TEXAS residents fears are growing after four people vanished in a series of mysterious disappearances.
Since April, four people have gone missing and three bodies have been discovered in the usually tranquil Bandera County, raising fears within the community.
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On April 22, Jordan Tompkins, 25, went missing from Lakehills, a town just 30mi from San Antonio. She was last seen walking home from a bar. Her body has not yet been found.
Brittany McMahon, 33, disappeared on June 19 from the same town. Her skeletal remains were discovered on July 3.
Less than a month later, 56-year old Sean Duffy also went missing on July 4 - this time in Pipe Creek, some 8mi away from Lakehills. His charred remains were found wrapped up in a carpet on August 17.
Norma Espinoza, 63, from Bandera, was also reported as missing, on August 12. Her body was discovered on Tuesday.
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Investigators said they are still trying to determine how she died.
Bandera County Sheriff Daniel Butts confirmed officers have recovered the bodies of three of those missing people - but residents are growing concerned.
"Folks are definitely on edge. I know a lot of the other moms with teenage daughters, they don’t want to do anything by themselves. They’re scared," Bandera County resident Tracey Bowers told KSAT.
"I lock my doors more than I used to. I don’t think I’d be comfortable walking around after dark," Tanya Fain, a local resident, said.
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"Need to start protecting themselves, maybe carry weapons. Don’t go alone," another resident, Rodney Dyer, added.
Sheriff Butts, meanwhile, told local media he did not believe the cases were connected.
Indeed, he said he believes one case to be suicide, whilst another is considered a homicide.
"I don’t see where there’s any evidence that we have a serial person out here attacking people," he told KSAT.
The County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged that the individuals reported missing knew each other.
Espinoza's daughter, however, told News4SA she believed her mother was deliberately taken.
"I walked to the living room, and I went to the room where she was staying and my mom's purse was there," Bianca Luna told the local news channel, adding that Espinoza was disabled and had trouble walking.
"What it looked like is she was taken, my mom doesn't go anywhere without her purse," the victim's daughter said at the time.
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Missing 25-year-old Tompkins, who is 5’3”, was last seen leaving the Medina Lake Country Club bar wearing pink tennis shoes.
The investigation continues.
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