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'Everything was normal' | Father was with daughter day before her body was found in floating trash can in Buffalo Bayou

Coy Vercher said he last saw his daughter one day before her body was found inside a trash can floating in Buffalo Bayou.

HOUSTON — The body of a woman found inside a floating trash can in Buffalo Bayou last week has been identified. The Medical Examiner's office said the victim is 31-year-old Shelby Vercher.

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Her father, Coy Vercher, is speaking out with hopes that his daughter gets justice.

"My daughter did not deserve this," Vercher said.

Vercher said he's still in shock over what happened to his baby girl.

"At 6 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, the ME calls me and asked me did I know a Shelby Nicole Vercher," Vercher said. "I said she's my daughter. They said we have her here and she's dead."

Last Tuesday night, a tour boat on the bayou noticed a container in the water with a foul odor coming from inside. The boat operator called the police and that's when investigators found Shelby's body inside a floating trash can.

"This was my youngest daughter and it's left a hole so big in my heart nothing can close it up," Vercher said.

Vercher has so many questions, but at the top of his list is: why?

"I have no idea. That's what I want to know," Vercher said.

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Shelby was a mother of three boys and had been back in Houston for two months. Her dad said she was helping take care of him. They were looking to move into a new apartment. The last time he saw her was last Monday morning.

"Everything was normal that day," Vercher said.

The ME hasn't ruled on a cause or manner of death and Houston police won't yet say if foul play was involved, but Vercher believes his daughter was murdered.

"No parents should ever have to bury a child," Vercher said. "I want the people responsible for this to pay."

If you have any information about what happened to Shelby, you're asked to call Houston police.

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