CONVERSE, Tx – The discovery of Zachary Mickle's body floating in a stock pond Sunday will likely result in a charge against the man who allegedly drove the vehicle they were riding in, into the water.
Assistant Chief Rex Rheiner, spokesman for Converse Police, said the driver, a co-worker of the victim at a local car wash, is now considered a suspect.
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But Rheiner said it's still unknown what charges he will face.
He confirmed the victim had a laceration to the back of his head but no water in his lungs, which may or may not indicate how he died.
Rheiner said detectives are awaiting toxicology results and an official ruling on the manner of death from the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office.
"It's not really what you know. It's what you can prove," Rheiner said.
Still Harriet Mickles, the victim's mother, said an arrest cannot come quick enough.
"Put him in jail now," she said. "He's out there walking around free. He should be in jail. He killed my son."
Mickles said she also was frustrated by the initial confusion over whether the San Antonio Police Department or the Converse Police Department had jurisdiction.
Rheiner said the pond off Brucks Drive near Seguin Road was "right on the dividing line" between the two agencies.
The victim's mother said San Antonio police did respond to her call after the suspect later told her some of what occurred.
SAPD's Blue Eagle helicopter flew over several bodies of water looking for the vehicle but found nothing.
San Antonio police also questioned the man who told them he and Mickles had been drinking, then he got lost with Mickles passed out in the passenger seat.
The report states the man said both of them got out of the vehicle as it was sinking, but he couldn't remember where it happened.
"I don't know what he was trying to make it look like, but he took us on a wild goose chase," Harriet Mickles said.
She said they went as far as Calavaras Lake looking for the scene.
Sunday morning, a neighbor reported seeing her son's body floating in the pond.
Mickles said Converse police then responded.
"This is a priority case," Rheiner said.
He said his detectives are conducting their due diligence in their investigation.
Rheiner said otherwise, "The case can be dismissed and the perpetrator walks away."