AUSTIN (KXAN) — Mitchell Gutierrez leaned on the metal railing of the boardwalk, staring solemnly across Lady Bird Lake. On his left in the distance, Austin’s high-rises loomed over the rippling water. Along the opposite bank, live oak trees shaded the boat ramp where emergency crews once confirmed his family’s fears.
“I could see them on the boat,” Mitchell said. “They wouldn’t let us pass.”
He recalled a similar, sunny day – Nov. 26, 2018 – when officers sectioned off the area and news crews swarmed. His mother, trying to fight through the police tape, began to wail. Something was covered up on the floor of the approaching search and rescue boat…