Missing Woman Likely Killed: Cedar Park Police

CEDAR PARK, TX — Cedar Park police believe that a woman reported missing under "suspicious circumstances" earlier this week is dead, officials said during a press conference on Saturday.

Police provided an update on the case to which they first alerted on Friday. At around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, police received a phone call from a concerned family member who said they hadn’t seen or heard from Amanda “Mandi” Gordon, 30, in a few days. Officers then went to a home at 2505 Cypress Lane to conduct a welfare check on the woman and her two young children living at the address.

Officers were able to make contact with Mandi’s common law husband, Samuel Roy Byrd, who police said was uncooperative in letting officers enter the residence. Based on officers' heightened concern given Byrd's explanation of the woman's whereabouts and the safety of her children, a police SWAT team was dispatched to enter the home forcibly after a search warrant was obtained, police said.

Previous story: Police Search For Missing Person In Cedar Park

The children were removed from the home, police said, and now are safe with family members.

After a preliminary search of the property, Byrd, 32, was taken into custody on drug-related charges, according to police. The Cedar Park Police along with assistance from the Texas Rangers, Travis County Search and Rescue, and the Texas Game Wardens have been actively investigating the scene since Thursday night, officials added.

Subsequently, police issued a grim conclusion: "Based upon the investigation and information obtained up to this point, we are sad to announce it is our belief that Amanda Gordon is deceased," police wrote in a press advisory. "At this point in the investigation, we are now treating this as a homicide. In addition, at this time we are attempting to locate Amanda’s body."

Police did not specify what led them to conclude the woman may have been killed. Reached by Patch, police spokeswoman Alicia Inns indicated she wouldn't be able to provide further details than those that were disclosed at the Saturday afternoon press conference at police headquarters.

Police said they expect to remain at the scene on 2505 Cypress Lane in the coming hours and days.

"The Cedar Park Police Department and our assisting partner agencies want to express our deepest condolences to Amanda’s family," police wrote. "We ask that you please respect the family’s privacy as they deal with this tragedy."