‘She was innocent’ | Police searching for person of interest after missing teen’s body found in ditch

Police say she was naked with signs of trauma on her body.

SAN ANTONIO — Police are now searching for what they call a “person of interest” after a 17-year-old girl’s body was found naked in a ditch early Wednesday.

Relatives told KENS 5 the girl is Kaitlin Elizabeth Hernandez. San Antonio police found her body near the 7600 block of Dell Oak Drive near Krueger Middle School, not far from her northeast-side home around 12:30 a.m.

Police say Hernandez was naked, and her body had visible signs of trauma. Her death is being investigated as a homicide. 

Police say her family reported her missing just before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

 A neighbor, who wanted to be left anonymous gave her account what she heard that night.

“I actually saw two males standing next to the ditch shining like a light down there. After a couple of seconds of that. I then heard a female shout “Hey!’ I want to say it was in the ditch. It echoed like it was in the ditch. But then after that it just kind of went quiet,” she said.

Hernandez reportedly left home with a man from the neighborhood and never returned. Her family went looking for her and calling her phone, which someone found in a nearby ditch.

Officers searched the ditch and found a blue jacket, then found the missing girl under a bridge.

Police tell us they have detained the man Hernandez was last seen with and questioned him. Now they are looking for a second individual as they continue working to find out what happened and how she ended up dead.

If you have any information leading to the identity of this person of interest, please contact the SAPD Homicide unit at (210) 207-7635 and provide them case number SAPD24055687.

Hernandez was senior at Roosevelt High School. Her aunt, Crystal Rodriguez said she was the life of the party and had a dream of being a veterinarian. 

“She was going to graduate in March and now we have to bury her,” Rodriguez said.

They are urging anyone with information to come forward. 

“She was innocent,” Rodriguez said. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

Hernandez’s family has created a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral services. 

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