Found Deceased MD - DaCara Thompson 19, res Lanham, car found w/purse, cash, ID, seen on vid parking 1800 blk Jasmine Ter walking twd Riggs, Hyattsville, 22 Aug 2025

  • #81
i searched her name in google news and that’s literally the only article I found mentioning her. The fox 5 reporter on instagram linked within seems to be the only one covering it?

I found an instagram post from Hyattsville md PD, as well
Since msm tied in these two women's disappearances, I did little more checking on the other woman named with DeCara as being missing from Hyatsille. , I'm even now more inclined to believe they are not related. From:
The older woman (Erica) has a pending court action for which a summons was issued (consumer debt, not criminal). She has a history of some financial issues, tax liens, etc. so this might be something that, though not a big event to many of us, may have overwhelmed her and she just got away for a bit. From: Maryland Judiciary Case Search

Court System: District Court For Prince George's County - Civil
Location: Upper Marlboro
Case Number: D-05-CV-25-030529
Title: (name redacted, not POI) N.A. vs. ERICA PERRY
Case Type: Consumer Debt - Original
Filing Date: 06/17/2025
Case Status: Open
Defendant
Name: PERRY, ERICA N
Address: 6210 BELCREST RDAPT 1133
City: HYATTSVILLE State: MD Zip Code: 20782
Plaintiff
Name: (credit card company)
Address: -----
City: MCLEAN State: VA Zip Code: 22102
Court Scheduling Information
Event Type Event Date Event Time Judge Court Location Court Room Result
Conference - Resolution 09/12/2025 08:45:00 Upper Marlboro - Prince George's District Court Courtroom 353
Summons Issued
 
  • #82
Ok, I’m really confused. Does it normally take this long to identify a body? I have a bad feeling about this.
 
  • #83
Ok everyone. We just got a breaking news report that the PG County police will make a “significant announcement” at 9:30 est. so about 28 minutes from now.
 
  • #84
Hugo Renee Mendez 35 year old male from Bowie Md.

They believe the murder happened in his bedroom. They aren’t sure why she got in his car.
 
  • #85
I’m devastated.
 
  • #86
The presser confirmed it is here. There has been an arrest, the POI is named but I missed it.
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  • #87
  • #88
Approximately 30 minutes drive between where her car was found in Hyattsville and his home in Bowie, as per article above. Google maps image below.

IMG_3752.webp
 
  • #89
1757082299687.webp
 
  • #90
How horrible. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Charged with First Degree and Second Degree murder.

ETA: source, see next post information
 
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  • #91
Here's the judicial records just filed for him. No prior criminal or civil records on file for him in the State of Maryland. See last paragraph in my post for press conference information (with link) on ICE Detainer and 2025 DUI arrest by Park Police- gg

Case Information
Court System: District Court For Prince George's County - Criminal
Location: Upper Marlboro
Case Number: D-05-CR-25-001605

Title: State of Maryland vs. HUGO RENE HERNANDEZ-MENDEZ
Case Type: Criminal - SOC - On View Arrest
Filing Date: 09/05/2025
Case Status: Open
Tracking Number(s): 220001311202
Other Reference Numbers
Central Complaint Number: 250046894
Defendant Information
Defendant
Name: HERNANDEZ-MENDEZ, HUGO RENE
Race: White Sex: Male Height: 5'6" Weight: 150
Hair Color: Black EyeColor: Brown
DOB: 12/26/1989
Address: 12606 KEMBRIDGE DR
City: BOWIE State: MD Zip Code: 20715-0000
(note: this is a modest single family home. Last sold in 2001 so he likely lived with the owner or was a renter/tenant. https://www.realto)r.com/realestateandhomes-detail/12606-Kernwood-Ln_Bowie_MD_20715_M57582-63742

Involved Parties Information
Plaintiff
Name: State of Maryland


Officer - Arresting/Complainant
Name: DCK_DA_DIS8_3937
AgencyName: PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY DISTRICT 8
Address: 8803 Police Plaza
City: Upper Marlboro State: MD Zip Code: 20772

