Body found in Northwest San Antonio identified as 28-year-old missing Cuban woman

This story has been updated.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the body of a woman found Wednesday in a wooded area in far Northwest San Antonio near Helotes Creek as 28-year-old missing woman Mariadelis Labrador Siles.

She died from a stab wound to the chest, the office said.

The manner of death is pending, meaning police haven’t confirmed if it was a suicide or a homicide. The investigation remains ongoing.

Earlier this week, detectives found Labrador Siles’ body and a weapon under an overpass at the intersection of Braun Road and Mustang Ranch. Labrador Siles had been reported missing in the area on Monday when she didn’t return from her usual walk.

Labrador Siles migrated to the U.S. from Cuba just more than a year ago.

Now, the Cuban community of San Antonio is reeling from the loss of a woman they said had big dreams and aspirations.

“Many of us, as Cuban immigrants, arrive in this city in search of freedom and opportunities. The loss of Mariadelis hurts us deeply and reminds us how fragile life is,” wrote Ruben Soto, who manages a Facebook group called Cubanos en San Antonio, Texas, now at more than 19,000 members.

“We demand justice and that law enforcement finds the person responsible for this crime. We send our deepest condolences to her family in Cuba, who have been in anguish during this difficult time,” Soto wrote.

Earlier this week, her family, still in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba, made a tearful public plea for anyone to come forward with information to find her. 

“To the entire community of San Antonio, please help us with any information so they can find her and bring her home. She’s the sweetest girl in the world for something to have happened to her,” her father said, in tears in a video recorded and posted to social media on Wednesday. “Secondly, I ask all Catholics and Christians to light a candle to help us and [for] God [to] bring her home to our family.”

Now they must decide whether to send her body to Cuba. On Friday, they thanked the public for sharing posts online to find Labrador Siles, and for prayers. 

The body found by search and rescue dogs Wednesday had signs of trauma — not gunshot wounds — Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said at the scene on Wednesday afternoon, but it is unclear if the trauma was self-inflicted or the result of a homicide or assault. 

“We don’t have any indicators that the body was dragged here. What we have is that the person died here on scene,” Salazar said. 

Officials are not disclosing information about the weapon discovered.

Labrador Siles was last seen at 9 a.m. Monday when she went for her walk. Officials believe she was wearing a blue light jacket with black Puma shoes that have pink soles. She was described as a fitness and walking enthusiast, known to enjoy her daily walks. She was known to leave her belongings, including her phone, Salazar said.

In Cuba, she left her job as a primary school teacher where she loved working with children. Her entry to the U.S. was sponsored by her boyfriend, who is also Cuban, through the humanitarian parole program.

The area where the body was found and where Labrador Siles went missing is a wooded area under a bridge with what has become a natural walking path through the brush.

Labrador Siles’ cousin, Ismel Labrador, flew into San Antonio on Thursday from Florida with a family friend to help with the search.

His face was pale as he arrived at the scene where the body was found. He silently walked the area, looking for any clues of his cousin.

A family friend who lives in Houston, Pablo Mesa, said it’s normal for people in Cuba to walk or hike in wooded areas, but not like the area where she went missing.

“It’s no place to walk,” he said in Spanish, looking around.

Her romantic partner was the last person who saw her alive and has been fully cooperative throughout the investigation and he is not currently a suspect, Salazar said Friday. He told deputies she may have walked to Wildhorse Sports Park, and that she left the house without her wallet or cell phone.

“It is possible that the woman who disappeared was going through a mental crisis. … If we can figure out what happened to this woman, we could find out about any problems that escalated to the point of her self-harming, or someone hurting her,” Salazar told some reporters in Spanish on Wednesday. 

Labrador Siles’ family and friends disagreed with the idea that she may have harmed herself.

“I want to reiterate that she was a happy girl who socialized with people, who always fit in, who had great self-confidence, she was a good girl. I don’t think she would ever try to harm herself,” Mesa said.

After Labrador Siles was identified, there were outpourings of grief on social media.

“Rest in peace, my angel, that justice will be served on earth as much as in heaven,” Ismel Labrador wrote in a solemn post.

Missing in San Antonio

Labrador Siles’ disappearance is just one of many such stories: Nine people are reported missing every single day in San Antonio.

In September, another woman went missing after she didn’t return from her usual walk.

She was later found dead in a wooded area near Dafoste Park on the city’s far East Side with blunt force trauma to the head. The suspect is still out there.

If someone you know goes missing, San Antonio law enforcement recommends filing a police report as soon as possible, and to be prepared with images to help identify the missing person.