Woman accused of burying her disabled child in empty lot after not reporting his death

LAGO VISTA, Texas - A former City of Lago Vista employee is accused with burying her disabled child in an empty lot after not reporting he had died.

34-year-old Veronica Marie Soriano has been charged with second-degree felony tampering with or fabricating physical evidence related to a human corpse.

The Lago Vista Police Department confirmed to FOX 7 Austin that Soriano was fired from her position in the Public Works Department after the arrest warrant was issued.

According to arrest paperwork, the investigation began in March when Lago Vista police officers were called to assist a CPS investigator with a welfare check at a residence in the 20700 block of Bonanza Street.

The investigator was checking in on a physically and mentally-disabled 16-year-old boy, who was also bed-bound. The investigator reported he had not received proper medical attention or treatment since October 2022, and had not been seen by or cared for by any of his regular doctors since 2021.

The CPS investigator was in contact with the teen's older sister, who had initially said she didn't know where her brother was. After calling her mother, identified in the arrest paperwork as Soriano, the sister told the investigator that the teen was in Georgia.

The investigator explained to the officers that Soriano had told CPS that she drove the teen to Georgia in an RV alone, but that this "could not have happened" as the teen would need constant care and that Soriano would need help to lift him from the bed and take care of his medical needs.

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The officers and investigators were denied entry into the home and the investigator stayed behind to wait for Soriano to come home while the officers left.

Later that same day, the CPS investigator called police again, this time requesting information on a death that may have happened in Lago Vista. Detectives determined no one had reported the death of a 16-year-old boy, but learned that Soriano had called her supervisor a week prior and told them that her son had passed away.

A text message later sent by her supervisor's wife to another city employee asked if the police department would know if someone passed away in Lago Vista and specifically mentioned Soriano reporting her son had died.

Just over an hour after the CPS investigator called, CPS again requested that police and a detective respond to Soriano's residence. Officers were told that Soriano had let CPS into her home when she arrived and led them through the house, to specific rooms and then back outside. CPS did not check bathrooms, closets and one closed bedroom.

Soriano also provided CPS with a phone number to a man who identified himself as the child's grandfather and told them the teen was with him.

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CPS then had local law enforcement in Georgia conduct a welfare check at the grandfather's residence. The teen was not located there, and the grandfather told local law enforcement that Soriano had told him her son died a week prior, and she was having his body cremated.

After learning this, officers knocked on Soriano's door, but received no answer. A short time later, Soriano called CPS and told them she was driving and not ready to talk about her son. CPS put her on speaker and officers heard her say things like "My son is dead," "I haven't accepted it yet," and "I'm not ready to talk about it," says court paperwork.

Officers also heard her say she had come home from the store with her toddler and checked on her teenager and he was "unresponsive". She would not tell CPS or officers where she was.

CPS also contacted the grandfather in Georgia who told them that Soriano said the 16-year-old was "buried under a tree in a park."

As it was unknown if the teen was in the home and either in need of medical attention or dead, officers used exigent circumstances to enter the home. The teen was not found inside, and officers also noticed that his clothing, bed items, photos and other personal items were also gone from the bedroom CPS said was the teen's.

Officers did not find anyone else in the home, which led CPS to being concerned for Soriano and her toddler. An alert was sent out to law enforcement to look out for Soriano and her vehicle.

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Georgetown police found Soriano in her vehicle later that night and reported that the SUV contained shovels and a pickax and had blood on the inside. Lago Vista detectives responded and confirmed seeing two shovels, a pickaxe and other tools and unknown items in plain view. A search warrant later uncovered an empty charcoal bag, a bottle with white powder, a plastic scoop with powder residue and other items.

Soriano would only tell officers the teen was dead and requested a lawyer and mental health assistance.

The next day, CPS reported they had received a Google Map photo in an email, indicating Soriano had told her attorney her son was buried at a location marked on the photo.

Officers responded to the location, identified as an empty lot on Marshall's Point Cove in Leander and found a mound of dirt that had been freshly disturbed and covered with rocks.

A body was found underneath, also surrounded by charcoal briquettes and wood chips and covered with a white, powdery, chalky substance.

Text messages uncovered conversations between Soriano and her teenage daughter discussing the boy's death and what to tell CPS, according to arrest paperwork. Soriano allegedly told her daughter that the teen's death would look like neglect and the two of them would be jailed.

Web searches about burials, cremations, and funeral homes, as well as criminal code concerning dead bodies and "everything you need to know about cremating a pet at home" were uncovered on Soriano's computer after a search warrant.