Court Scheduling Information
Event Type Event Date Event Time Judge Court Location Court Room Result
Hearing - Bail/ Bond Review 09/08/2025 13:15:00 Upper Marlboro - Prince George's District Court Courtroom 261
Charge and Disposition Information
Charge No: 1 CJIS Code: 1-0990 Statute Code: CR.2.201

Charge Description: MURDER - FIRST DEGREE Charge Class: Felony Circuit Court
Probable Cause: YES
Offense Date From: 08/23/2025 To: 08/23/2025
Agency Name: Officer ID:
Charge No: 2 CJIS Code: 1-1107 Statute Code: CR.2.204
Charge Description: MURDER-SECOND DEGREE Charge Class: Felony Circuit Court
Probable Cause: YES

Offense Date From: 08/23/2025 To: 08/23/2025

Agency Name: Officer ID:
Bond Setting Information
Bail Date: 09/05/2025
Bail Setting Type: Hold Without Bond
Bail Amount: $0.00
Judge:
Document Information
File Date: 09/05/2025 Document Name: Document Issued
File Date: 09/05/2025 Document Name: Initial Appearance
File Date: 09/05/2025 Document Name: Court Appointed Appearance - Present Remotely
File Date: 09/05/2025 Document Name: Commitment Pending Hearing
File Date: 09/05/2025 Document Name: Public Defender Eligible

Nancy Grace's Crime Online has posted the press conference with LE. County Executive Aisha Braveboy told reporters that Hernandez had been arrested by US Park Police for a DUI in April but was released pending trial. (note from gg - those records are available by FOIA only). "An ICE detainer was not filed at that time," (Police Chief) Nader said, "but one has now been filed". Dacara Thompson: Arrest Made in Murder of Maryland Teen
 
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  • #92
Nader said investigators determined that Thompson had gotten into Hernandez’s vehicle “willfully” on the night she went missing, and he drove her back to a home in Bowie, where the murder took place in a bedroom. From there, police said, he took the body to where it was found.

“We don’t believe she was moving around the home,” Nader said. “We believe everything transpired in the bedroom. What is surrounding the two coming together, that is what we’re still investigating.”



The above info can be heard from LE in the video at the link above.
 
  • #93
Does anyone remember the case of MacKenzie Lueck? I'm not saying this is a similar case; however, when the police say that she willingly got into the kiler's car, went to his home and only went into his bedroom, it made me think of this case. I hope that the police are checking what apps the killer and the victim have. DaCara was a beautiful young girl. So tragic. Here is a link with info on MacKenzie: Lyft Driver Recalls ‘Strange’ Ride With Utah Student MacKenzie Lueck Before She Disappeared | Oxygen

JMO.
 
  • #94
Does anyone remember the case of MacKenzie Lueck? I'm not saying this is a similar case; however, when the police say that she willingly got into the kiler's car, went to his home and only went into his bedroom, it made me think of this case. I hope that the police are checking what apps the killer and the victim have. DaCara was a beautiful young girl. So tragic. Here is a link with info on MacKenzie: Lyft Driver Recalls ‘Strange’ Ride With Utah Student MacKenzie Lueck Before She Disappeared | Oxygen

JMO.
Why would she leave her purse in her car? She might have willingly gotten into his car, but perhaps not willingly left in his car.

But, yes, it does sort of seem like MacKenzie Lueck. :(

As someone else already stated, devasting news. So sorry to hear it.

jmopinion
 
  • #95
Why would she leave her purse in her car? She might have willingly gotten into his car, but perhaps not willingly left in his car.

But, yes, it does sort of seem like MacKenzie Lueck. :(

As someone else already stated, devasting news. So sorry to hear it.

jmopinion
Well, it doesn't sound to me like she was meeting up with him to buy something if she left her purse and $60 in her car. I can't imagine it was a "hookup" with him since she left personal stuff behind. That's the puzzling part to me. It seems like whatever it is she was doing was going to be short for her to leave her belongings like that. Like a couple of minutes.

Whatever could it be?
 
