The body of missing Senior Deputy Jessica Hollis was recovered Friday afternoon, a day after she was swept away in flood waters.
Hollis, a 35-year-old Travis County deputy, had radioed for help while checking on the flooded low-water crossings off Highway 620 in the 3400 Block of Fritz Hughes Park Road just before 2 a.m. Thursday. As the rescue team arrived at the scene after her call for help, they only found her empty patrol car.
Her body was recovered from Lake Austin following an extensive search.
"They're pretty shook up. When we removed the body out of the water it was extremely emotional and I don't know how, I'm pretty numb. But I've been numb for the last two days," Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton said, reports KVUE abc. He had promised her family that he would "bring her home."
The authorities had suspended the search for some time due to the storms, which were remnants of Hurricane Odile.
Hollis served in the Sheriff's office for seven years. "We believe she was swept into the low-water crossing by water going down the street," Travis County sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade said, reports the Associated Press.
Rainfall was reported in various parts of the state earlier this week. In Plainview, about 45 miles north of Lubbock, 4 and a half inches of rain was reported over 24 hours, ending at 2 p.m. CDT Thursday. "We are getting moisture from Odile," said Cory Van Pelt, a National Weather Service forecaster in New Braunfels, reports AP. "We also got a lot of Gulf of Mexico moisture that came in, a combination of the two."
