Investigation Launched After Body Found in Hot Truck on Sterling City Highway

The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the mysterious death of a woman, whose body was found in a hot truck on the side of Old Sterling City Highway on July 18.

According to a report from responding Deputy John Duarte, the truck had been sighted at approximately 9:30 a.m. by a female resident of the area, who was out mowing grass. The truck, a black Dodge Ram 1500, was sitting on the northbound shoulder of the unimproved road.

Later that afternoon, at approximately 5:40 p.m., the same woman and her husband were driving in the 16000 block of Old Sterling City Highway heading south when the man stopped to check on the vehicle, the report states. Inside, he located a nonresponsive woman in the passenger seat. The couple then dialed emergency dispatch.

When Deputy Duarte arrived on scene, he met with paramedics Michael Birdsong and Christopher Word, who relayed that due to discoloration of the skin and fluids exiting the body, it was obvious that the woman was deceased. The paramedics and Duarte then put on rubber gloves and opened the door to check for vital signs.

“Word opened the passenger door and said he could feel a rush of hot air coming from inside the vehicle,” the report states. The paramedic determined that the body was in rigor mortis and Duarte called detectives to the scene.

As he continued to work the scene and take the statements of the couple who had called in the body, Duarte saw a man drive up and start walking toward the truck.

“I stepped in front of the male and asked if I could help him,” Duarte reported. “The male said, ‘that’s my wife.’”

The man, Christopher McCall, identified the woman as 28-year-old Heather McCall, confirming her identity by reporting her name, date of birth and describing several tattoos on her arm and back.

“I informed Christopher of the situation and asked him to remain on scene and to speak to detectives about the incident,” Duarte wrote. “Christopher (McCall) looked over towards the vehicle Heather was in and said, ‘Oh, I know what happened here.’”

As detectives, lieutenants and sergeants from the sheriff’s office responded to the scene, DPS Trooper Henderson began questioning Christopher McCall about the situation, but Duarte asked him to stop and wait for detectives to arrive.

“I had no knowledge if Christopher (McCall) had made any incriminating statements to Trooper Henderson,” Duarte wrote. McCall then agreed to waive his rights and consented to an interview, the report states.

Before the scene was handed over to investigators, a man named Lance Stafford approached Duarte and relayed to him that he had seen the truck sitting in the same spot on Friday, July 17 at approximately 1:45 p.m. and again at 3:50 p.m. the same day.

The scene was turned over to Criminal Investigations Division Sergeant Corey Speck, and an investigation is ongoing. The body has been sent off for autopsy, and the cause of death is undetermined. The complete results of the autopsy have not yet been released.