The Dallas County medical examiner has identified the remains found Sunday in a wooded area of Southeast Dallas as 34-year-old Marisol Espinosa, police say.
Police are now investigating the mother of three's disappearance as a homicide.
Espinosa's cousin, Wendy Lopez, said Tuesday the confirmation helps her family move forward.
"It's bittersweet," Lopez said. "We've waited so long just to have her back and now we do – not in the way that we would have preferred, but it is closure."
The remains were found under a bridge in a wooded area in the 2900 block of Dowdy Ferry Road. The location is less than 10 miles from Espinosa’s home, where she was last seen Dec. 29.
Police said they are awaiting the determination as to the manner and cause of death.
Lopez said her family's focus will now shift from finding Espinosa to finding justice, and "making sure that whoever did it pays," she said.
Jeremy Boss told NBC 5 he found the remains. He was in the wooded area working on a documentary about dog-dumping along Dowdy Ferry Road.
He said nothing could've prepared him for what he saw.
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"I'm still numb to this moment at what I saw. It sunk in to a point but it hasn't sunk in," Boss said.
