Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, 35, is accused of killing 19-year-old Dacara Thompson.
HYATTSVILLE, Md. — After two heartbreaking weeks, the search for DaCara Thompson came to a tragic end.
Prince George’s County Police confirmed Friday that her body was found along an embankment off of Route 50 in Anne Arundel County on August 31.
They also announced the arrest of Hugo Hernandez-Mendez. Investigators say the 35 year-old is an immigrant from Guatemala who was in the country illegally. He was charged with first and second degree murder on Friday, according to Prince George’s County Police Department Interim Chief George Nader.Â
Friday night, new court documents revealed a timeline of what unfolded.
Police say DaCara Thompson was first reported missing by her father just before 9 p.m. on August 23. He told police the same thing he told WUSA9, that he’d last seen her the night of August 22. He said he called her when she hadn’t returned home a short time later, but she didn’t answer. He also told them she texted him that night that she was going to get gas and going out. But, he never heard from her again.
Police say the case was assigned to members of the Special Crimes Division, Missing Person Unit.
On August 24, family members tracked the last location of her phone to the intersection of Jasmine Terrace and Riggs Road in Hyattsville. Once there, they saw her car, and called police.
On August 31, around 4:50 p.m., Maryland State Police responded to the Rt 50 between Maryland Rt 424 and Maryland Rt 97 in Annapolis for a disabled vehicle on the short bridge that is over the South River. While on scene troopers apparently saw her body on the river embankment, about 30 feet below. Court documents detail that the body was that of a fully nude woman and was in bad shape.Â
On September 1, an autopsy was conducted and Maryland State Police were familiar with the PGPD missing person case of DaCara Thompson, contacted PGPD, according to the court documents.
On September 3, detectives met with DaCara’s family, and say they were able to identify her through the pictures they shared.
According to the court documents, detectives had recovered surveillance footage from August 23, from 3:06 a.m., showing her leaving her white SUV and walking from Jasmine Terrace down Riggs Road toward University Boulevard in Hyattsville.Â
Investigators say surveillance footage showed her walk into the parking lot of a business on University Boulevard, approach the driver side of a black GMC Yukon Denali and appear to speak to the driver, before walking around to the passenger side and getting in the passenger front seat.
At this point, authorities say they were able to the obtain a tag for the vehicle, and figure out that it was registered to someone who lived on Kembridge Drive in Bowie, Maryland.
Court documents reveal that they believe the two arrived to that home around 3:47 a.m..
Investigators say cell phone records for DaCara Thompson’s phone show that she was in the car the entire time. Her phone was deactivated at 5:03 a.m., the documents show.
On September 3, detectives say they went to the home. That was just before 9 p.m. Once there, they say they saw the black SUV parked in front of the address. They applied and were granted a residential search warrant for the address, and early in the morning of September 4, they returned to the home. Before they could serve the warrant, court documents reveal that they saw a man leave the home and get in the front seat of the SUV.
Police say they stopped the driver, who they’ve since identified as Hugo Rene Hernandez-Mendez and detained him.
Court documents reveal he allegedly told authorities that he was at the Galaxy Night Club on University Boulevard in the early morning hours of August 23, which is across the street from where DaCara Thompson was seen getting in the black SUV. Police say he told them that he was supposed to meet his ex-girlfriend, but never did. When they began to question him more, he denied involvement in DaCara’s disappearance and asked for a lawyer.
Through the court documents, WUSA9 has learned that detectives also interviewed several of the people who live in the home with him.Â
Investigators say they believe he killed DaCara Thompson inside his bedroom early in the morning of August 23 and then drove her body to Rt 50 between Rt 424 and Rt 97 in Annapolis, and threw her body over the short bridge.
It was a horrific outcome for her family, who had hoped she’d be found alive. Friday night, her family absolutely devastated by the news, sharing that they are trying to process and grieve the loss of the 19 year-old.
“I appreciate the outpouring of support we received,” Carmen Thompson, DaCara’s mother, told WUSA9 Friday night.
She shared that she was so grateful for the way everyone jumped in to help, from joining the search efforts, to dropping off food and even offering to help clean their house.
The family had initially launched a GoFundMe Page to help cover the cost of search efforts and a private investigator, but say that money will now go towards funeral costs.Â
DaCara was a vibrant, loving 19-year-old with her whole life ahead of her. Your support—whether through donations, shares, or prayers—means the world to us during this unbearable time.
If you’d like to donate to the family, you can click here.