Husband Wonders If PD Would Have Ever Found His Missing Wife
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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - An autopsy has confirmed the body found in a van, in a North Texas pond, belongs to missing wife and mother Almaz Gebremedhin.
The remains of the 42-year-old were discovered in an 8-foot deep private pond in Wylie, more than a month after she disappeared. Local investigators had no clue as to what happened to Almaz Gebremedhin. It was a private investigator, hired by members of the Ethiopian community, who located the van in the pond that was along Gebremedhin's route to work.
Officials with the medical examiner's office have ruled Gebremedhin's death accidental and an autopsy reports says her injuries are consistent with a traffic accident. Given that information, officials say no foul play is believed to be involved.
Monday night hundreds of people gathered at the Saint Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Garland to show their respect for a grieving husband who seems frustrated that he had to hire private investigators to do what the Wylie Police Department couldn't.
There were open displays of grief at the church, anguish that comes after a 40-day search for Almaz Gebremedhin. A search that ultimately ended the way so many feared.
Though distraught, Gebremedhin's husband, Sisay Zelelew, told CBS 11 News, "We are relieved at least we found her car and her body."
Zelelew sat down with CBS 11 after arriving at Saint Michael's for the prayer service. Zelelew had reported his wife missing on October 2.
"It's just shocking to lose her like that," he said.
It was just a few weeks ago when the Mutual Assistance Association for Ethiopian Community joined the family to hire a private investigator to assist Wylie police in the search.
The fact that the 42-year-old woman's body was found so close to her work route has her husband wondering if Wylie police would ever have located her remains. "It's close to 40 days and that's the main route to her workplace. They [police] told us they did the search," Zelelew claimed. "[If it] had not been for their special search service she wouldn't be found."
The outpouring of love and concern at Saint Michael's shows how tight the Ethiopian community is. There were hundreds of people coming in an out of the church to offer handshakes, hugs, or whatever they thought would help the family get through this terrible time.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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