The employer of a woman presumed dead by authorities was in the process of hiring protection for her after she was attacked by her husband at work, authorities say.
American K-9 Detection Services offered to pay the cost of posting an off-duty deputy outside the home of Yessenia Suarez’s mother because she was going to be staying there after the domestic violence incident earlier that day, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said they increased patrols in the neighborhood that night because an extra deputy wasn’t available to fill the late request.
Suarez and her two young children are presumed dead, but have been the subject of continuous search efforts for the past couple of weeks after they were discovered missing during a well-being check on Oct. 23, the following day.
According to records from the sheriff’s office, a deputy patrolling the area passed through the neighborhood at least twice on the night the family is believed to have disappeared.
The first was around 8 p.m., followed by another around midnight.
Suarez’s husband, Luis Toledo, was named a person of interest and eventually charged with her murder.