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Annie Hernandez, left, and her daughters, Jesika Hernandez, 2, and Korra Meyers, 5.
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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