SAN ANTONIO – As search teams scoured a field Monday for the body of Andreen McDonald, Hyacinth Smith said she's coming to terms about her missing 29-year-old daughter.
"They haven't found the body, but if they find the body, she's not going to be alive," Smith said.
Suspicious circumstances surround the disappearance of the businesswoman, who was reported missing Friday.
"One of her workers came over here, and she went in the bathroom, and she saw blood on the bathroom switch," Smith said. An arrest affidavit confirmed the findings in the bathroom.
McDonald's husband, 29-year-old Andre McDonald, was arrested Sunday and is charged with tampering with evidence after officials said he gave conflicting statements about his wife's whereabouts. Bexar County Sheriff's Office investigators said they found a pile of newly burnt items in the couple's backyard and a shovel, an ax and plastic bags in their car.
Smith, who had hoped for the best, is bracing for the worst news about her daughter. She wonders how she will relay the bad news to her 6-year-old granddaughter, who still is waiting for her mother to come home.
"I'm thinking that she's gone right now. Like yesterday, I wasn't thinking like that, but right now, I'm thinking that she's gone," Smith said.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office announced there will be a search party for Andreen McDonald on Tuesday morning. Anyone wishing to participate is asked to visit the BCSO command post on Overlook Parkway for briefing at 9 a.m. Groups will be deployed afterward.
