HOUSTON, TX – Authorities in northeast Houston have confirmed the identity of a woman whose body was discovered in a roadside ditch earlier this week, drawing disbelief and grief from her kin.
The Houston Police Department (HPD) verified on Wednesday that the body found was that of Yadira Peña Castillo, a 38-year-old woman who had been reported missing since Feb. 18.
Castillo, a mother of a 10-year-old boy who lives with her mother in Cuba, was remembered by her husband, Laurent Silva-Cassiano, as a dearly loved individual with a sterling personality. Silva-Cassiano, a Las Vegas resident himself, noted that Castillo had a job in the Houston nightclub industry and traveled between the two cities.
Silva-Cassiano expressed his despair over her sudden demise, stating, “It’s been very hard. She was a truly good person, a truly good soul. She cared about everybody, about her friends, about her family”. He added that she called her mother daily to check on her son – an indication of how devoted she was to her family.
Castillo’s body was discovered by a passerby who promptly alerted 911. HPD has stated that an absence of visible trauma on the body has led them to conduct an autopsy to find out the woman’s cause of death. Fingerprints were used to confirm Castillo’s identity.