Decomposed Body Found Off Hildebrandt Road, Sheriff Suspects Fatal Hit-and-Run

A grass-cutting crew stumbled onto a grim discovery this week in Southeast Bexar County: the heavily decomposed body of a man lying in brush about six to ten feet off Hildebrandt Road, near South Foster Road. Deputies believe he was in his 30s or 40s, and evidence at the scene points to a possible collision with a vehicle days before he was found.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar detailed the discovery during a Wednesday press conference, confirming the body turned up in the 8600 block of Hildebrandt Road, as reported by WOAI. Investigators say the man had injuries to his lower extremities consistent with being struck, and per deputies, his death likely occurred three to five days before the body was located. According to KENS 5, the grass-cutting crew that found him was working the brush along that stretch of road when they made the discovery.

Sheriff Appeals Directly to Drivers

Salazar used the news conference to make a direct plea to anyone who may have driven that stretch of Hildebrandt Road in recent nights and thought they hit an animal or an object rather than a person. The sheriff said deputies would rather hear a voluntary explanation than have to track down a suspect, a strategy detailed by the San Antonio Express-News. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is treating the case as a suspected fatal hit-and-run, and investigators are leaning heavily on public tips about recent vehicle damage to help identify the driver.

Investigators have already recovered physical evidence at the scene that is now undergoing forensic analysis, though the sheriff did not disclose the specific nature of what was collected, the newspaper's report notes. It remains unclear whether that evidence, or the medical examiner's own analysis, will yield a positive identification of either the victim or the vehicle involved before a suspect surfaces. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bexar County Sheriff's Office at (210) 335-6000 or submit tips through a dedicated email address at [email protected].

Identity Still Unconfirmed Pending Inquest

Because the man's body was heavily decomposed, formal identification has not yet occurred. Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 49.25, any unattended or unnatural death in Bexar County must go through a formal inquest by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office to establish identity and cause of death before remains can be released — the same statutory process Hoodline outlined in its coverage of a decomposed body found in an abandoned San Antonio motel attic earlier this month.

If a driver is eventually identified, the legal stakes are severe. Under Texas Transportation Code § 550.021, leaving the scene of a collision that results in a death — known as Failure to Stop and Render Aid — is a second-degree felony, carrying two to 20 years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, according to FindLaw.

A Broader Pattern of Pedestrian Deaths

The case fits into a troubling statewide pattern. Texas Department of Transportation safety campaign data from 2024 shows that while pedestrian crashes make up just one percent of total motor vehicle collisions statewide, pedestrians account for 19 percent of all Texas roadway fatalities, with 772 pedestrian deaths recorded that year. Locally, an analysis of state crash data published in January by the Express-News found that pedestrian-involved collisions in the San Antonio region consistently top 1,000 annually, with roughly 93 percent occurring within Bexar County.

Nationally, hit-and-run crashes disproportionately claim pedestrians and cyclists. American Automobile Association data reported by traffic safety advocates in 2024 found that nearly 65 percent of all fatalities from hit-and-run crashes across the country are pedestrians or pedalcyclists, according to Vision Zero ATX. Hildebrandt Road itself has seen serious emergency responses before; sheriff's deputies investigated a shooting there in October 2020 that left a man and a woman hospitalized, per KSAT 12.

For now, the man found in the brush off Hildebrandt Road remains unidentified, and the driver deputies believe may have struck him has not come forward. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is continuing to process evidence from the scene as the medical examiner's inquest moves forward.