PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. – The body of 19-year-old Dacara Thompson of Lanham, Maryland, has been recovered and confirmed dead, following a two-week search after she was reported missing on August 23, 2025. Police located her vehicle in Hyattsville the day after she vanished.
Authorities say surveillance footage captured Thompson approaching a black SUV on the morning of her disappearance. The driver, identified as 35-year-old Hugo Hernandez-Mendez of Bowie, Md., was later linked to her death. Hernandez-Mendez was arrested on September 5 on charges of first- and second-degree murder and is being held without bond. Investigators found evidence suggesting Thompson was killed inside a bedroom at a Bowie residence where Hernandez-Mendez lived and had access to the SUV.
The Prince George’s County Police Department confirmed that the cause of death has not yet been officially determined, but the case is being investigated as a homicide. Detectives are examining whether Thompson and Hernandez-Mendez knew each other prior to her disappearance.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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