Hernandez s cause of death has not yet been determined. (Texas EquuSearch)
Law enforcement agencies and volunteers spent the next several weeks searching for Hernandez.
On Tuesday, police said the FBI shared a tip that led investigators to the pond, where they found evidence that a vehicle likely struck a curb and drove into the water. Details on where the tip came from were not immediately provided.
Investigators believed the SUV was submerged for an extended period of time, likely since the night Hernandez disappeared.
Hernandez’s family gathered at the pond where she was found in the hours after her body was identified, KHOU-TV reported. They’re still seeking answers as to why the mom of three was in Pearland.
Missing mom Erica Hernandez s vehicle found submerged in Pearland pond KTRK
Police investigating a vehicle with a body inside found submerged in a Pearland pond have pulled from the water that matches the description of the vehicle that belongs to a Houston mom who s been missing for weeks.
Erica Hernandez, a single mother to three children, has been the subject of an intense search since she vanished after leaving a friend s home in southwest Houston on April 18.
Family said Hernandez left her friend s home in the 6000 block of Benning Drive around 2:30 a.m. She reportedly sent a text around 3:04 a.m. stating she was five minutes away from getting home.
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A vehicle belonging to Erica Hernandez, a Texas mom who went missing last month, was found submerged in a pond with a body still inside, investigators said Tuesday.
The SUV was pulled out from the bottom of a retention pond at the intersection of Reflection Bay and Clear Lake Loop in Pearland, Texas, Houston Police Department Cmdr. Kevin Deese told reporters at a news conference.
Deese said the vehicle’s model and license plate matched the SUV that Hernandez was last seen driving.
Investigators could not confirm whether the body was Hernandez. The body was sent to the medical examiner for positive identification.
Police: Vehicle found in Pearland pond belongs to Erica Hernandez
Police provided details after pulling the vehicle of Erica Hernandez from a retention pond in Pearland.
HOUSTON - Police are saying that the vehicle found submerged in a Pearland retention pond belonged to missing mother Erica Hernandez. While officials wouldn t completely confirm it was Hernandez inside the vehicle, officers were seen at the location consoling the Hernandez family.
Pearland police and the Houston Police Department s Dive Team were alerted by the F.B.I. that Hernandez
s body may be near the intersection of Relfection Bay and North Clear Lake Loop. That s when officers found a vehicle submerged matching the make, model, and license plate of the vehicle owned by Hernandez.
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The search for a Houston mom of three who has been missing since mid-April intensified Thursday after volunteers searched nearby wooded areas, dropped a banner over a highway and fired up electronic billboards.
Erica Hernandez, 40, was last seen the morning of April 18 when she left a friend’s house in the 6000 block of Benning Drive in Houston.
Hernandez’s family told Houston’s ABC 13 that Hernandez left her friend’s home around 2:30 a.m. and sent a text around 3:04 a.m. that she was five minutes away from getting home.