VON ORMY, Texas – The daughter of a woman who was brutally murdered says she sensed something was wrong from the moment she learned of her mother’s disappearance.
Priscilla Gonzalez said her mother was the kind of person who would help anyone even if she was struggling herself.
“Even if she didn’t have anything herself or she had a little bit of her own, she’d share it with you. That’s who she was and she always was like that,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez and her siblings are now mourning their mom Marisol Klingelhofer who was reported missing on May 7.
“I called every hospital. I called everywhere, couldn’t find her, and I told everybody, like, ‘My mom’s gone,’” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said she was very close to her mother and knew something was wrong when her mother wasn’t answering her phone. The two had plans for later that day.
“So she’s, like, we’re going to go do this, we’re going to do that. We have plans and this and that, and we’re going to go out to eat. And she didn’t call me, and I called her and it was going straight to voicemail, and her GPS tracker was off for some reason. She doesn’t even know how to handle her phone,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez’s gut instinct proved to be right after several witnesses led multiple law enforcement agencies to an Atascosa property.
The investigation led officers to 36-year-old Andres Perez Tarnava, who confessed to having killed Klinglehofer.
An arrest affidavit said Tarnava believed Klinglehofer had stolen items that belonged to his father.
“I don’t know what happened that day. We don’t know. Nobody knows, and nobody has the right to judge my mother. She was a good person and didn’t deserve that. Whether she stole it or not, she didn’t deserve that,” Gonzalez said.
Tarnava gave investigators a detailed description of what happened to Klingelhofer. He told them he shot her, burned her body, then tried to hide the remains in barrels.
The arrest affidavit said a witness also told investigators Tarnava admitted to dismembering the body.
“This man seemed like he knew what he was doing, like if he’s killed before,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said God forgives Tarnava for what he’s done to her mother, but justice must be served.
“Tomorrow is not promised, and never -- we never imagined that this was going to be like this. It’s shocking, very shocking, and I didn’t expect it to be this way,” Gonzalez said.
Investigators said Tarnava showed no remorse for murdering Klingelhofer. He remains in the Bexar County Jail.
Friends and family will be honoring Klingelhofer on Sunday and will hold a plate sale at 20295 Somerset Road in Somerset, Texas. Gonzalez said all contributions would help give her mother a proper memorial service.