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'Perplexing crime scene' | Pregnant teen and boyfriend found dead; police say it's a possible murder case

Savanah Nicole Soto was a week past her due date when she failed to show up at the hospital Saturday to begin labor.

LEON VALLEY, Texas — A pregnant 18-year-old and her boyfriend were found dead Tuesday afternoon in the Medical Center area of San Antonio after a two-day search, a family member told KENS 5.

The Leon Valley Police Department had listed both as missing and was investigating leads to try to find them.

The family of Matthew Guerra confirmed that police told them both Matthew and Savanah Nicole Soto, who was pregnant, were found dead inside a vehicle. Police later said in a report that both of the victims were found "with a gunshot wound," and family members said they were shot in the head. 

An official cause of death has yet to be determined, but the investigation has been categorized as a capital murder case. Police also said an "unborn child" was dead. 

"There are two people in the car. They are deceased," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Tuesday. "We believe it is the missing woman and her boyfriend." 

The Medical Examiner has positively identified Matthew Guerra as one of the victims in the vehicle, but there still hasn't been a positive identification of the female in the vehicle.

McManus said it wasn't immediately clear what had happened that led to the two victims' deaths.

"It's a very, very perplexing crime scene," he said. "Detectives are looking at this as a possible murder, but we're not sure. We can't say for sure what we have."

The discovery of the bodies happened Tuesday afternoon when someone alerted the family that the car had been found in an apartment complex parking lot in northwest San Antonio. The family notified San Antonio Police, who went to the scene.

McManus said police believe the car had been in the parking lot for three to four days.

Savanah's grandmother, Rachel Soto, said Tuesday night, they are still waiting for answers from police as to what led up to Savanah's death.

“She was a good girl, she didn’t deserve to go this way, especially with her baby," Soto said. "He was an innocent child, nobody deserved this.”

The search for Savanah and Matthew

Leon Valley Police issued a CLEAR Alert on Monday for Savanah, whose baby was a week overdue when she was scheduled to go to the hospital to be induced on Saturday night. She never appeared.

Savanah's mother said she last heard from her daughter Friday. She was last seen around 2 p.m. Friday at the Valencia Lofts apartments off Grissom Road in Leon Valley.

Leon Valley Police said earlier Tuesday afternoon that Matthew Guerra also was classified as a missing person. An officer said Guerra's family originally contacted San Antonio Police, who then forwarded the case to Leon Valley.

Savanah Soto's family organized a search Christmas night. They gathered at the apartment complex where she was last seen in Leon Valley. From there, family and friends drove around the area.

Credit: Leon Valley Police Department

'She was going to be a mommy'

“Savanah was so, so happy because she was going to be a mommy. It breaks my heart,” Gloria Cordova, Savanah's mother, said as the search was ongoing Monday.

Cordova said her daughter was ready to be a mom. She had the nursey done and had planned on giving birth with her mother in the delivery room.

However, by Saturday afternoon, Cordova could not reach her daughter. She decided to check on her at her apartment.

“I went by there and knocked and knocked and knocked and she wasn’t answering,” Cordova said.

She filed a police report with Leon Valley Police. She said something seemed off and they could not get a hold of her boyfriend, either.

What is a CLEAR Alert?

The state of Texas established the CLEAR Alert in 2019 in an attempt "to close the gap between missing children and senior citizens" regarding missing persons alerts, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue (CLEAR) Alert program assists law enforcement in locating and rescuing missing, kidnapped or abducted adults or adults who are in immediate danger of injury or death, as well as aid in locating any potential suspects.

These are the criteria for activating a CLEAR Alert in Texas:

  • Is the individual 18 to 64 years of age, whose whereabouts are unknown?
  • Has a preliminary investigation verified the adult is in imminent danger of bodily injury or death or is the disappearance involuntary such as an abduction or kidnapping?
  • Is the clear alert request within 72 hours of the individual's disappearance?
  • Is sufficient information available to disseminate to the public to help locate the individual, a suspect, or the vehicle used in the incident?

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