After not hearing from her daughter for hours, a Nevada mother tried to track her using her phone’s location — only to uncover a horrific truth.
Amber Brown’s phone location showed she was at the Clark County Coroner’s Office in Las Vegas on June 19, 8 News Now reported this week.
That’s when her mother Cheri Brown, who had been searching for Amber for hours, learned what happened to the 33-year-old nurse.
“I totally broke down,” Cheri, whose frantic search had included calling area hospitals, told the outlet.
Amber was struck by a vehicle as she crossed the street around 5 p.m. that day, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement at the time.
She was taken to a hospital, where she eventually died.
Police arrested 37-year-old Angel Franco Merida at the scene.
A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger in the vehicle was rescued without injury.
Amber was not named in the statement, but local outlets 8 News Now and FOX 5 revealed her identity, citing the coroner’s office records. She was also named in several Facebook posts by Cheri.
Further compounding her grief over her daughter’s death is the knowledge that the suspect may never be tried in court, Cheri told 8 News Now.
After he appeared before a Las Vegas judge, who set his bail at $50,000, Merida posted bond and was able to leave the detention center, the outlet reported, citing unspecified records.
However, he was reportedly arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which then deported him to Guatemala, according to court records obtained by 8 News Now.
PEOPLE has reached out to ICE for confirmation.
“I think it’s horrible,” Cheri told 8 News Now. “I think that they should bring him back. He should serve justice. He killed my daughter. Just because he is from another country — it shouldn’t be a free ticket to just flee the country.”