A woman believed to be a missing 63-year-old was found dead at a park, and Texas authorities believe she was killed, according to investigators and news outlets.
Stacey Dramiga was a frequent visitor to the parks and walking trails in and around San Antonio, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a recent news briefing near Dafoste Park. She would come alone and “felt pretty comfortable doing so,” he added.
But after leaving for her morning ritual on Sunday, September 22, she never returned home, Salazar said. Hours passed, her husband grew worried, and by the evening Dramiga’s family was searching for her.
They found her car at Covington Park, but there was no sign of her, and nothing wrong or out of place with the car, no indication that anything at all had happened — Dramiga was just gone, according to Salazar. The family called authorities for help and a search was launched, with deputies and park police scouring the area for Dramiga.
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Nothing turned up that night, but the next morning authorities asked to borrow an iPad belonging to the family and activated the 'Find my iPhone' feature.
Dramiga’s phone sent pings to the iPad and investigators followed, Salazar said. It led them to Dafoste Park, off the Salado Greenway Trail and into a wooded area about two miles from where Dramiga’s car was parked.
They found the phone and then a body closely matching the description of Dramiga, Salazar said, adding that investigators were not completely certain it was her.
But a day after the body was discovered, the Bexar County medical examiner confirmed what authorities strongly suspected: They’d found Dramiga, KSAT reported.
A homicide investigation has begun.
McClatchy News contacted the medical examiner’s office, but it declined to release any more information.
Officials have shared few details about what they found at the scene in the woods, but Salazar said “there was foul play involved” and a homicide investigation is underway.
The woman’s body was located roughly 90 feet away from the trail, according to Salazar.
“We don’t believe that she went off that trail voluntarily,” he said. “We believe that she was either forced or taken off of that trail.”
Salazar is asking anyone with information to contact investigators at 210-335-6000.
– Mitchell Willetts, The Charlotte Observer (TNS)
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