Seven children have been left orphaned after the search for a missing Fresno mother ended in tragedy with the discovery of her body.
Tatiana McIntyre, 29, who also goes by Alison Riley, had not been heard from since Tuesday, when she went to her ex-boyfriend’s home around 12:10 p.m. to see their two children.
Relatives told Fox 26 News that her cellphone last pinged at the home at about 1 p.m. before it went offline.
Concern grew later that day when she failed to show up to pick up her children from school.
Her family then traced a Zipcar rental she had been using to an orchard near McKinley Avenue and Academy Avenue.
There, relatives found the vehicle abandoned with her belongings still inside. Police later seized the car as part of the investigation.
As Riley’s family waited anxiously for answers, investigators served a search warrant at her ex-boyfriend’s home.
Riley’s mother, Liberty Lopez, had been at the home since 5 a.m., hoping for news about her daughter.
“I’ve been here since 5 a.m., waiting to hear anything about my daughter,” Lopez told FOX26. “We’re just hoping for the best.”
Riley’s ex allegedly has a history of domestic violence, having previously choked her and stopped her from leaving her home, her mother said.
The Fresno Police Department is now saying the probe has shifted into a death investigation at a home along East Grove Avenue in Fresno.
Police stretched yellow tape around the scene.
Her family is fearing the worst but are still hopeful.
“We just want her home,” Lopez said. “We want to know where she’s at.”
“We want to see her alive,” Lopez said.
However, friends recently confirmed she’d been found dead.