The ad won’t run now because Erik Ray Aguilar was found dead. His Hyundai Elantra was found on Saturday a little after noon on an embankment in a remote field at 23000 SE H. K. Dodgen Loop. It was about 100 yards off the roadway. He was 22 years old.
The car was apparently headed down First Street, toward the loop when it appeared to swipe a guardrail, cross the loop, went up an embankment and rolled at least once, said Sgt. Allen Teston, Temple police department public information officer. Erik was thrown from the car, he said.
The car came to rest on top of him.
“It is not uncommon for a victim to be found under a car after it has rolled,” Testson said.
Family members spotted Erik’s car as they were headed to the Bethel Assembly of God Church Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon. As they drove down First Street the sun hit the windshield of Erik’s car in the field.
They went to investigate and found his car, Teston said.
“I can’t believe my brother is dead,” his 19-year-old sister, Ericka, said on Saturday afternoon. “I knew there was something really wrong when he didn’t contact me on my birthday.”
The siblings had made plans to play some pool together on March 9.
“We were really close. Every day I have woken up wondering where he is,” she said. “You get a bad feeling.”
Family and friends have been actively searching for Erik since his disappearance. Fliers were posted all across town. They reported him missing to Temple police on March 7.
According to family, he was last seen at Bum’s Sports Bar on the Loop.
Earlier that day, he’d been at home, talking to his mom about buying a new car.
“He was so excited,” Ruby said.
Erik then left for work at the Shogun Restaurant where he was until 10:30 p.m.
We were told he left Bum’s bar at about 2 a.m., Ericka said.
“I am numb, my heart is heavy,” his grieving mother said on Saturday afternoon.
Family and friends surrounded her all afternoon, the modest home on South 15th Street packed with people.
She sobbed openly as the she was told how her son had died.
“He is with God now,” she said, becoming the comforter herself when one of his best friends broke down.
Temple police sent grievance counselors to assist the family.
It appears that the accident occurred shortly after Mr. Aguilar was last seen on March 5, Teston said in a press release. “There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the accident.”
Justice of the Peace David Barfield ordered the body be sent to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic science in Dallas for an autopsy.
He leaves behind three children, Erik Jr., 4; Jeremiah, 14 months and Katalina, 3 months.
