Terresa Vanegas 16 Murdered Nov. 2006, TX
Family searches for answers in girl’s death By Sara McDonald The Daily News Published November 14, 2006 DICKINSON — The only time Betty Metcalf escapes the questions rattling in her mind about her granddaughter’s murder is when she sleeps. “If I could stay asleep, I’d be OK,” she said. “I can’t quit thinking about it. It’s like living in a nightmare.” Police found the body of Metcalf’s 16-year-old granddaughter, Terresa Vanegas, Nov. 3 in a field near Dickinson High School. Her death was ruled a homicide, but police don’t have any leads on who killed the teen. Since the investigation began, Metcalf has felt angry, frustrated, devastated and lost. She wants explanations, something the police haven’t been able to give. Their silence is because police don’t know anything new, said Lt. Arnold Moreno of the Dickinson Police Department. That’s often hard to accept for family members searching for reason in the midst of chaos. Vanegas was last seen leaving a friend’s house about 11 p.m. on Halloween, after the two had gone to a party. Police said she died hours later. Metcalf got most of her information from television reports. There, she looks for a connection between another murder victim and missing teens. Moreno said the connection just isn’t there. “There’s been so much disinformation put out there,” he said. “There have been rumors about a second body found. That’s simply not true.” Moreno also said there was “absolutely no connection” between Vanegas’ death and the body found Friday in Omega Bay. That was an association that Metcalf admits she hoped for because it could make her granddaughter’s death easier to explain. But police can’t allow that kind of speculation, Moreno said. “All of that doesn’t change the issue of what we do over here,” he said. “When it’s all said and done, we’re the ones that are going to be sitting in a court of law defending the evidence we brought forward. That’s what we’ve got to keep in mind.” As the days since the death turn into weeks, it’s hard for Metcalf to believe that the case will be solved. So her theories are her survival method, a way to explain her grief. It’s one way to silence the questions she asks herself. “I can’t stop asking what she had to go through,” she said. “What was on her mind, knowing she was about to die? What must have that been like?” It’s an especially haunting thought for Metcalf, who had a special connection with Vanegas. Metcalf’s home was Vanegas’ sanctuary, the place she spent almost every weekend and all summer as a child. Even as a 16-year-old, she spent nights sleeping on a pallet next to her grandmother’s bed and joked she’d sleep there even when she grew up and got married. “She always just wanted to be around me,” Metcalf said. “Around other people, she was insecure. I was her security. I guess that’s what makes it harder.” Vanegas was supposed to spend time with her grandmother the week she disappeared. Metcalf decorated for Christmas in anticipation of her coming. Now, the sparkling tree and cheerful snowmen remind her of her grief. Metcalf isn’t a stranger to tragedy. One of her sons died when he was 28 after a long illness and her 3-year-old grandson drowned in 1990. “This one is harder because someone killed her,” she said. “Even with the drowning, it was an accident, you knew what happened. This is just too many unanswered questions.” HOW TO HELP A memorial fund has been set up at Amegy Bank in Dickinson to help the family with expenses. http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=b8d15d05b0749d19