DALLAS — A Dallas woman's body was discovered at a city wastewater plant just weeks ago, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. She was identified as 66-year-old Teresa Gail Gonzales.
“She was my mom,” her only child, Cynthia Gonzales cried during a news conference on Tuesday at her attorney's office.
Cynthia, alongside her lawyer, Ramez Shamieh, claimed witnesses saw her mother fall into an uncovered sewer system manhole on Tuesday, October 22.
“This is not some little sewage hole,” Shamieh said. “This is a big hole.”
Shamieh presented a photo he said was taken a week after the incident, highlighting gaps in the metal coverings over the manhole in a construction area. He said Teresa, whose vision was poor, fell into the open hole while walking across the street.
Her body, Shamieh told reporters, traveled approximately nine miles through the sewer system before she was discovered three days later at the wastewater plant.
“Nobody should have to go through that,” Cynthia said tearfully. “Nobody. I don’t care who you are, nobody should have to feel that…not that kind of tragedy.”
Shamieh indicated that a lawsuit is forthcoming but said they are waiting for public records from the city to gather more details about the incident and identify any potentially responsible parties.
“We’re not going into the blame game yet,” he said.
For now, Cynthia hopes her mother’s story will remind others to cherish their loved ones.
“You don’t know how much time you have left with them,” she said. “Or when you’ll last get to see them or even say that you love them.”
The City of Dallas declined to comment on the matter. The Dallas Police Department confirmed it was called to the scene at Record Crossing Road and Wyche Boulevard when Teresa's body was recovered around 8:17 a.m. and said the case is being investigated as an “unexplained death.”