Missing Texas College Student Found Dead Under Bridge Day After Vanishing

Authorities in Texas are investigating what they suspect is a homicide after a missing woman was found dead underneath a bridge earlier this week.

Workers for the city of Sherman discovered the body of 21-year-old Emilia Gunnels underneath a bridge at around 2:30 p.m. on Monday, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. Gunnels had gone missing from her home the previous day and, following the discovery of her body, authorities have said that they are investigating her death as a homicide.

Gunnels was positively identified after workers notified the Sherman Police Department that they’d found the body of a young, white female, and the department then contacted the sheriff’s office, who they knew were working on a missing persons case that matched the victim’s physical description, the sheriff’s office said. A justice of the peace pronounced the victim dead at the scene, and the Dallas County Medical Office later confirmed that the victim was, in fact, Gunnels.

While Gunnels’ cause of death has not yet been made public, nor have the details surrounding her initial disappearance, authorities have confirmed that they are pursuing leads and interviewing witnesses as they investigate her killing.

Gunnels’ mother reported her daughter, who lived at the River Ranch Apartments in Sherman, missing on Sunday after she was last seen on Saturday, the Herald Democrat reports.

Capt. Harvey Smitherman, of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, said on Wednesday that they are, courtesy of Crime Stoppers, offering a $5,000 reward in exchange for credible information on the case, according to the outlet.

Irene Gunnels, Emilia’s mother, told the Herald Democrat that her daughter, who was a student at Grayson College, was “eccentric and she didn’t really care about what people thought about her.” She also loved animals and had two guinea pigs, Irene Gunnels said, which are now in her care.