Lanham, MD – A 19-year-old Lanham woman who vanished last month was found dead in Anne Arundel County, and police say an illegal alien from Bowie is now charged with her murder.
Prince George’s County Police announced the arrest of 35-year-old Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, accused of killing Dacara Thompson after she was last seen entering a black SUV on August 23.
Thompson’s family reported her missing that same day, sparking a search led by the department’s Missing Persons Unit. On August 31, Maryland State Police discovered a body in a grassy area along Route 50, later confirmed to be Thompson.
Detectives uncovered surveillance video showing Thompson approaching Hernandez-Mendez’s SUV in the early morning hours of August 23 before being driven to a home on Kembridge Drive in Bowie. A search warrant executed Thursday revealed evidence that Thompson was murdered inside a bedroom at the residence, where the suspect lived.
Hernandez-Mendez, who police say had access to the SUV, was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree murder. He is being held without bond at the Department of Corrections.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is working to determine Thompson’s official cause of death, but investigators expect the case will be ruled a homicide. Detectives are also probing whether the suspect and victim had any prior connection before the day she disappeared.
The investigation remains ongoing.
