A 19-year-old Prince George’s County woman who disappeared two weeks ago was confirmed dead and a man is charged in her murder, authorities said in an update Friday.
Dacara Thompson left her father’s home in Lanham the night of Aug. 22 and said she was going to put gas in her car. Her family reported her missing the next day. The car was found Aug. 24 with her purse inside. Her phone was gone and disabled.
Thompson’s body was found naked Sunday on a riverbank off Route 50 in Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County police confirmed.
Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, of Bowie, is charged with first- and second-degree murder, Prince George’s County Police Chief George Nader said at a news conference. Police believe Hernandez-Mendez threw Thompson’s body off a bridge, according to court documents.
Police confirmed a body found Sunday is a missing 19-year-old from Prince George’s County, and a 35-year-old man has been charged with murder. News4’s Darcy Spencer has the latest information from court documents.
According to court documents, surveillance video shows Thompson park her Ford Edge SUV and walking to a parking lot behind a Family Dollar store on University Boulevard in the Langley Park area.
Video shows her approach the driver’s side of a black Yukon Denali, talk to the driver for a minute, then get into the front passenger seat, court documents say.
On Sunday, Maryland State Police troopers responding for an unrelated disabled vehicle found her nude body on an embankment of the South River near Annapolis.
Hernandez-Mendez was known to drive a black GMC Yukon Denali XL with Maryland tags, according to court documents. Cell data and video surveillance confirmed Thompson’s movements and the movements of the black Yukon Denali are consistent with moving together, documents say.
Police searched a yellow home on Kembridge Drive. News4 video shows a mattress propped out outside. A woman who said she’s Hernandez-Mendez’s cousin said she had no idea any crime was committed there.
Hernandez-Mendez, who was living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested by U.S. Park Police months ago. He was stopped April 25 on the BW Parkway near Annapolis Road for suspected DUI. The federal government released him pending trial, Prince George’s County officials said.
The U.S. attorney for Maryland would not comment.
ICE released a statement saying the defendant was put under an immigration detainer Thursday.
Hernandez-Mendez is in police custody and being held without bond, police said. Police spoke with Hernandez-Mendez and got limited cooperation, officials said.
Thompson was a graduate of St. Charles High School in Waldorf. She was living with her father and working at a nonprofit as part of a service program for recent graduates, Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said.
“This is a young woman who dedicated part of her young life to serving others, to serving others, and I want that to bring home to all of you that this is a good, good, good young woman who wanted to do good for her community, and now her community will stand behind her family as we seek justice for her,“ Braveboy said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore released a statement saying he was and will continue to be in contact with public safety officials. He said Thompson “raised her hand right out of high school to join” the Maryland Service Year Option.
“She was a bright light in our state. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure those responsible for this crime are held accountable,” the governor said.
Suspect accused of killing Thompson in his bedroom
After Dacara Thompson was confirmed dead and Hugo Hernandez-Mendez was charged with killing her, the News4 I-Team dug into details on his prior arrest by federal authorities and Prince George’s County’s initial handling of Thompson’s case. News4’s Tracee Wilkins reports.
Surveillance video shows Thompson approach a black SUV early on Aug. 23, speak to the driver and get inside at about 3 a.m., police said.
“For reasons still under investigation, it appears that Dacara willfully entered a vehicle being driven” by the suspect, Nader said.
The driver of the SUV went to a home in the 12000 block of Kembridge Drive in Bowie, police said.
Detectives searched the home on Thursday and found evidence that Thompson was killed in Hernandez-Mendez’s bedroom in that home, police said.
Detectives stated a roommate told them he heard the defendant in his room the morning of Aug. 23 having sex with a woman who “did not seem to be having a good time.”
Hernandez-Mendez took Thompson’s body to the location where it was found more than a week after the killing, police said.
Hernandez-Mendez had access to the black SUV that Thompson entered, police said.
He was arrested in Maryland on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Route 450, sources with direct knowledge of the investigation told News4.
A 19-year-old Prince George’s County woman who disappeared two weeks ago was confirmed dead and a man is charged in her murder, authorities said in an update Friday. News4’s Jessica Albert reports on the death of Dacara Thompson and arrest of Hugo Hernandez-Mendez.
The investigation is ongoing. Police said they’re still investigating how the two came into contact with each other. They’re not saying how she was killed. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is expected to rule Thompson’s death a homicide.
Neighbors said they saw police at the suspect’s home on Thursday morning. They were stunned to hear what investigators say happened.
“To hear about what happened to that poor girl, I’m really sorry for the family and I really keep them in my prayers,” one woman said.
Residents described their neighborhood as quiet and family-oriented.
Hernandez-Mendez had a prior arrest and was released
Hernandez-Mendez was living in the United States illegally, police said. Nader said Prince George’s police were aware of one prior arrest.
U.S. Park Police officers arrested Hernandez-Mendez in April on a driving under the influence charge. The federal government then released him, pending trial, Braveboy said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer for Hernandez-Mendez on Thursday.
Braveboy was asked whether his immigration status was relevant.
“The U.S. government has made status of individuals relevant. This was someone who was in their custody, and they made the decision to release him,“ Braveboy said.
In a statement Friday afternoon, ICE accused the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections of being “historically uncooperative.”
An ICE spokesperson said: “Hugo Rene Hernandez-Mendez is a criminal alien from Guatemala charged with first-degree murder in Prince George’s County, Maryland. On Sept. 4, ICE Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Hernandez with the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections, who is historically uncooperative.
“During an interview with Hernandez, ICE officers determined that he illegally entered the United States on an unknown date and location and without inspection or admission by a U.S. immigration official.
“Local officials, like Prince George’s County endanger the safety of its residents by refusing to honor ICE detainers and releasing criminal illegal aliens back into the community to reoffend. We can only hope that’s not the case with Hernandez-Mendez.
ICE Baltimore will continue to monitor this situation and ensure criminal illegal aliens are kept off the streets of Maryland. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE will relentlessly prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from American communities.”
The parents of missing Maryland 19-year-old Dacara Thompson have expanded their search for their daughter. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.
Thompson’s parents searched for clues about what happened to their daughter
Thompson left her father’s Lanham home the night of Aug. 22, telling her dad she was heading out to get gas for her car. The two communicated briefly that night, and she told her dad she would be home soon.
Her car was found two days later parked in front of a fire hydrant and pointed in the wrong direction across from the Chillum-Adelphi Volunteer Fire Station. Her purse, containing credit cards and cash, was still inside the vehicle, but her phone and key fob were gone, and the phone has been disabled.
Thompson was a new driver, her mother told News4, and it appeared to her that her daughter had just gotten out of the car and was planning to return quickly.
Thompson’s family said they thought a person seen in grainy surveillance video could be Thompson walking away from her car at about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 23.
News4 spoke with Thompson’s parents, Carmen and Daniel Thompson, as they searched every day for clues about where their daughter could be. Carmen Thompson walked through woods and brush and found what appeared to be a metal trap door chained shut.
“Hello? Hello?” she shouted down, desperate for answers.
“I’m exhausting any resource, anything I can think of,” she said.
“I’m scared but still hopeful,” Daniel Thompson said at the time.
His daughter’s accused killer, Hernandez-Mendez, is due in court in Upper Marlboro on Monday afternoon.
