Body of Perris mother found on side of Highway 74 near Hemet; family demands answers

HOMELAND, Calif. (KABC) -- Family members of a 39-year-old Perris woman whose body was found in a ditch off the side of Highway 74 near Hemet are seeking answers as the California Highway Patrol investigates her death as a possible hit-and-run.

Jennifer Davenport Rios, the victim's sister, said the loss has been devastating for the family.

"She was so loved and her kids will never get to have their mom there when they graduate, when they have babies, you know, it's not fair," Davenport Rios said.

The family says they have questions about the circumstances surrounding Caroline Davenport Rios' death and the location where her body was discovered.

"I want to know why. She wasn't a bad person, she doesn't deserve this," Jennifer said.

The CHP investigators are treating the death as a possible hit-and-run. However, relatives said several aspects of the case do not make sense to them, including the location where Davenport-Rios was found. They noted that the site along Highway 74 is miles from where she lived in Perris.

Asked why her sister would have been walking along the highway, Davenport Rios responded, "She wouldn't be. She wouldn't. I mean, that's it. She just wouldn't be."

The body was discovered Wednesday, Aug. 12. Based on the condition of the body, the family said CHP told them investigators believe the incident may have occurred three or four days earlier.

"How do you leave someone like that for that long?" Jennifer said.

Jennifer said she last texted her sister five nights before the body was discovered. According to the family, her iPhone indicated that the message had been read.

"It was later at night, 10:30, 11 o'clock," Jennifer said, describing when she last had contact with her sister.

The family said that was also around the same time her final location ping from her iPhone registered, and that was nowhere near the stretch of Highway 74 where Davenport Rios' body and cellphone were found.

Jorge Ruiz, the victim's nephew, questioned the location where the body was discovered.

"There's just a field, like what a coincidence that it's in this spot where there's not much cameras," Ruiz said.

If Davenport Rios was indeed the victim of a hit-and-run, family members are urging whoever was involved to come forward.

"It's inhumane to not, to hit somebody and keep going. You don't hit a 170-pound person and not realize that you hit them. They knew what they did," Ruiz said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Davenport Rios' two surviving teenage children.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the CHP Temecula station. The investigation continues.