Human remains found in pond believed to be woman missing 2 years, Texas cops say

More than two years after a Texas woman went missing, her remains have been found in a pond near her last known location, according to officials.

It was May 16, 2023, when Courtney Taylor Martin called her mom, asking her to pick her up at a rural intersection about 1.4 miles from her home, according to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. However, when her mom arrived minutes later, Martin was nowhere to be seen.

“The phone call to her mother was her last, and no one has seen or heard from her since,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release on the two-year anniversary of her disappearance.

“It is believed foul play was involved,” investigators added.

Martin, who was 34, befriended a man shortly before she went missing, and he then fled the state, the sheriff’s office told KLTV in May. Officials said “it might be possible” he’s involved in her disappearance, the outlet reported.

On Aug. 26, a dive team with the state Department of Public Safety discovered remains thought to be Martin’s while searching a pond in New Harmony, a community in northwestern Smith County, KETK reported.

The recovery of the remains comes nearly two months after someone found a backpack belonging to Martin near the pond, the outlet reported. Officials said a search was postponed because dive teams were needed in response to the deadly July flooding in Kerr County.

Martin “had a backpack with flower patterns on it that she always kept with her,” her sister, Alexandra Gatuz, said in a 2023 Facebook post.

While the remains have not officially been identified, the sheriff’s office believes them to be Martin, KYTX reported.

The remains were “mostly skeletal,” the sheriff’s office told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. A lab in Dallas is working to determine a positive identification, which could take months.

Officials say an autopsy will also determine if Martin’s death was a result of foul play, as investigators already suspect, the outlet reported.

“The mother just said earlier she’s glad she has some closure, but she obviously wants to know what happened to her daughter and we want to know as well,” Sheriff Larry Smith told the outlet.

Smith County is a roughly 100-mile drive southeast from Dallas.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Human remains found in pond believed to be woman missing 2 years, Texas cops say."