US2 min(s) read
Published 14:04 04 Aug 2026 GMT
A Texas community has been left devastated after a two-year-old girl who disappeared from her neighborhood was found dead in a nearby creek just a few hundred yards from her home.
Aryana Trevino Martinez went missing from her San Antonio neighborhood at around 8PM on Sunday, prompting authorities to issue an amber alert.
The alert was later canceled after the toddler's body was discovered, according to local reports.
Officials have not, as yet, confirmed Martinez's cause of death, and investigators are continuing to examine how the two-year-old managed to leave her home.
The heartbreaking discovery was made by 22-year-old Uriel Ramirez, who joined the search after the Amber Alert was issued.
His mother, Anna Marie Ramirez, told KSAT that the family immediately wanted to help.
"We need to be a part of this and help," she claimed.
Anna Marie explained that the search was almost impossible because of the tall grass surrounding the creek, but her son continued looking.
According to his mother, Uriel climbed onto nearby rocks before spotting the toddler in the water.
"As soon as he looked he said he saw her body and just jumped in without hesitating and carried her and brought her to everyone," Anna Marie said through tears.
Police received the missing persons report shortly after the child disappeared, and Martinez's body was found around midnight — roughly four hours later.
Recalling the moment, Uriel said: "I can't even put it into words."
He added: "She's like an angel and something led me straight to her, like a direct shot.
"My brain was just – that's where she is."
After recovering the little girl's body, he simply told his mother: "I found her."
According to the Amber Alert, Martinez was last seen at approximately 7:45PM wearing a black top and leopard-print trousers.
Investigators say surveillance footage appears to show the toddler walking toward the creek before she was found.
Authorities have not said how she came to leave the house, and the circumstances surrounding her death remain under investigation.
The case has left neighbors struggling to understand what happened.
"The first thing I thought, like everybody else, how did she get out there?" local resident David Alcantar told WOAI.
"How's a two-year-old get out that way?"
A vigil in memory of Aryana Trevino Martinez is scheduled to take place at 8PM on Tuesday as family, friends and members of the community come together to remember the young girl.
