Police in Michigan are investigating whether Alexa Navarro and Vanessa Bautista were followed before their Jeep plunged into the St. Joseph River, killing both women.
Navarro, 23, and Bautista, 24, were both from South Bend, Indiana. Their bodies were discovered Tuesday night after authorities recovered their submerged Jeep from the river in Niles, Michigan.
The vehicle had gone over an embankment and fallen roughly 70 feet into the river. According to Niles Police Chief James Millin, the crash happened around 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
The circumstances surrounding the crash have left investigators with serious questions.
Police are now looking into whether another vehicle may have followed the women before the Jeep left the roadway. That possibility has not been confirmed. Investigators are working to determine what happened during the moments before the deadly plunge.
The Jeep was eventually located beneath the water. Recovering the vehicle was a major part of the investigation. Authorities are also examining evidence that could help establish the women’s movements before the crash.
The women were reported missing that same day, with family members later tracking their phones to Niles — about 11 miles north of the women’s hometown, KFOX14 reported.
Millin said that police are investigating whether Bautista and Navarro were being chased on the night they mysteriously vanished.
“There’s been statements made that possibly somebody was chasing the girl, so we’re investigating that, looking into it,” Millin said.
“You know, right now, there do not appear to have been any outside forces, you know, such as pushing the vehicle off the road or something like that – but again that is still under investigation.”
Millin added in remarks to People that he has heard that the girls were “followed” from an establishment they left in Elkhart.
“I’ve heard both that the girls were followed from the establishment that they left in Elkhart and also been followed in Niles,” Millin told the outlet.
“Some people are saying ‘followed,’ other people are saying ‘chased,’ so of course we’re looking into all that to try to determine is this factual? And if so, what, if any part, did it play in them ending up in the river?” he added.
At this stage, police have not publicly identified a suspect. They have also not confirmed that the women were intentionally targeted.
That distinction matters.
The moms were positively identified by Western Michigan University Office of the Medical Examiner on Thursday — although an official cause of death has yet to be determined.
The results of the women’s autopsies and toxicology tests could take weeks to complete, Millin said.
Some raised concerns about the damage to the Jeep Grand Cherokee, but there is no indication yet that external forces caused the car’s mangled condition.
“A lot of people were concerned that the vehicle had a lot of damage and I don’t think they understand that the vehicle went off an embankment and down approximately 60 or 70 feet of a pretty steep incline, hitting trees and so on on the way down before it hit the water,” he said.
Their families are now facing the devastating task of waiting for answers. Friends and loved ones are also left wondering how two young women ended up in a river miles from home.
The father of Navarro’s child told WNDU that nothing about his last encounter with her made him think she would end up on the unusual route in the southwestern Michigan city.
“She would always take one route. Me and her would always take one route back and forth, which is Portage, which is so weird why she would come this way and take a left,” Jovani Ramirez told the outlet.
“It’s so weird to me, but we just have to let the police do what they do and start the investigation and see what’s going on. We’re just going to have to wait.”
Dozens of concerned friends and family members searched for the pair before the tragic discovery in Joseph River, WSBT reported.
“She always check in with us; regardless of who it is she hasn’t checked in on her child, and we know that’s really not like her at all, and that’s a problem,” Brandi Oritiz, Navarro’s cousin, told the outlet before she was found.
Navarro leaves behind her 3-year-old child, and Batistia leaves behind two children, a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old.
The biggest question is simple: what happened before that Jeep went over the embankment?
