Missing teen's body found near van in Dallas creek

DALLAS - An 18-year-old woman who disappeared on her way to church was found dead in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas.

The teen’s body was found next to a minivan that had crashed into a creek near the intersection of Lippitt Avenue and Easton Road.

Zoe Hastings' family told FOX 4 she left home around 4:45 p.m. Sunday and did not make it to a 5 p.m. classes at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Lake Highlands Drive.

Police said Hastings died from “obvious homicidal violence.”

Hastings’ family comforted each other at the crime scene as investigator looked for clues inside her 2007 white Honda Odyssey.

Hastings graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in May. According to her Facebook page, she was a swim instructor at the White Rock YMCA.

Joseph Noriega discovered Hastings’ body after he was flagged down by a young man who said there was a girl in a creek who needed help. As he walked down, the man disappeared, but he found the body of Hastings.

“She was not in the van,” Noriega said. “She was on the white rock bed and when I saw the pool of blood and the color of her skin I could just tell that she had died. I called out to her and I looked to see if she was breathing and I could not see any movement.”

Police have encouraged anyone with information about her death or who may have seen her or the minivan on Sunday evening to call the Dallas Police Department or Crime Stoppers.

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