LEAGUE CITY, Texas — A 30-year-old mother was found hanging from a dock last month, and now, League City police said they suspect foul play in her death.
Giselle Tapia-Salazar was found dead on May 31 and investigators said they've identified two persons of interest in connection with her death.
Detectives said they think Giselle could have died somewhere else before her body was moved and hung on the dock just outside her boyfriend's boat.
Giselle was living on the boat with her boyfriend, James Hart, but he says he wants to make it clear that he didn't hurt the woman he loved.
"This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. It feels like a nightmare you can't wake up from," Hart said.
Hart said it's been hard for him to sleep in the 11 days since Giselle was found dead by his boat. Police said he was the last person to see her alive and he told them she got off the boat early in the morning to go to the bathroom but never came back.
He said he knows people think he's responsible.
"I didn't have anything to do with it and I never would have. I loved Giselle more than anything in the world. We were together 24/7," Hart said.
Christian Allen, a neighbor in the marina, found Giselle's body partially submerged in the water.
"At first, I thought it was a mannequin and then we realized ... we recognized her," Allen said.
He said one of her arms was in a noticeably awkward position.
"I didn't buy the whole suicide thing," Allen said.
Now, police said they don't, either. They suspect foul play.
"Because of the position of her arm, we believe she probably passed away somewhere else. Rigor Mortis set in and then when she was moved, her arms stayed in that position," League City Police Lt. Eric Cox said.
Investigators said they're combing through nearly 2,000 surveillance video clips to gather clues. They said that so far, the last image they have of Giselle alive is on her boyfriend's boat around 1:35 a.m. the day she was found dead.
Hart said he hopes the video will lead police to whoever killed his girlfriend.
"There's so many questions and not many answers. There should be no doubt who did this. There are so many cameras in this marina. There's no way this isn't all on film," Hart said.
Police said they had responded to disturbance calls at Hart's boat in the past. It's something neighbors verified.
"Them two fought like crazy and they loved like crazy. Just one of those relationships ... arguing one day and hand-in-hand skipping the other day," Allen said.
Hart said he wants the public to know he and Giselle loved each other and she didn't deserve what happened to her. He also wants his name cleared.
"I want justice for Giselle and for myself," Hart said.
Those who live at the typically quiet marina said they just want to find out how the mother of four ended up dead.
"I want them to catch them because my kids are here and I don't want to live near a murderer," Allen said.
As of June 11, no charges had been filed in the case and detectives were still waiting on an official cause of death from the medical examiner.
Anyone with information is asked to call League City police at 281-332-2566 or Galveston County Crime Stoppers at 409-763-8477.