Bodies of Missing Mom, Boyfriend Who Kidnapped Her Found in Cattle Field: 'Laying Here for Nine Days'
In the agonizing days since Jessica Sanchez was kidnapped at gunpoint by her estranged boyfriend at her Texas home on June 30, her worried family waited for any word about what had befallen the 38-year-old mother of three.
On Tuesday, their worst fears were confirmed when her body was found in a field in the rural Pearson area, alongside the body of the man who apparently took her life; Jorge Jaramillo, 48, PEOPLE confirmed with a spokesman from the Devine Police Department.
Landowner Gary Mangold made the grisly discovery near his rural property, which is about 100 yards from where authorities discovered Sanchez’s car abandoned last week, local station KABB reports.
“I knew who it was, and probably what happened,” Mangold told KABB.
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Mangold found the bodies at about 3 p.m. near the 6000 block of County Road 4514, local station KSAT reports.
“They’ve been laying here for nine days,” Mangold told KSAT.
Mangold found the bodies behind a cattle fence line, which is covered with brush, while he was out checking on his cattle, local station KENS5 reports.
“I didn’t have to get too close to see that it was two human beings,” he told KABB.
Sanchez’s body was found next to Jaramillo’s, the outlet reports.
“We know they’ve been here for a while because we’ve been looking since last Sunday, so eight, going on nine days,” Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said, KSAT reports.
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The ordeal began in the early hours of June 30, when Jaramillo allegedly broke in through a window in Sanchez’s home and held her at gunpoint, CBS Austin reports.
He fired a shot into the wall to keep her terrified children away, CBS Austin reports.
Jaramillo allegedly forced her to leave her house with him in his vehicle, the San Antonio Current reports.
The vehicle was later found near Pearson — about 10 miles from Sanchez’s home — with her cell phone inside, local station KENS 5 reports.
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The couple’s relationship had recently taken a turbulent turn, say family members.
“They had been together for about seven years and separated on Memorial [Day] after an incident occurred,” Santiago Carrillo, Sanchez’s brother-in-law, told KENS 5.
Sanchez had secured an emergency protection order against Jaramillo after a recent incident allegedly involving a knife, Devine Police confirmed to KENS 5.
“The only thing I could fathom is he could not take not being with her and so he found a breaking point,” Santiago Carrillo told the outlet.
Sanchez’s three little girls, whose ages have not been released, “saw everything, from the gun to being put into the laundry room, to hearing the gun go off and mom saying pretty much goodbye,” Sanchez’s sister, Blasa Carrillo, told CBS Austin.
The children were unharmed, say police, but have been crying and upset since their mother was taken from them, Blasa Carrillo told CBS Austin.
