San Antonio child and his mother were shot dead before being found near park, authorities say

SAN ANTONIO — Two bodies found near a west-side San Antonio park Tuesday were confirmed by authorities to be a missing 3-year-old boy and woman who disappearances sparked an AMBER Alert earlier that morning.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday that Kaiden Kriger and his mother, 32-year-old Savannah Kriger, both died from gunshot wounds to the head. Kaiden’s death was determined a homicide, but a ruling hasn’t been made on Savannah’s manner of death. 

Law enforcement on Tuesday said they were investigating the incident as a possible murder-suicide after a gun was recovered at the scene at Tom Slick Park. 

Kaiden and Savannah went missing hours before a custody hearing was set to take place Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities who believe there was an ongoing custody battle between the child’s mother and father. 

Savannah reportedly went to pick up Kaiden from daycare Monday before they disappeared; Bexar County sheriff’s deputies went to her home for a welfare check where they said concerning evidence was found leading them to believe the two were in danger. Savannah’s car was later found abandoned at the same park where their bodies were found. 

Authorities are now working to determine what happened between the Krigers going missing and their bodies being discovered. 

Public vigils for the Krigers are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday (this one organized by Savannah’s biological mother) and 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Both will be held at Tom Slick Park. 

“She was never one to ignore a call, to miss a call,” said Jamie Johnson, Savannah’s stepsister, who last spoke with her on Sunday. “So the second she didn’t answer my second phone call, I knew something was wrong.”

The family’s frantic search for Savannah and Kaiden started Monday night, which is when Johnson says she called police and asked them to conduct the welfare check. 

“One of the terrible things is (my family) drove by Tom Slick Park at about 1 a.m. hoping to find her car because we knew that’s where her phone had last pinged,” Johnson said through tears. “I’m glad they didn’t find anything because that’s not the way we want to remember them.”

“We talked about things that were going to be planned months in advance like summer parties with Kaiden,” Johnson continued, calling her stepsister headstrong and goal-oriented. “She was going through a separation with her husband, who we harbor no ill will towards at all, but she was saying, ‘I really don’t want (Kaiden) to feel the brunt of this. So, I really need you to lock in and just love him.’”

A growing makeshift memorial for the Krigers could be seen at Tom Slick Park this week, where flowers were laid at the base of a pole and one bouquet carried the message: “RIP Kaiden, heavenly angel.”

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