SAN MARCOS, Texas – Lives were cut short and relationships were ripped apart when a deadly fire destroyed an apartment complex in San Marcos, claiming the lives of five people and injuring several others.
The girlfriend of a man who is still unaccounted for said she’s not sure how she will get over the loss of her boyfriend.
“He was just so bright. He was never angry or upset or mad or moody. He was just always so happy,” Cailida Reyes said.
Reyes met 20-year-old Dru Estes while working at a restaurant in November. Eight months ago, they became a couple and made plans to get married. They even adopted a Siberian husky, which they named Alaska.
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Reyes said Estes was the man of her dreams. Now, she thinks back to last Thursday and wonders if she could have done anything differently.
“He had stopped by my apartment to say goodnight, and I was kind of mad at him because his ex-girlfriend followed him on Twitter and he wouldn't block her,” Reyes said.
Reyes gave her boyfriend the cold shoulder but planned to have dinner with him the next day. When the morning came, she suspected something was wrong.
“He always picks me up on the way to work, because we were supposed to work together, and I thought he was just oversleeping,” Reyes said.
When Reyes checked social media, she found out about the fire at Estes’ apartment complex in San Marcos.
“My heart started racing,” Reyes said.
Five bodies were pulled out of the building, and while they have yet to be identified, Estes’ name is on the list of those who are unaccounted for. His car was also still parked outside, and he hasn’t been heard from since.
As investigators figure out how the fire started, Reyes must now figure out how to cope with the loss of her loved one.
“He was a beautiful person, and I'd never known anybody else like him,” she said. “There was nobody like Dru, nobody.”
