Police first reported three bodies, then later said investigators found two children in the vehicle.
SAN ANTONIO, TX — A mother from Edinburg was charged with capital murder Friday after two children were found dead inside a burned vehicle behind a West Side warehouse, San Antonio police said.
Police identified the woman as 34-year-old Marlene Vidal and said the children are believed to have been 5 and 7 years old. Their names, genders and official causes of death had not been released as of Friday afternoon. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office was working to confirm the children’s identities. San Antonio police said the case remains active, with homicide investigators, arson investigators and fire crews reviewing evidence from the vehicle and the scene.
The fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. Friday in the 500 block of Richland Hills Drive, near Potranco Road. Police said a passerby walking a dog saw the vehicle burning behind a warehouse and called 911. Investigators said the passerby also saw a woman at or near the scene. San Antonio Assistant Police Chief Jesse Salame said early information led officers to believe three children had been found, including an infant, but later examination showed that was incorrect. “There were two children in that vehicle,” Salame said during a later briefing, correcting the first report.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze before the bodies were found inside the vehicle, police said. The vehicle was described in local reports as a white Hyundai. Police said the damage was severe enough that investigators needed more time and help from the San Antonio Fire Department to take apart parts of the vehicle and document what was inside. Salame said investigators collected surveillance video, forensic evidence and statements that pointed to Vidal. He said those pieces of evidence led police to believe she was “solely responsible for the death of these two children.” Police did not release details about where the children were positioned in the vehicle or how the fire started.
Vidal is from Edinburg, in the Rio Grande Valley, but police said she had family connections in the San Antonio area. Investigators were interviewing relatives, including the children’s father, as they worked to establish a fuller timeline of how Vidal and the children came to be at the warehouse area before dawn. Police said mental health concerns were being examined as part of the investigation, but no motive had been confirmed. Salame said the question of why the children died may be one of the hardest parts of the case to answer. Officials did not say whether there had been previous police calls involving Vidal or the children.
The case drew a large public safety response to the industrial stretch of Richland Hills Drive, where police vehicles, fire units and investigators remained for hours Friday morning. The area sits near businesses, warehouses and major West Side roads, a setting that gave investigators possible access to security cameras. Police said surveillance footage from the area was part of the evidence being reviewed. Investigators were also looking at a second location where personal property may have been connected to the case. Officials did not describe that location in detail, citing the ongoing investigation.
Police initially detained Vidal at the scene before announcing the capital murder charge. The charge was tied to the deaths of the two children, police said. Booking details and court dates were not immediately clear Friday afternoon. Investigators said the medical examiner’s findings will be important to the next phase of the case, including official identification, causes of death and any additional forensic findings. The fire investigation was also expected to determine whether the blaze began inside or outside the vehicle and whether an accelerant or other evidence was present.
Salame said the deaths were taking an emotional toll on first responders and the wider community. “I know our community is going to be hurting right now,” he said. The assistant chief said police understood that people would want quick answers, but he said investigators still had to follow the evidence and wait for medical findings. The passerby’s 911 call became a key moment in the timeline because it brought firefighters and officers to the burning car before daylight. Police did not say whether Vidal had called authorities before the passerby made the report.
As of Friday afternoon, Vidal remained the only person police had publicly named as charged in the case. The children’s identities were still pending, and investigators were continuing interviews, evidence processing and fire analysis. The next major updates are expected from the medical examiner’s findings and any court records filed after Vidal’s arrest.
Author note: Last updated May 15, 2026.