A 2-year-old girl who vanished from her San Antonio home Sunday night was found dead in an overgrown, water-filled creek area early Monday, according to the San Antonio Police Department.
The girl, identified as Aryana Trevino Martinez, had been the subject of an AMBER Alert after her family told police she wandered away from a home in the 4700 block of Allegheny Drive, not far from Babcock Road on the city’s Northwest Side.
Around midnight, authorities located Martinez unresponsive in a brushy area off Belle Ellen Drive. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office is investigating the cause and manner of death.
Investigators said Martinez was captured on video walking alone through an alley. They are seeking additional footage to determine whether she was with anyone else. Neighbors told the San Antonio Express-News that they believe she left a home through a back gate and walked barefoot about a half-mile to where she was found.
The search drew about 100 residents. Madison Luevano, 34, was among them. She recalled the moment officers suddenly rushed to their vehicles. “I honestly thought they were going to find her,” Luevano said. She heard a woman believed to be the girl’s mother scream.
Elena Geil, 62, awoke to flashlights outside her home on Belle Ellen Drive. She and her husband, Kevin, had heard helicopters for hours. Then people yelled, “We found her.” Geil said her home has been in the family for decades, and she remembers playing in the area as a child. “I can’t even imagine a little 2-year-old girl just wandering around,” she said.
SAPD said its investigation is ongoing.