Cold case: The search for a child sexual predator

Editors note: This story contains graphic content pertaining to sexual abuse.

Child abduction has become an all too familiar occurrence in the world today. According to the FBI, the total number of missing children entries to the National Crime Information Center was 464,324 in 2017.

Just one year before, San Marcos experienced an abduction of its own when a mother reported her 7-year-old daughter had been lured into a car by an unknown male and sexually assaulted.

This article is the final installment of a series the San Marcos Daily Record is publishing regarding local unsolved violent crimes that have occurred over the years. Law enforcement officials with the San Marcos Criminal Investigation Division hope by keeping cases like these top of mind that local citizens will help bring closure to family members affected, and justice to those who perpetrated these crimes.

It was the middle of summer, Aug. 29, 2016 when San Marcos Police responded to a home at 809 Bracewood Circle #B. A mother had given her daughter permission to go outside and play on the front porch of their residence.

Sometime later the mother said when her daughter came inside, she told her a man came into the parking lot and asked her if she could help him with his keys because he had a broken back. According to the mother the daughter told her when she went down to the man, he put her in his car, and they drove down the road. 

While driving, the daughter said the man touched her vaginal area while he was touching his penis. The daughter, at some point, told the man she needed to go home now because “it’s raining.” He then brought her back to the residence. 

Upon hearing the information, the frantic mother called 911 and reported a man had taken her daughter into his vehicle and sexually assaulted her.  

The child was asked to describe what the man or the vehicle looked like, or if she had known where the man had taken her.  The child told officers the man was the color of the building next door, which was light brown in color. She said he also had a little beard and pointed to her chin area, indicating possibly a goatee. 

She described the vehicle as being a white four-door sedan and that one of the doors had difficulty opening and closing.  A neighbor had a 2011 Nissan Sentra and the child said it was like that vehicle.

The following investigative efforts were made:

 In the days afterward, surveillance was conducted at every elementary school in San Marcos.

 A tip was provided that a smaller white vehicle was seen circling around Crocket Elementary school on August 29, 2016.

 One day afterward, officers searched for a Hispanic male in Kyle that fled after exposing himself to a child.  The license plate recorded by witnesses returned to San Marcos and a Hispanic male at that residence was ruled out as a suspect due to large tattoos on his neck.

 A building on nearby Quarry St. was observed to have cameras and detectives have located a white vehicle on that footage during the time frame of the incident.

 Video footage from the Sac-N-Pac on Bishop/Hopkins also shows a white vehicle.  The video was higher quality and through a dealership were able to identify the vehicle as a 2013 Hyundai Elantra.

 Composite sketch released to public and law enforcement officials.

 Researching sex offenders in the area/San Marcos-no one matching those descriptors/vehicles.

 The Bracewood neighborhood has been canvassed.

 Numerous tips have been vetted and discarded as suspects.

“This case is heavy on the hearts of the detectives and officers who have worked on it,” said Kelly Bomersbach, Commander of the Criminal Investigation Division for the SMPD. “They would love to have a break in the case. If you know anything, please help.”

San Marcos Police urge anyone with information to contact Detective Patrick Aubry 512-753-2306. Several leads have been investigated but no viable leads have been discovered.