Family identifies teen girl found dead on Antioch roadside
Jeana Louis Santos Flores, 17, was found lying on the shoulder of the road in the area of L Street, between West 18th and West 10th streets, at approximately 3:33 a.m. on Friday morning.
ANTIOCH, Calif. - Family members on Saturday identified a 17-year-old girl who was found dead on the side of a road in Antioch on the previous morning.
Jeana Louis Santos Flores was found lying on the shoulder of the road in the area of L Street, between West 18th and West 10th streets, at approximately 3:33 a.m. on Friday morning.
Family receives the news
Dig deeper:
Authorities did not identify the victim as Jeana, only confirming that the victim was not an Antioch Unified School District student.
But Joseph Flores, the girl’s father, told KTVU that he received a call from his wife just past noon on Friday telling him that a police investigator had contacted her about Jeana.
He said he assumed that his daughter had gotten into some type of trouble, and got in touch with the investigator to learn more.
But he was thrown off by some of the questions the investigator asked him about Jeana, and said he knew something was wrong when the investigator asked if he was sitting down.
"Right then and there, I knew something’s up," Joseph Flores said. "I said, ‘Just be straight with me; is my daughter breathing?"
Timeline:
Joseph Flores said that, after sharing the news, the investigator told him his daughter last visited a family friend – who he identified as his sister due to their close relationship. He said he went to her home after speaking with authorities, and found that she hadn’t been told what had happened to Jeana.
Joseph Flores said he broke the news to his sister, and she confirmed to him that Jeana was at her home on Thursday night to do some laundry, but left just past 9 p.m. to return to the condo she shared with her mother.
He said he last received a text message from Jeana that night. It was a photo of a boat that was for sale near his sister’s house, and he asked her if she knew who was selling it.
But he never received a response.
What we don't know:
The Antioch Police Department described the victim’s death as "suspicious," and Joseph Flores said investigators told him that Jeana was found with scrapes and gashes on her head and hands.
However, no further information regarding her death has been released.
Remembering Jeana
Joseph Flores remembered his daughter as funny and bubbly – sometimes even moody.
"She was fierce, sometimes. She was witty," he said. "She had a really, really good heart."
He said his daughter had made some mistakes when she was younger, but was trying hard to turn things around and was working on Treasure Island through Job Corps.
"My main thing in life, and I really tried to install in her, was credibility, and having some codes and ethics," Joseph Flores said.
He said, of all her qualities, he would miss Jeana’s voice the most.
The Source: Original reporting by Betty Yu of KTVU