High Number of Bodies Recently Found in San Antonio Concerns Community, Draws 'Serial Killer' Speculation

It looks like San Antonio is about to surpass the number of total homicides in 2018, and it’s only July.

While San Antonio saw eleven total murders for all of 2018, there have already been eleven this year.

“Last year, for all of 2018, there were 11 murders and capital murders," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said after the most recent body was found. "We’ve already hit 10 this year and this would make it 11, if it’s classified as a murder.”

There are pending investigations into nine recently found bodies in the past few weeks that could drive that number up even more.

Friends in San Antonio: there have been 9 bodies found in 9 days across the area. Please be extra cautious of your surroundings and make sure someone knows where you're at at all times.

— Midoriya (@spookyboogie666) July 16, 2019

The high body count has stirred speculation among locals, including rumors that a serial killer might be on the loose.

I feel like there is a serial killer in San Antonio all these damn bodies they finding

— 𝒮𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸 🤫 (@kenyae_) July 17, 2019

9 bodies in 9 days found in San Antonio area...ladies and gents we got a serial killer

— Sydney Da Costa🌶 (@Sydthesquid97) July 18, 2019

Others have been quick to point out that the murders do not appear to be connected.
On July 7, the decomposed body of 71-year-old Jacqueline Louise Crayton was found in the Seguin home she shared with her daughter and granddaughter — three years after her death in 2016. She is believed to have suffered a non-life threatening fall in her bedroom and died on the floor several days later after her daughter failed to get her medical attention. Investigators arrested her daughter, Delissa Crayton, and charged her with a second-degree felony of injury to a child under the age of 15 for exposing her daughter to a deceased body, with more charges expected to follow.

On July 9, the bodies of missing Devine woman Jessica Sanchez and her ex-boyfriend Jorge Jaramillo were found off County Road 4514 by a landowner. Sanchez was last seen on June 30, and authorities believe Jaramillo had broken into her home and kidnapped her at gunpoint in front of her children. Their bodies were found around 100 yards away from where Sanchez’s car had been abandoned the week prior, and officials believe Jaramillo killed her before taking his own life.

On July 10, circling vultures lead to the discovery of human remains along Salado Creek at the Tobin Park Trailhead. A man who noticed the vultures called police after he found a human skull, and a wider search of the grounds led authorities to a second decomposed body about 75 yards away near the Oakwell Trailhead. The case is still under investigation and awaiting an autopsy.
On July 11, human remains were found mixed with wood and bones from a deceased cow on a private property on the 600 block of Specht Road. A few days later, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the remains belonged to 29-year-old Andreen McDonald, who had been reported missing since March 1. Her husband Andre Mcdonald, a Texas Air Force Major who was initially charged with evidence tampering in connection with her disappearance back in March, has since been charged with her murder. Officials believe the couple’s eight-year-old daughter may have witnessed her mother’s death.

On July 14, an unidentified elderly woman was found dead in her home in the Southeast side. SAPD was called to investigate after a relative reported that calls to the home had gone unanswered for several days. She had stopped by the house and found the front window was broken and the house “trashed.” Police who responded to the call noticed a foul odor emanating from the home, and found her body in one room and an alive, but unresponsive male relative lying on the floor in a separate room. The male relative was taken to the hospital, and authorities continue to investigate.

On July 15, a delivery driver came across the recently identified body of Marc Anthony Ramirez, 22, on the side of the road near Rustic Oak and Running Springs on the city’s North Side. The medical examiner found Ramirez had died of a gunshot wound to the head, and his death has officially been ruled a homicide. Police arrested a suspect Wednesday night.

On July 16, a cab driver found a body in downtown San Antonio near 700 W. Commerce street early in the morning. Police stated the man appeared to have suffered a stab wound and a small laceration to the forehead. His identity has not yet been released, and his death is currently being investigated.

Bodies Found in Previous Months

The “9 in 9” does not include last month’s discovery of 45-year-old Katherine Proctor’s body in an easement on the city’s North Side on June 22. Her body was so badly decomposed at the time it was found that police were unable to tell how long she had been there, or her age and sex.

In January, the initially unidentified body of Eduardo Beltran, 37, was found dead on the side of the road on the city’s South Side. Police said the man had suffered a gunshot wound to the upper body, and may have been killed elsewhere before being relocated to Moursund Boulevard where he was found. Paul Gutierrez, 42, was identified earlier this month as a suspect in Beltran’s death, which is now believed to be a gang-related homicide.

In March, a man’s body was found in an apartment complex on the 1200 block of Fair Avenue. Neighbors had complained of an odor emanating from the unit for a week before his body was discovered, but building employees checked and disregarded the odor as coming from a dead rodent. Authorities believed his body had been in the closet for months, and suspected foul play. He was later identified as 43-year-old Thomas Lyons, and was found to have died from multiple gunshot wounds.

In April, the charred remains of Norma Pacheco were discovered near the Government Canyon State Natural Area. They were initially believed to be the remains of Andreen McDonald, though a day after the discovery the Bexar County Sheriff’s department released a statement saying that was not the case. After a plead for assistance in identifying the woman by a postmortem sketch, social media tips led to the identification of the 39-year-old homicide victim. She was described by her family as a “drifter” and no one close to her had reported her missing.

In June, two Hispanic men believed to be in their late 20s to early 30s were found dead near railroad tracks in the 1300 block of Thorain Boulevard. One man was identified as 43-year-old Carlos Soriano Mendoza, though his cause of death is still unknown and the second victim has yet to be identified. Neither showed visible signs of trauma, and the investigation into their deaths is still ongoing.

Stay on top of San Antonio news and views. Sign up for our Weekly Headlines Newsletter.