Missing Dacara Thompson Confirmed Dead After Surveillance Footage Captured Encounter — and a Suspect Is in Custody

A body found in a grassy area off a Maryland road has been identified as missing 19-year-old Dacara Thompson, who vanished from Prince George’s County two weeks ago.

A 35-year-old man is now in custody in connection with her death.

Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, of Bowie, Md., has been arrested on charges of first- and second-degree murder, the Prince George’s County Police Department announced Friday, Sept. 5. He is being held without bond, police said in a news release.

Thompson’s family reported her missing on Aug. 23, and police found her car in Hyattsville a day later. On Aug. 31, Maryland State Police opened a death investigation after a woman’s body was found in a grassy area off Route 50 in Anne Arundel County, police said. That body has been identified as Thompson’s. She lived in Lanham, a Washington D.C. suburb.

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Prince George’s County police said detectives located surveillance video that showed Thompson approaching a black SUV in the early morning on the day she was reported missing. She then spoke to the driver before she entered the SUV, police said. According to police, the driver drove to a home in the 12000 block of Kembridge Drive in Bowie.

A subsequent search of the home on Thursday turned up evidence suggestsing Thompson had been murdered in a bedroom in the residence, police said, adding that Hernandez-Mendez had access to the SUV and lives in the bedroom where the murder is believed to have occurred.

Based on the totality of the evidence, Hernandez-Mendez was arrested on murder charges in connection with Thompson’s killing, police say. It’s not clear if he has retained an attorney.

Thompson’s cause of death has not been determined, but initial findings and evidence indicating the manner will be ruled a homicide, police said. Detectives are working to determine whether she and Hernandez-Mendez were known to each other prior to Aug. 23.