HOUSTON — The family of Monica Alcantar said they are living a nightmare.
The 22-year-old's decomposing body was found in a southwest Houston parking garage Sunday. Police said her body had been there for a while.
"This is a horror movie," Bryony Amador, Monica's aunt, said.
Now, they're left without answers after the Houston Police Department said Thursday that detectives had questioned a "person of interest" and they don't believe he was involved in Alcantar's death.
Relatives said Alcantar was last seen alive on Aug. 26. She left a condominium on Leawood Boulevard in southwest Houston and was seen driving in her 2021 light grey Kia Rio. Alcantar's family said they began to worry after she didn't show up for a gathering and she wasn't answering her phone. A few days later, they went to police.
"My family and I searched for her," Amador said. "Thought of all the possible locations and scenarios, and hired a private investigator, but we had no idea where to look. None."
On Sunday, they got a call from the police. They were hoping for good news, but sadly, it was the complete opposite. Alcantar's body was found in the driver's seat of a car that was parked in a garage along Bellaire Boulevard near the Beltway, in Houston's Asiatown.
Investigators said her body was in an advanced stage of decomposition, but there were no obvious signs of foul play. They're waiting for an autopsy to determine how she died.
In the meantime, the family is planning a funeral for someone who they say they will miss deeply.
"She was goofy, sensitive and she liked to think she was strong," Amador said.
Alcantar's family set up a GoFundMe for help with funeral expenses.