  • #96
Why would she leave her purse in her car? She might have willingly gotten into his car, but perhaps not willingly left in his car.

But, yes, it does sort of seem like MacKenzie Lueck. :(

As someone else already stated, devasting news. So sorry to hear it.

jmopinion
The only thing I could think was, outside of simply "forgetting" it which is possible, she didn't want whomever she was meeting to have access to her ID with her legal name and address. It only takes a moment with a purse unattended (for example, while making a quick bathroom stop) for someone to open a purse and gain visual access to an ID. Was she meeting him using a social media or other unknown name rather than her own? I think LE will be looking into her social media and phone records - I think the answer will lie there. No less devastating for her family, though, even if answers are found. At 19 she had so much ahead of her.
 
  • #97
Well, it doesn't sound to me like she was meeting up with him to buy something if she left her purse and $60 in her car. I can't imagine it was a "hookup" with him since she left personal stuff behind. That's the puzzling part to me. It seems like whatever it is she was doing was going to be short for her to leave her belongings like that. Like a couple of minutes.

Whatever could it be?
Maybe a hookup that was intended only to be a short while, in the car parked right there. And, she is pretty, I'm wondering if she took one look at him and wanted to back out, so he forced her to stay in the car.

Total speculation. I just can't understand the situation at this point.

jmopinion
 
  • #98
Maybe a hookup that was intended only to be a short while, in the car parked right there. And, she is pretty, I'm wondering if she took one look at him and wanted to back out, so he forced her to stay in the car.

Total speculation. I just can't understand the situation at this point.

jmopinion
Very possible. They could have met online in a chat room and he sent her a fake pic. It happens a lot IMO.
 
  • #99
This is long but some of you may wonder why the defendant is being charged with BOTH first and second degree murder.

2024 Maryland Statutes Criminal Law Title 2 - Homicide
(from https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/criminal-law/
Subtitle 2 - Murder and Manslaughter Section 2-201 - Murder in the First Degree
Universal Citation: MD Criminal Law Code § 2-201 (2024)

(a) A murder is in the first degree if it is:
(1) a deliberate, premeditated, and willful killing;
(2) committed by lying in wait;
(3) committed by poison; or
(4) committed in the perpetration of or an attempt to perpetrate:

(i) arson in the first degree;
(ii) burning a barn, stable, tobacco house, warehouse, or other outbuilding that:
1. is not parcel to a dwelling; and
2. contains cattle, goods, wares, merchandise, horses, grain, hay, or tobacco;
(iii) burglary in the first, second, or third degree;
(iv) carjacking or armed carjacking;
(v) escape in the first degree from a State correctional facility or a local correctional facility;
(vi) kidnapping under § 3–502 or § 3–503(a)(2) of this article;
(vii) mayhem;
(viii) rape;
(ix) robbery under § 3–402 or § 3–403 of this article;
(x) sexual offense in the first or second degree;
(xi) sodomy as that crime existed before October 1, 2020; or
(xii) a violation of § 4–503 of this article concerning destructive devices.

2024 Maryland Statutes Criminal Law Title 2 - Homicide
Subtitle 2 - Murder and Manslaughter Section 2-204 - Murder in the Second Degree
Universal Citation: MD Criminal Law Code § 2-204 (2024)

(a) A murder that is not in the first degree under § 2–201 of this subtitle is in the second degree.

(b) A person who commits a murder in the second degree is guilty of a felony and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 40 years.

Criminal Justic Basics here. Most all of you know that the defendant cannot be convicted and sentenced for both first- and second-degree murder for the same killing because that would violate the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. The ultimate conviction would be for the most serious charge that the jury found proven beyond a reasonable doubt. However, charging the party with both is NOT unusual. In the state of Maryland, murder in the second degree encompasses ALL murder that does not satisfy the requirement for murder in the first degree. Section 2-204(a). For example, if the perpetrator kills another person in a deliberate and intentional manner but without premeditation, then it would qualify as murder in the second degree. Second degree murder, for example, occurs when an individual kills someone in the heat of an argument. They intended to kill the person or cause serious bodily harm at that moment, but had not planned to do so ahead of time.

