Annie Hernandez, left, and her
daughters, Jesika Hernandez, 2, and Korra Meyers,
5. | Bodies
identified as missing Galt mother, 2 daughters
Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel staff writer
WOODLAND — The Yolo County Coroner’s Office has identified
the three bodies found in a van Thursday near Clarksburg as members
of a Galt family that had been missing since November.
After
a day-long autopsy Friday, the coroner’s office identified the
victims as AnneMarie “Annie” Hernandez, and her two daughters,
Jesika Rose Hernandez, 2, and Korra Jean Meyers, 5.
Their
bodies were found about 10:30 a.m. Thursday in a van pulled out of
the Sacramento River about three miles south of
Clarksburg.
Annie Hernandez, 34, and Korra Meyers were
identified through dental records, said Supervising Deputy Coroner
Mary Koompin-Williams. Jesika didn’t have any dental records, but a
forensic dentist determined her teeth were that of a 2-year-old,
Koompin-Williams said.
Because they were able to identify her
mother and older sister, coroner’s officers assume that the third
victim is Jesika Hernandez.
Hernandez’s mother, Jeanne
Peterson of Dixon, said Friday that funeral arrangements had yet to
be made. Family members are discussing a memorial service in Galt,
followed by a funeral service in Dixon, she said. Services won’t be
held for at least several days, Peterson said.
Coroner’s
officers examined the bodies from about 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.
They were accompanied by Galt police Detective Steve Denier and
dispatcher Janice Gotz, who gave coroner’s pathologists the victims’
dental records and answered questions about what they saw in the
Sacramento River on Thursday.
Koompin-Williams said the
victims’ bodies will be transported to the Institute of Forensic
Science in Oakland where experts will analyze their tissues for
substances in their systems. Toxicology results on the children
should be available in approximately eight to 10 weeks, the deputy
coroner said.
Meanwhile, the Coroners Office determined that
Annie Hernandez died of “asphyxia due to drowning.”
Hernandez
and her daughters were last seen between 7:30 and
8:30 p.m.
Nov. 2 in the McDonald’s parking lot at the Pocket Road exit off
Interstate 5 in South Sacramento.
McDonald’s was a frequent
meeting place since Hernandez lived in Galt, her mother, Peterson
lives in Dixon and Hernandez’s sister, Denise Gaskins, lives in
Sacramento.
On Nov. 2, Hernandez went to McDonald’s because
her son, Daniel, now 2, was to spend the night with
Peterson.
Daniel has lived with his grandmother ever since
the disappearance. Another of Hernandez’s sons, Anthony, 10, already
lived with Peterson.
Family members and friends had been
suspicious about the disappearance because Hernandez phoned her
mother daily and her sister Denise almost as often. She also talked
to Williams, a former Dixon High School classmate, on a regular
basis.
Not hearing from Hernandez for several days, not to
mention several months, was impossible to comprehend, they
said.
On Thursday, Hernandez’s brother, Phillip Bauman,
Williams and two members of the Cyndi Search Foundation for nearly
nine hours remained as close to the van as Galt police and Yolo
County investigators would allow, Williams said. They were forced by
officers to stay about a mile from the scene, although they crossed
the river and observed from the Sacramento County
side.
Peterson and Gaskins arrived in Clarksburg about 9
p.m., and about an hour later, authorities allowed the family to
view the van.
“The bottom line is it was a crime scene, and
you don’t contaminate it, even if it is a family member,” Galt
police Lt. Ken Erickson said. “It’s got to be treated as a crime
scene unless you know otherwise.”
The Yolo County Sheriff’s
Department is investigating the incident, and the California Highway
Patrol is investigating traffic-related issues.
While looking
at the van, family and friends found a Barbie backpack in the car.
That was a significant clue because 5-year-old Korra worshipped her
Barbie collection. The group also found part of a parking brake
assembly that appears to have been broken off, Williams said, and a
house key. They don’t know yet if the house key is to the Hernandez
home in Galt, Williams said.
Family and friends left a
memorial marker with pictures of Hernandez and her daughters
alongside River Road.
Williams and family members were angry
that officers didn’t notify them that they found the van until after
there had already been extensive television coverage.
“It was
awful,” Peterson said. “Denise actually called here, and I had not a
clue at that point (it was on TV).”
Peterson said a Yolo
County sheriff’s deputy was very apologetic that the family wasn’t
informed before learning about it on TV.
However, “I found it
really appalling that I had to call them,” she said.
Erickson
said Friday they intended to wait until after it was confirmed that
the van’s license plate matched Hernandez’s. Authorities also hoped
the media wouldn’t learn about the discovery right away, but the
call was broadcast over emergency scanners in newsrooms throughout
the Sacramento area.
Instead, family and friends either
learned about the van’s discovery on noontime news telecasts or from
friends who saw it on TV.
Erickson said he didn’t want to
needlessly worry the family in case it turned out that it wasn’t the
Hernandez van.
An account established in December to defray expenses for the
Hernandez and Peterson families remains open. Contributions may be
made to Stockman’s Bank, 701 C St., Galt. The account number is
203008289.
Comments about this story? Send mail to Ross Farrow
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