her kids back home.

I don't know why she was there, but I bet the phone number she called lives out there....

At the crossroads of Reflection Bay and Shadow Creek Parkway there is a Hilton Hotel, a Jax's Burgers and also a Ballet Conservatory along the top part of Reflection Bay.
I wonder if they have cameras that would have caught her car going past, and at what precise time.

RIP Erica. Rest easy dear girl.
 
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Thanks y'all for your posts and links. Here's where I have a disconnect: the predominant theory here, with which I agree, seems to be that this was an accident caused by one or more factors. However, three articles posted on this thread indicate or imply that the retention pond was searched based on a tip generated by the FBI. That suggests to me that there was a witness who called this in. And if a witness called it in, why call the FBI instead of local LE? I wonder if the witness knew that this was Erica, knew the Feebies were on the case and therefore called them. Alternatively, I guess it's plausible that the Feds had some video footage, like from a satellite or private source, showing the accident and they don't want to talk about that. It just feels like something doesn't add up - if it was truly a freak accident that happened three weeks ago on a deserted street in the middle of the night, how did a tip suddenly materialize?
 
Spider92 said:
Thanks y'all for your posts and links. Here's where I have a disconnect: the predominant theory here, with which I agree, seems to be that this was an accident caused by one or more factors. However, three articles posted on this thread indicate or imply that the retention pond was searched based on a tip generated by the FBI. That suggests to me that there was a witness who called this in. And if a witness called it in, why call the FBI instead of local LE? I wonder if the witness knew that this was Erica, knew the Feebies were on the case and therefore called them. Alternatively, I guess it's plausible that the Feds had some video footage, like from a satellite or private source, showing the accident and they don't want to talk about that. It just feels like something doesn't add up - if it was truly a freak accident that happened three weeks ago on a deserted street in the middle of the night, how did a tip suddenly materialize?
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Two to three weeks is about the right time frame for them to have processed the information from something like cell phone towers.
 
It is difficult to accept that this was just a "freak accident". She had to have been traveling quite fast when the car jumped the curb and went into the water. Was she asleep, drugged out, having a medical emergency, fleeing from someone or what? Like others it seems if asleep she would have been awakened when the car hit the curb and made some effort to escape the vehicle. Hopefully the Medical Examiner can tell more about her physical condition at the time.
 
...if a witness called it in, why call the FBI instead of local LE?
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Perhaps they did contact LE who passed it straight on to the FBI? The FBI were involved quite early on, so must have already had a working relationship with Houston PD.

With the FBI being brought in quite soon, do you think Houston PD may have been a bit out of their depth with this case.....?

Or was there inside information early on that this was not a straightforward case and needed the FBI's help ASAP...?
 
mlhenn said:
Thank you for translating that for me.
I was curious about what the officers answer was (wanting to compare his answer to the officer who answered just mins before him but in English).
His answer was slightly different. He mentioned Erica was walking...But it appears the family has addressed that today by stating she wasn’t walking; she was seen in her car and not by Walgreens.
So I take that as the police officer innocently misspoke. (Unless there’s more videos??)

ETA: I posted the family addressing the ‘walking’ question w/ a link in a post above.
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Yes, he said walking but I honestly think he just misspoke. Even the journalist asked him twice to make sure. I think the police officer was referring to the video of her walking to her car from her sister-in-law’s house, and the journalist was referring to the video at the intersection.
 
Heartbreaking. :( Prayers for her family.

Rest peacefully, Erica.

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Araised_Marvels said:
Yes, he said walking but I honestly think he just misspoke. Even the journalist asked him twice to make sure. I think the police officer was referring to the video of her walking to her car from her sister-in-law’s house, and the journalist was referring to the video at the intersection.
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
beandawgs said:
The big FBI tip could have been a satellite image of the cars rooftop - water level may have gone down enough to see the cars roof ...
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Yes, the tip could be so many things. Someone walking near the lake could have seen something or I’m wondering if FBI was able to access her Google account. That can tell everywhere she was I think.

This is very strange. Although I can understand how she could have maybe accidentally gone into the water there, the biggest mystery is WHY WAS SHE THERE in the first place? Her friends and family are thinking foul play, and I’ll be very interested in the autopsy and whether she drowned or was dead before going into the water.
 
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