FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — “There was a lot more, you know, that he had life to offer him,” says Cynthia Menoza. “It breaks me that he doesn’t get that, and I don’t get to see him do that.”<\/p>\n
A grieving mother surrounded by a heartbroken family, just after Christmas.<\/p>\n
This week, Carlos Mendoza’s loved ones waited desperately to find out where the young man was after he went missing early Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
“We’ve always been very close,” says his sister, Alyssa Torres. “Once one of us is hurting, we’re all hurting.”<\/p>\n
Once one of us is hurting, we’re all hurting.<\/p>\n
Alyssa Torres, sister of Carlos<\/p>\n
Friday, the search ended in tragedy.<\/p>\n
Carlos had died after crashing into a Fresno County canal, where he was trapped under 12 feet of water.<\/p>\n
“It did show signs that he was trying to get out,” Cynthia said, Carlos’s mother.<\/p>\n
The pain of knowing what happened to her baby crushed Cynthia.<\/p>\n
She told Action News it wasn’t uncommon for Carlos to take drives to clear his mind, but it wasn’t at all like him to leave his family in the dark as to where he was.<\/p>\n
She said she knew something was wrong, and the day after Christmas, her worst fears came true.<\/p>\n
Her only solace: her family and her faith.<\/p>\n
“That’s going to be my only strength, pulling to God because He’s the only one who knows what was supposed to happen,” Cynthia said.<\/p>\n
Cynthia plans to keep her son’s memory alive through faith, prayer, and family.<\/p>\n
The bond between a mother and son will always weigh on her. As she’s trying to accept what she believes is part of God’s plan, there’s one thing she wants to tell her son.<\/p>\n
“That I want him back,” she said. I know that’s not going to happen. I’m sorry this happened to him.”<\/p>\n