Police in Texas ask public to identify people in video near where pregnant teen and her boyfriend were found dead
By Sara Smart and Eric Levenson, CNN
(CNN) — Police in San Antonio are looking for two people who were seen on surveillance video near where the bodies of a pregnant teenager and her boyfriend were found with gunshot wounds earlier this week.
Savanah Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22, were reported missing last Saturday. On Tuesday, two bodies matching their descriptions were found in a car parked near an apartment complex in San Antonio, police said. The bodies had been there for “a few days,” police said.
The medical examiner identified the male victim as Guerra, saying he died from a contact gunshot wound to the head, according to police.
As of Friday morning, Soto was identified in the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office death records database, listed next to Guerra.
CNN has reached out to the medical examiner’s office and San Antonio police for more information. On Thursday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said authorities believed the body of the female victim was that of Soto’s.
Soto was pregnant and past her delivery date when she missed an essential medical appointment and her family reported her missing, according to the Leon Valley Police Department.
Police are investigating the killings as a capital murder case.
On Thursday, police released surveillance video of two individuals driving two different cars and asked the public for help identifying them.
The video shows a dark-colored pickup truck slowing to a stop in a parking lot, and a silver Kia Optima pulling up from the other direction to stop alongside. A person then gets out of the pickup truck, walks to the Kia and interacts with the driver before returning to the truck, the video shows.
The Optima was the victims’ car and is the same vehicle in which Soto and Guerra were found. The video was taken a few days prior to the discovery of the bodies, McManus said.
It’s difficult to see in the video what the people are doing. McManus said police believe the man in the truck was doing “something to wipe the side of the car,” though he could not be certain.
“We are hoping that someone is able to identify the individuals that are seen in this video,” the chief said.
Soto’s family spoke to CNN’s Amara Walker on Saturday and asked whoever was responsible to surrender to police.
“Have the heart to turn yourself in and face the crime that you did. That’s all we want,” said Soto’s grandmother, Rachel Soto.
Soto’s mother, Gloria Cordova, first reported Soto missing after she failed to show up for a medical appointment to prepare to have labor induced, she told CNN.
“I just thought the worst,” she said. “I didn’t know where to even begin, because she was just so excited – so excited to be a mommy.”
This is just the latest tragedy for the family. Soto’s 15-year-old brother, Ethan, was shot to death last year in what police described as a dispute over drugs, according to CNN affiliate WOAI.
“We were just barely getting over Ethan’s tragedy, and now we have to do the same thing with his sister,” Rachel Soto said. “Our lives will never be the same again.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Chris Boyette and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
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