The body of a missing Texas mother was found on the side of an isolated road, more than 70 miles from where she was last seen alive.
Tiera Strand, 25, was reported missing by relatives on 17 April after she failed to return home from a night out in downtown Austin. Her family said that before going missing, Ms Strand was violently attacked by a group of women at the Mooseknuckle Pub and that the altercation spilt outside the bar.
The mother-of-one then became upset because friends who arrived at the bar with her did not intervene, and left without her phone, purse, and keys, according to her family. Part of the scuffle was recorded on surveillance and bystander video.
Although her concerned mother filed a missing person report with local police, they were reportedly told that the case didn’t meet the criteria and a “be on the lookout” (BOLO) was issued instead. Her body was found on Friday 21 April on the side of a road near Temple, nearly 70 miles from the Mooseknuckle Pub.
“We just want answers ... they definitely suspect foul play,” Ms Strand’s cousin Jessica Williams told The Independent on Tuesday. “They just don’t have any definite answers for us at this point. I’ve been back and forth calling between [Austin police] and Middle County, trying to push this.”
Ms Williams said an autopsy is pending, but a preliminary investigation suggested Ms Strand died as a result of blunt trauma to the head. Texas rangers have searched her vehicle and tested her clothing for evidence.
Ms Strand leaves behind a six-year-old daughter, who is coping with the loss as best she can but hasn’t fully processed her mother’s passing, Ms Williams said.
Before the tragedy, she was juggling motherhood, school, and a full-time job as a certified nursing assistant. Upon graduating this summer, Ms Strand was planning to join the Navy.
“She loved to have fun, she loved to have a good time and wear colourful hair. She loved to do her makeup,” Ms Williams said. “She was very adamant about taking care of her daughter and being there for her and providing for her. And she was so loved by so many people, she’s missed by everybody.”
The family has created a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral costs and to hire a private investigator. Relatives have previously expressed frustration at the delay in the initial search for her and the lack of answers following her death.
“Our goal is to get justice for Tiera and the mishandling of her case,” the description of the page read. “We also want to hire a private detective who can give us the proper answers needed on what happen from the moment she was brutally assaulted in a crowd of people up until her body was discovered.”
More than $4,000 had been raised as of Tuesday evening.
Ms Strand’s sister Mariah Herron described her in a Facebook post as a devoted mother, sister and daughter, who was always willing to offer a helping hand.
“She was a woman who was going to set out and do what she wanted and no one could step in her way,” the post read. “She trusted you so much because she figured the things a person in this cruel world would do couldn’t possibly happen to her.”
“We will get the justice Tiera deserves because she’s more than another black woman dead.”
