Twenty years after his 21-year-old daughter, Veronica Segura, was strangled and her body nearly burned in a car abandoned in a Rio Grande City alleyway, Juan Manuel Hernandez is still plagued by one question — “why?”

Starr County investigators contiune to investigate the murder of Veronica Segura,21 whos body was found in 2001in a parking lot downtown in Rio Grande City. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected])

Investigators with Starr County’s Special Crimes Unit are reopening the cold case after finding Segura’s son, Juan Armando Segura Jr., who had been missing since 2001.

On Jan. 7, 2001, the Rio Grande City Police Department received a call from someone reporting an abandoned vehicle. Officers arrived and discovered it was a crime scene.

A young woman with highlights in her hair, dressed in a blue plaid shirt, black pants, and gold hoop earrings was found lying across the two front seats.

The upper right part of her pants, including a part of the pocket, was burnt, exposing her skin underneath. Scant evidence — a bottle of Parade Charcoal Starter, lacerations, and streaming, dried blood —  pointed to strangulation as the cause of death, but not a culprit.

Investigators said Segura’s husband, Juan Armando Segura, and their 4-year-old child disappeared sometime after the funeral.

“It’s important to find the husband, because he’s the one who knows what happened,” Michelle Garza, Starr County Special Crimes Unit investigator, said.

Starr County investigators contiune to investigate the murder of Veronica Segura,21 whos body was found in 2001in a parking lot downtown in Rio Grande City. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected])

The couple married young; Segura was 18. The child was born soon after and responsibilities started mounting. Segura was employed at the time of her death at a fast food restaurant in Rio Grande City. Her husband was unemployed.

The couple eloped, but their relationship was unsteady.

Hernandez, who said he raised Segura on his own after her mom fell into a coma in the 80s, characterized his son-in-law as “quiet” and “respectful,” but said the financial burden wore on them.

“Then later I found out he couldn’t work because he couldn’t get his green card,” he said during a phone call Monday afternoon.

The last words he exchanged with his daughter involved a request for some money and a signature to help her obtain a car.

Hernandez’s loss was compounded after his grandson, the only surviving link to his daughter, went missing.

Starr County Special Crimes Unit contiune to investigate the murder of Veronica Segura,21 whos body was found in 2001 on Monday,March 1,2021. The area is now a parking lot to the library dwontown in Rio Grande City. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected])

“They took my daughter and then they took my grandson. It was a double loss,” Hernandez said.

A different investigator was initially assigned to the case, but he died a few years ago. Now, the case is in different hands.

Investigator Garza said they received the cold case at the beginning of the year. They started by searching for the husband and visited his mother, San Juana Echavarria, in Zapata.

“When we arrived at Zapata, we noticed that Juan Armando Segura Jr. was at his grandmother’s (house),” Garza said.

But the now-23-year-old man was unable to communicate with investigators due to a developmental disorder. His grandmother was not responsive, either.

“We have had some setbacks. Ms. San Juana Echavarria has been very uncooperative with us,” the investigator said.

Echavarria, who opened her door Monday evening, declined to speak to The Monitor.

Garza is hoping to talk to Veronica’s husband. They believe he could help find answers still sought by his wife’s family.

Starr County Special Crimes Unit investigator Michelle Garza gives information as they contiune to investigate the murder of Veronica Segura,21 whos body was found in 2001 on Monday,March 1,2021. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected])

In less than two weeks, Hernandez would have celebrated his daughter’s birthday. Now, March 15 is a reminder of an open wound.

“For a father, it’s hard,” Hernandez said.

He wishes his son-in-law will speak to investigators and help end a life-long suffering.

“It’s too much, this punishment,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct two errors.