Police say they did search for the 17-year-old boy who was found dead in a quarry four days after a police chase, despite his mother's claims to the contrary.
Israel Islas-Mendez was found dead in a Franklin quarry in July of last year. A medical examiner says he fell around 225 feet.
An Oak Creek Police officer attempted to stop a driver for speeding near Pennsylvania and Drexel in the early hours of the morning of the 15th. At that time, one of the passengers hopped out of the car and ran off.
Police say the driver of the vehicle continued with the chase, reaching speeds of up to 102 miles per hour. The chase eventually reached the City of Franklin where the driver hit a set of stop stick devices and came to a stop on the 7700 block of S. 51st Street.
Two other teens in the car were arrested, but officers say the driver ran away toward the area of the quarry. The officers, still in their squad cars, gave up the chase because of "dangerous terrain."
By the evening of July 15th, the mother of the driver had contacted the Oak Creek Police Department — Lucia Mendez believed their 17-year-old son might have been involved in the chase and hadn't returned home. The family reported the teen missing to the Milwaukee Police Department. She says her son FaceTimed her as he was running away from police and that he eventually appeared to lay down in tall grass — the video froze at this point, and Mendez says she's not sure if her son fell or was just laying down.
After Islas-Mendez was found dead in the quarry on July 19th, Mendez told TMJ4 she didn't believe Oak Creek or Franklin police took finding her son seriously enough.
Records provided to TMJ4 show that police did try to find Islas-Mendez. Police reports show officers from the Franklin and Oak Creek departments spent two hours flying drones over the area of the quarry and did not find "anything of investigative value." The also used search dogs. Officers say they searched a vacant house near the quarry and monitored Islas-Mendez's cellphone activity — these searches didn't provide any further answers. Quarry employees also carried out a search, and didn't see any signs of Islas-Mendez.
TMJ4 has a reporter following this story, which will be updated.
Oak Creek, Franklin and Milwaukee Police report for chase and missing person, July 15, 2023 by TMJ4 News on Scribd
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