Missing
Senovia Medina
Medina, approximately 2006; Miguel Antonio Martinez
Date and time person was reported missing : 01/05/2006
Missing location (approx) :
Houston, Texas
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Hispanic
DOB : 03/26/1968 (53)
Age at the time of disappearance: 37 years old
Height / Weight : 4'10, 105 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A baby-blue blouse and blue jeans.
Medical conditions : Medina was three months pregnant when she went missing.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Hispanic female. Black hair, brown eyes. Medina's ears are pierced. She is a native of El Salvador.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Medina was last seen on January 5, 2006, when she left her mother's Austin, Texas home to run errands. She never returned and has never been heard from again.
Her live-in boyfriend found her white 1995 Isuzo Rodeo SUV with the Texas license plate number X13HVJ several days after her disappearance, abandoned behind a gas station near Memorial Drive and the 610 West Loop. This location is far from Medina's home and not along a route she would have normally taken. The SUV's license plates were missing when it was located.
Medina's live-in boyfriend, Miguel Antonio Martinez, is the father of the child she was carrying at the time of her disappearance. A photo of Martinez is posted with this case summary. He was long considered a person of interest in her case, and he failed two polygraph tests. He also boxed up all her belongings within days of her disappearance.
Medina had reportedly planned to leave Martinez and went to a real estate Age at the time of disappearance: nt about finding another home. Martinez was arrested on a weapons charge in May 2011; he had several illegal handmade gun silencers in his home. He was subsequently charged with Medina's murder.
In a statement to authorities, Martinez said he and Medina were at home when she accused him of infidelity and attacked him with a letter opener, and when he pushed her in self-defense, she hit her head against the shower and died in spite of his attempts at CPR. He said he got "confused" and panicked afterwards, wrapped her body in a garbAge at the time of disappearance: bag and disposed of it in a rural area.
He said he returned to the dump site three times to try to find the body and bury it, but was unable to locate it. Authorities launched their own search for Medina's body in the area Martinez indicated, but they found nothing.
In court, after a judge refused to suppress Martinez's confession, he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He could have gotten a life sentence if convicted at trial. Martinez later tried to withdraw his guilty plea, but this was refused.
Medina was employed as a housekeeper at the time of her disappearance. She was born and raised in El Salvador and fled in 1988, during that country's civil war. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.
Other information and links : ncy
Houston Police Department
713-731-5877
September 2021 updates and sources
Texas Department of Public Safety
Texas EquuSearch
KHOU 11 News
Click 2 Houston
North American Missing Persons Network
The Houston Chronicle
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
