TRUE CRIME NEWSPolice Say Two Missing Moms May Have Been 'Followed' Before Jeep Plunged Into Michigan River
Two mothers, Vanessa Bautista, 24, and Alexa Navarro, 23, were found dead after their Jeep plunged into a Michigan river.
Sept. 18 2026, Published 12:34 p.m. ET
Two mothers were found dead after their Jeep plunged into the St. Joseph River in Niles, Mich.
Per authorities, both victims, Vanessa Bautista, 24, and Alexa Navarro, 23, were from South Bend, Ind. Their bodies were discovered after locating the submerged Jeep in the Michigan river, about 11 miles north of their hometown, per KFOX14.
Niles Police Chief James Millin said in statement that the victims, Vanessa Bautista, 24, and Alexa Navarro, 23, might have been being 'followed' on the night they went missing.
As a result, investigators are probing whether something occurred that night that led the women away from their hometown.
Niles Police Chief James Millin said in a statement to People, “I’ve heard both that the girls were followed from the establishment that they left in Elkhart and also been followed in Niles.”
Police Probe Deeper Into the Deaths of Two Mothers in Michigan Jeep Drowning Case
Investigators claimed that they were probing into if the women plunged into the river in their Jeep due to being 'followed' or 'chased.'
“Some people are saying ‘followed,’ other people are saying ‘chased,’ so of course we’re looking into all that to try to determine, is this factual? And if so, what, if any part, did it play in them ending up in the river?” Millin stated to the outlet.
Per the South Bend Police Department, Bautista and Navarro were reported missing after they left a club in Elkhart, Ind., where they celebrated a friend's birthday in the early hours of Sunday, September 13.
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Family members were confused about why the victims were in Michigan when they lived in Indiana.
After family members realized that the two were missing, they tracked their phones, which led them to Niles, per KFOX14.
“So them coming here is like the biggest mystery we have,” Bautista’s cousin told the outlet before the bodies were discovered.
“And we are just trying to find some information about what brought them here,” they added.
Niles Police Chief James Millin Claimed There Appeared to be No Signs of Foul Play Behind the Jeep Plunging Into the River
Niles Police Chief James Millin claimed there appeared to be no signs of foul play involved behind the Jeep plunging into the water.
Per the New York Post, the Jeep went over an embankment around 4 a.m. on Sunday, September 13, and plummeted roughly 70 feet into the river.
Millin told the outlet, “You know, right now, there do not appear to have been any outside forces, you know, such as pushing the vehicle off the road or something like that – but again that is still under investigation.”
“A lot of people were concerned that the vehicle had a lot of damage and I don’t think they understand that the vehicle went off an embankment and down approximately 60 or 70 feet of a pretty steep incline, hitting trees and so on on the way down before it hit the water,” he added.
Per reports, it could take weeks to determine a cause of death in the case of the two mothers drowning in their Jeep.
The bodies of the two young women were positively identified by the Western Michigan University Office of the Medical Examiner on Thursday. However, determining a cause of death could potentially take weeks to conclude.
Navarro leaves behind a 3-year-old child. Meanwhile, Bautista leaves behind two children, ages 3 and 2.
