SAPD offers reward for tips on 17-year-old girl found dead in ditch

The San Antonio Police Department is asking for the public’s help in the case of the 17-year-old girl who was found dead in a ditch on the Northeast Side on Wednesday, March 13. SAPD is willing to offer up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest, according to a Crime Stoppers report on Thursday, March 14.

Authorities identified the teen as Kaitlin Elizabeth Hernandez on Thursday morning. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of death was determined as strangulation. Her body also showed signs of blunt force trauma to the head, officials said.

Hernandez was found naked in a ditch around midnight by the 7600 block of Dell Oak Drive, near Krueger Middle School. Police responded to the area after her family called to report the teen missing, according to SAPD. Officers searched the area, finding a phone, a jacket, and later Hernandez. 

The family of Hernandez told officials she was last seen going for a walk with a man from her neighborhood hours before she was found in the ditch. SAPD said detectives interviewed the man Hernandez went on a walk with. 

SAPD also sent out photos of a “person of interest” late Wednesday afternoon. The person has been cooperating with detectives, according to SAPD. 

No arrests have been made as of Thursday afternoon.

To be eligible for a reward, tips must be submitted directly to Crime Stoppers. If you have information, please call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (210-224-7867).  Calls and tips to crime stoppers are anonymous.