Suspect's Neighbor Talks About Dacara Thompson's Death: Report

BOWIE, MD — A next-door neighbor of the suspect in Dacara Thompson's death has spoken out about what he saw following the 19-year-old's disappearance.

The neighbor named Cody spoke exclusively with FOX 5 and said he's lived for years just 40 feet away from the home where Thompson was killed. Cody said he stepped outside his home in the early morning hours Aug. 23 and saw something burning in the suspect's backyard.

Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, 35, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in Thompson's death.

""The smell is different. It’s not a brush smell. It smells more like something like trash burning or something like that," Cody told FOX 5. "What I told the detectives, I know that that ash pile that was back there, is no longer back there. … My heart goes out to her family."

Hernandez-Mendez had been arrested previously by U.S. Park Police after he was stopped April 25 on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Annapolis Road for suspected DUI. The federal government released him pending trial, Prince George's County officials said. ICE released a statement saying Hernandez-Mendez was put under an immigration detainer Thursday.

Funeral services for Thompson have been announced by her family. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, followed by funeral services at 11 a.m. Both will be held at Kettering Baptist Church Legacy Center, 6909 Crain Highway, Upper Marlboro, according to WUSA9.

Thompson's family reported her missing on Aug. 23 after last seeing her the day before. Police say Thompson was killed in Hernandez-Mendez 's bedroom in a house in Bowie after they met in a parking lot around 3 a.m. Thompson left her vehicle at a meeting spot in Hyattsville and entered Hernandez-Mendez's black GMC Yukon Denali. They then drove together to the home where Hernandez-Mendez was staying with relatives, court documents show.

Cell data and video surveillance confirmed Thompson’s movements and the movements of the black Yukon Denali are consistent with moving together, documents say. Her phone was deactivated around 5 a.m., documents show. Court documents said Thompson's body was found Aug. 31 by Maryland State Police along the South River embankment in Annapolis, around 30 feet below the bridge. The body's tattoos and jewelry matched those of Thompson.

Detectives found Hernandez-Mendez's GMC in front of that same home Sept. 3 when they were going to execute a search warrant. A man got into the vehicle and left. Police conducted a traffic stop on that vehicle in the early morning hours of Sept. 4 and arrested Hernandez-Mendez.

The suspect told police he'd been at the Galaxy Night Club in Hyattsville, which is across the street from the Family Dollar where Thompson got into his GMC. He told detectives he was supposed to meet up with his ex-girlfriend but never did, court documents said.

DC News Now reported one of the residents at the hoe said they walked outside and saw the suspect's SUV was not parked outside the house, which was strange because he doesn't work Saturdays.

USA Today said police found identification cards with Hernandez-Mendez’s name on them inside a bedroom of the home where they executed a search warrant and where there also was “suspected blood evidence,” court documents say.

Investigators also found a fake French manicure-style fingernail on the floor, matching the same nails Thompson had when she was found, and hair in a trash bag matching a wig she appeared to be wearing in the surveillance video, The Washington Post disclosed.

Police said in the charging documents that they also tested for “possible blood evidence” in the Denali, which came back positive on the passenger front seat. An autopsy revealed skull and facial fractures, according to unredacted charging documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Read more:

• Grisly Details About Dacara Thompson's Death, Suspect's Immigration Status
• 'Possible Connection' Between Body Found And Missing Dacara Thompson
• Missing Woman Confirmed Dead, Bowie Man Charged With Murder
• White House Calls Dacara Thompson Homicide 'Heinous Act'
• 'I Just Want Justice': Dacara Thompson's Mom Speaks Out After Suspect's Bail Hearing
• Dacara Thompson's Funeral Service Plans Released