HOUSTON – Searchers are scouring a stretch of land in Waller County Wednesday for the body of a woman who has been missing for more than five years.
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Senovia Medina, 37, was last seen on Jan. 5, 2006. A few days later, her car was found behind a gas station near Memorial Drive and the 610 West Loop.
Houston police said her disappearance was a mystery until her boyfriend, Miguel Martinez, confessed to killing her.
"The suspect led us here. He confessed to our confidential informant and to HPD homicide," said Sgt. J.J. Wilson.
Investigators said Martinez has always been a suspect in the case, but they had no proof of his involvement.
"He told us he put her body in a garbage bag, wrapped it with tape and brought her out here to Waller County and dug a shallow grave," said Wilson.
HPD homicide detectives along with the Waller County Sheriff's Office, the Brookshire Police Department, Texas Rangers and Texas Equusearch are searching a 228-acre area for Medina's body.
The search is being conducted by ground and by air.
"We got a lot of pictures from the drone airplane," said Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch. "We want to search every square inch that we can search. We're raking and cutting and just looking at everything we can possibly look at."
The photos the drone airplane takes can show discoloration in the ground where a hole may have been dug and covered up.
Searchers planned to use a ground penetration machine that can identify bones that are buried.
Medina was three months pregnant when she disappeared.
"Even today, he says the baby wasn't his. He claims he acted in self-defense after Medina pulled a knife. But she was 4 feet 11 inches and 108 pounds. She could not have overpowered him," said Wilson.
Martinez was arrested Friday on an unrelated charge. Investigators said he was making silencers for guns in his home. He's being held in the Harris County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Martinez has a criminal history that includes charges of robbery, theft and evading arrest.