The Nebraska State Patrol has identified the woman whose body was found in the car that a Texas teenager crashed near Grand Island on Friday.
The woman was 49-year-old Michelle Roenz, according to a press release from the patrol. Roenz was the mother of 17-year-old Tyler Roenz, the driver who led law enforcement on a high-speed chase shortly before crashing the car.
Both Roenz and his mother had been reported missing from the Houston area Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Texas.
The Sheriff’ Office notified the Nebraska State Patrol on Friday that a Mazda 3 believed to have been involved in a homicide was in Nebraska.
Troopers found the vehicle around 3 p.m. traveling west on I-80 near Grand Island, the patrol said. A trooper tried to stop the car, but Roenz fled at speeds reaching over 110 mph.
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After about 9 miles, Roenz tried to slow down, but the car hit the back of a semi truck and left the road, hitting a tree in a ditch.
He was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Grand Island with injuries that were not life-threatening, and was later transferred to a hospital in Omaha, according to the patrol.
Once the car was stopped, troopers found the body of Roenz’s mother in the car’s trunk.
The patrol is working with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to extradite Roenz once he is released from the hospital, according to the release.