The prosecution’s goal is to secure a conviction. When evidence strongly suggests the defendant committed murder but is weaker on the issue of premeditation, charging both degrees gives the jury an alternative. If the jury does not believe the killing was premeditated, they can still convict the defendant of second-degree murder based on the evidence presented and their believe that the defendant committed an intentional killing.

In GENERAL, dual charges may also increase leverage in plea negotiations. By charging the most severe possible offense (first-degree murder), prosecutors can use this leverage during plea negotiations. This may prompt a defendant to accept a plea deal for second-degree murder and thereby possibily take life imprisonment off the table. Grace
 
  • #100
This is long but some of you may wonder why the defendant is being charged with BOTH first and second degree murder.

2024 Maryland Statutes Criminal Law Title 2 - Homicide
(from https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/criminal-law/
Subtitle 2 - Murder and Manslaughter Section 2-201 - Murder in the First Degree
Universal Citation: MD Criminal Law Code § 2-201 (2024)

(a) A murder is in the first degree if it is:
(1) a deliberate, premeditated, and willful killing;
(2) committed by lying in wait;
(3) committed by poison; or
(4) committed in the perpetration of or an attempt to perpetrate:

(i) arson in the first degree;
(ii) burning a barn, stable, tobacco house, warehouse, or other outbuilding that:
1. is not parcel to a dwelling; and
2. contains cattle, goods, wares, merchandise, horses, grain, hay, or tobacco;
(iii) burglary in the first, second, or third degree;
(iv) carjacking or armed carjacking;
(v) escape in the first degree from a State correctional facility or a local correctional facility;
(vi) kidnapping under § 3–502 or § 3–503(a)(2) of this article;
(vii) mayhem;
(viii) rape;
(ix) robbery under § 3–402 or § 3–403 of this article;
(x) sexual offense in the first or second degree;
(xi) sodomy as that crime existed before October 1, 2020; or
(xii) a violation of § 4–503 of this article concerning destructive devices.

2024 Maryland Statutes Criminal Law Title 2 - Homicide
Subtitle 2 - Murder and Manslaughter Section 2-204 - Murder in the Second Degree
Universal Citation: MD Criminal Law Code § 2-204 (2024)

(a) A murder that is not in the first degree under § 2–201 of this subtitle is in the second degree.

(b) A person who commits a murder in the second degree is guilty of a felony and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 40 years.

Criminal Justic Basics here. Most all of you know that the defendant cannot be convicted and sentenced for both first- and second-degree murder for the same killing because that would violate the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. The ultimate conviction would be for the most serious charge that the jury found proven beyond a reasonable doubt. However, charging the party with both is NOT unusual. In the state of Maryland, murder in the second degree encompasses ALL murder that does not satisfy the requirement for murder in the first degree. Section 2-204(a). For example, if the perpetrator kills another person in a deliberate and intentional manner but without premeditation, then it would qualify as murder in the second degree. Second degree murder, for example, occurs when an individual kills someone in the heat of an argument. They intended to kill the person or cause serious bodily harm at that moment, but had not planned to do so ahead of time.

The prosecution’s goal is to secure a conviction. When evidence strongly suggests the defendant committed murder but is weaker on the issue of premeditation, charging both degrees gives the jury an alternative. If the jury does not believe the killing was premeditated, they can still convict the defendant of second-degree murder based on the evidence presented and their believe that the defendant committed an intentional killing.

In GENERAL, dual charges may also increase leverage in plea negotiations. By charging the most severe possible offense (first-degree murder), prosecutors can use this leverage during plea negotiations. This may prompt a defendant to accept a plea deal for second-degree murder and thereby possibily take life imprisonment off the table. Grace
Yes, I've seen dual charges be effective when the jury is torn on a more serious charge, but is confident on the lesser one. And, I've seen defendents over-charged based on the evidence and the jury can't find guilt, but could've if there were a lesser option (Casey Anthony).

Even though we don't know much at this stage, my hunch is there will be ample evidence for conviction in this case.

jmopinion
 

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