DELANO, CA-- A body was discovered Tuesday in the Friant-Kern canal. Sheriff's deputies and Delano Police homicide detectives are calling the death suspicious.
The family of Erika Padron Lango, the Delano woman who has been missing for weeks, is waiting to hear if the body is that of their lost loved one.
The sheriff's department won't say if the body is that of a man or woman. However, deputies say they found clothing similar to what Erika Lango was last seen wearing on the day she disappeared.
A canal worker discovered the body, a half mile north of Woollomes Avenue. Investigators say the body appears to have been in the water for an extended period of time.
"It does appear the body displays some indication the death is possibly suspicious,” said Ray Pruitt, Kern County Sheriff's Department. “Delano P.D. does have a case it's working from several months ago. It's too early to say if this case is related to that case."
Surveillance video from October 9th shows Erika Lango at an AM-PM store near her apartment around 10:30 that night. Police believe she got into an SUV with her estranged husband Julio Lango. Three misdemeanor charges of spousal battery against Julio Lango were dismissed last month, and he is only considered a person of interest at this time. Erika Lango's family and friends simply want answers.
“It's been almost two months and we haven't heard anything,” said Diana Torres, friend of Erika Lango. “We just are curious. So we would rather be here and find out and make sure, see if it is or isn't so we can get that little closure.”
In October, Delano Police and sheriff's deputies searched the same canal for Erika Lango with no results.