Man's Body Pulled From Dallas Wetland Area

Dallas Police recovered the body of a missing man Saturday afternoon.

Police say 42-year-old Jerry Sanchez was reported missing early Friday morning.  

“My heart sank,” cousin Jessica Pintor said, “I knew something had happened, something wrong, because he’s not the person to up and leave and not say anything.”

Friday night investigators began searching around the Pavaho Wetlands Development Project in the 1400 block of Canada Drive just west of downtown Dallas near the Trinity River.

Police called off the search Friday night and resumed early Saturday morning.  At 4:00 p.m. Saturday family members watched as divers pulled Sanchez’s body from the water.  

“It’s heartbreaking because you want to know what happened,” Pintor said, “you want answers just for closure; even if something bad happened, we always want to know.” 

Pintor said Sanchez previously served in the Navy and was currently working selling fire trucks internationally.

“He was a great guy,” she said, “always competitive, always out and about, outgoing, very good guy.”

Sanchez, who was from Dallas, has family that lives near where his body was discovered, but Pintor says he did not live nearby, and she doesn’t know why he was in that area late Thursday night and early Friday morning. 

“It just seems like a movie, it seems like a nightmare or something you would see on 48 Hours, but it’s actually your life, you’re actually living it and going through it,” Pintor said. 

Dallas police are investigating it as an unclassified death until the Dallas County Medical Examiner can determine a cause of death. 

“He pushed us and made us who we are today,” Pintor said, “We’re strong people, we do like he told us to – be tough and not cry all the time.”

“He will be missed,” Pintor added. 

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