Body identified as missing Texas 19-year-old who vanished on Christmas Eve, officials say

Camila Mendoza Olmos appears to have had her car keys with her when she disappeared, but didn't take the vehicle or her cellphone, authorities say. (Bexar County Sheriff's Office via CNN Newsource)

Authorities have identified a body found Tuesday near the home of Camila Mendoza Olmos as the 19-year-old teenager who went missing near San Antonio the day before Christmas, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

The manner of death was ruled to be suicide, the sheriff’s office said.

An open-field search on Tuesday led investigators to the remains in an area located “a few hundred yards” from Mendoza Olmos’ home, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference, adding that it was too early to identify the remains at the time.

Officials had not suspected foul play, the sheriff said, and the body had “indicators” of self-harm.

Officials were preparing to announce that another missing teen had been found safe when a call about the body came in, Salazar said.

Body found in a previously canvassed area

Officials had been aware of and looking for a firearm belonging to one of Mendoza Olmos’ relatives that was missing, Salazar said. A firearm was recovered near the body Tuesday, but police haven’t processed it yet, the sheriff previously said.

Dozens of volunteers helped in the search over the holiday, and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office had said she could be in imminent danger.

On Tuesday, a joint force team of Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies and FBI agents were conducting an open field search of an area they had checked once before, when they found a body about 10 minutes into their search, the sheriff said.

“Due to high brush, we made a conscious decision to head back out there and check again,” he explained.

The body was found on property belonging to a local landscape materials company, which said they are “deeply saddened” by the discovery and asked for “privacy and compassion for all involved as this matter is handled,” they wrote on Facebook Tuesday evening.

The company said they are co-operating with law enforcement throughout the investigation.

Asked previously why his office believed she might be in imminent danger, Salazar told CNN on Monday, “there’s some information I can’t divulge … due to the sensitivity of it.”

“We consider imminent danger to be anything from self-harm all the way through someone actually kidnapping Camila, and all of those possibilities exist at present,” Salazar said on Monday, noting that the missing woman had previously spoken of suicide. “We can’t rule anything out at this point in the investigation.”

Members of the community had lined up with maps and a drone to try to solve the mysterious disappearance.

“I thought I would find her like other times, walking, and we would come home together,” Rosario Olmos said in Spanish to CNN affiliate KENS after her daughter had gone missing the day before.

“I miss her. Daddy’s waiting for her at home,” her father, Alfonso Mendoza, had told CNN affiliate KSAT.