Shivangi Sinha
Evelyn Hernandez was a single mother with a 5-year-old son named Alex Hernandez and another baby on the way. She was close to her family and her sisters were planning a baby shower for her. However, a few days before the family could come together to celebrate Evelyn’s new baby, she and Alex went missing. ‘The Crime Junkie’ podcast, in its episode titled ‘Missing: Alex Hernandez,’ delves into the mysterious case, attempting to unravel the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of this seemingly content family of three and identify those who may have inflicted harm.
How Did Evelyn Hernandez Die?
Evelyn Hernandez, who legally immigrated to the US from El Salvador at the age of 14, faced the challenges of early motherhood. Not long after graduating from McAteer High School, she became pregnant with her son Alex Hernandez, and though his father served in the Navy, he reportedly did not contribute to child support. To support her family, Evelyn worked various jobs, including positions at Costco and the Clift Hotel in Union Square.
By May 2002, at the age of 24, she was 9 months pregnant with her second child, Fernando, and was residing in San Francisco’s Crocker-Amazon neighborhood, situated just south of the Mission District. While juggling her responsibilities as a vocational nurse, Evelyn was actively building a life for her family. On May 1, 2002, Evelyn Hernandez contacted one of her sisters, expressing that she wasn’t feeling well and complained about not having assistance with dropping off her son Alex at school. Despite her condition, she managed to take Alex to school, make a deposit at the bank, and even purchase a new wallet for herself.
After retrieving Alex from school, Evelyn returned home. Around 6 pm, she collected her mail, which included a disability check due to complications in her pregnancy. Later that evening, at approximately 9 pm, she called her other sister in Richmond, to discuss plans for the upcoming baby shower. The following day, both Evelyn and Alex mysteriously disappeared without a trace. The authorities pulled out all stops to find the two. Months passed before they made some headway in Evelyn’s case. On July 24, 2002, they recovered partial human remains along the Embarcadero near Folsom Street in San Francisco. DNA testing confirmed that the body belonged to Evelyn.
Who Killed Evelyn Hernandez?
The father of Evelyn Hernandez’s second child was Herman Aguilera, a 36-year-old who worked part-time as a limo driver and as a United Airlines mechanic at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Herman was already married, and he revealed this information to Evelyn only after she told him about her pregnancy. Allegedly, Evelyn was no longer interested in maintaining a relationship with him because she believed he would not leave his wife. Tensions arose in their interactions, as Herman, who was financially supporting the apartment where Evelyn lived, felt entitled to stay with her when he wished.
When the police brought in Herman for unofficial questioning, he stated that he had last spoken to Evelyn on April 30 after buying a bed for Alex from IKEA and assembling it inside the house. According to Herman, he attempted to contact her on May 1 but received no response. He believed she was upset with him and did not wish to communicate. Unable to reach her for several more days, he reported her missing on May 7. A day or two after Evelyn was reported missing, her wallet was discovered near a canal off East Grand Avenue in South San Francisco at a gas station. Her disability check and some spare cash were still in the wallet, so the police ruled out robbery or a money-motivated crime.
The location was a few miles away from the limousine company where Herman worked, and he was known to frequent the gas station. However, there was limited evidence linking him to any crime, making it challenging for the police to consider him a suspect. Evelyn’s family claimed that she had been contacting Herman with demands for child support, and he was reportedly unhappy with these demands. Despite delving deep into the facts and pieces of evidence, nothing pointed the authorities to the one/s responsible for her death. Unfortunately, her unborn baby and Alex were still missing.
Has Alex Hernandez Been Found?
There was a significant outcry from the family of Evelyn Hernandez, not only for the closure of her murder case but also for finding her 5-year-old son, Alex Hernandez. The family displayed signs with Alex’s picture, questioning the authorities about the importance of finding him. Detectives attending the memorial service clarified that Evelyn was not the sole victim; her two children were also being treated as victims by the police. Limited progress has occurred in Evelyn and Alex’s case since her body was discovered, and the authorities have said that it is most likely that Alex is no longer alive.
The absence of an identified crime scene has hampered the investigation, leaving authorities with little to work on. The case remains open, and there is no significant development. Herman Aguilera, the father of Evelyn’s unborn child, is not considered a primary suspect and is not under extensive investigation. A comparison was drawn to the prompt resolution of Laci Peterson’s case in December 2002, suggesting that Evelyn’s case did not receive adequate attention due to factors such as race, economic status, and immigration status.
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