Post by Scumhunter on Apr 22, 2022 20:54:55 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: news4sanantonio.com)
From foxsanantonio.com:
SAN ANTONIO - From the promising news of an arrest to the discouraging dismissal of those charges, it's been a three-year roller coaster ride for the family of a murdered San Antonio grandmother. But despite long stretches with seemingly little progress in the investigation, police are assuring the victim's family her case remains active.
Cynthia Gomez, 48, was pushed out of a car and run over twice by the same driver along a stretch of New Laredo Highway in the early morning hours of Jan. 13, 2019, not long after she left her sister's 50th birthday party at the Royal Palace Ballroom on the Southwest Side. Investigators are confident this is how she died because surveillance cameras at seven nearby businesses captured the moments of impact, as well as the driver's activity before and after her killing.
"I'm never going to stop until we find this person," says older sister Tina Gomez-Ramos. "That's a promise I made to my sister."
The surveillance footage produced a fairly sharp image of the suspect's silver or gray Nissan Altima, which has since been broadcast by local news stations and shared online repeatedly.
By Aug. 2019, detectives zeroed in on a prime suspect, arresting a local school bus driver and marching him in front of news cameras. The 37-year-old maintained his innocence, but the school district where he was employed terminated him later that day.
Members of the public might think that's where the story ends, incorrectly assuming a trial took place or is still pending. In actuality, the murder charge against the bus driver was dismissed in Nov. 2019 for further investigation, and there have been no new arrests or indictments in the years since.
"We went from happy tears in some way, because we finally found a suspect," Gomez-Ramos says. "And then to go back to hoping and wondering. What else can we do?"
It was Tina who was celebrating her 50th birthday the night Cynthia was killed. She feels certain that whoever picked up her sister after she left the party is the person who killed her. "It's been three years," she says. "Somebody has to know someone who drove that car or had that kind of car in 2019 and got home in the early morning hours of January the 13th."
The especially violent nature of her sister's death still haunts Tina to this day.
"I hope my sister didn't suffer," she says while holding back tears. "I hope that she didn't feel pain, and that she passed away instantly."
And so Tina keeps calling police every week for updates on the case. She keeps giving interviews about her sister and posting that surveillance picture of the Nissan Altima to Facebook.
"Getting the word out there every day that my sister's case is still open and still here," she explains. "This person is still out there living their life as if nothing happened."
She's asking anyone reading this who may have information that could lead to an arrest to please come forward.
"Nobody wants to turn in a loved one, I understand that," she says. "But by the same token, we are the ones here suffering and waiting and hoping for some kind of answers for my sister and my sister's kids."
If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP.
foxsanantonio.com/newsletter-daily/grandmothers-murder-still-unsolved-three-years-after-case-against-bus-driver-falls-apart
Thoughts? Even though the bus driver is named in earlier articles and it's easy enough to find out, I'm purposely not posting it here since in fairness to him he was never brought to trial.
Admin Note: If you have any (news-related) updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form