Four-year-old Giselle Tapia-Salazar was found dead on a dock in League City, Texas, on May 31. Multiple news sources say that the 30-year-old’s death is now being looked into as possible foul play.
As of June 11, KHOU, KTRK, and The Daily News of Galveston County, all said that police are looking into Tapia-Salazar’s death as a possible murder and have named two people they want to talk to about it. Police told the news outlets that they thought the victim was already dead when they put them in that position. The Daily News, quoting police, said that the scene was set up to look like a suicide.
The League City Police Department confirmed on May 31 in a Facebook post that they were told about a “woman who appeared to have been lifeless as she hung by a rope from the dock” that afternoon.
Tapia-Salazar was found near the boat where she was living with her boyfriend when she died. James Hart, the boyfriend, told KHOU, “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.”
Hart said, “It feels like a bad dream that you can’t wake up from.” It wasn’t my fault, and it never would have been. I adored Giselle a lot. We were together all the time, and I want myself and Giselle to be fair.
League City Police said in a statement that Hart “became very distraught and would not come out of his boat” when he heard that Tapia-Salazar had died.
Tapia-Salazar and Hart’s neighbor at the dock, Christian Allen, told KHOU that he found Tapia-Salazar’s body “partially submerged in the water” with one arm in an odd position.
League City Police Lieutenant Eric Cox told KHOU, “We think she probably died somewhere else because of where her arm is.” “The rigidity set in, and when she was moved, her arms stayed where they were.”
He said, “At first, I thought it was a mannequin and then we realized … we recognized her.”
Allen also said, “I didn’t believe the suicide story.” They need to be caught because my kids are here and I don’t want to live near a killer.
The police are still waiting for an official cause of death. Nathan Paz, the victim’s brother, set up a GoFundMe to help pay for her funeral and take care of her four kids.
“Giselle was the most charismatic person you could ever meet, sharing a smile and making a friend of everyone she came across,” Paz said on the GoFundMe page. “Giselle always looked for the best in people, even when they didn’t deserve her kindness.”
Source: PEOPLE
