For weeks, the family of 17-year-old T’Neya “TT” Tovar held onto hope. The Hemet teen vanished on Dec. 1, 2025, after a trip that was supposed to take her to nearby Palm Springs.
Instead, her disappearance has led to a devastating discovery and the arrest of a 51-year-old man, leaving a community in mourning and searching for answers.
On Thursday, February 12, 2026, the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a grim milestone in the case: a decomposing human leg found on December 21 near the Salton Sea has been positively identified as belonging to T’Neya through a DNA match with her mother.
The announcement, while confirming the worst fears of her family, stopped short of declaring the teen deceased, stating that authorities continue to “search for the still missing juvenile.”
A Planned Meeting, A Tragic Outcome
According to information shared by T’Neya’s family and details from the investigation, the teen’s disappearance is linked to a planned meeting with an adult man. She was reportedly dropped off in the Thermal area to meet 51-year-old Abraham Feinbloom. When she failed to return home, her family reported her missing, sparking a multi-agency search.
The investigation, involving the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, led authorities to Feinbloom’s residence in Salton City. During the execution of a search warrant, Feinbloom allegedly attempted to flee by jumping a fence but was apprehended. He now faces multiple charges in connection with T’Neya’s disappearance and is being held without bail.
The Discovery That Shattered Hope
The first sign of the tragedy to come was uncovered on December 21, just weeks after T’Neya vanished. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report in Salton City, a sparse desert community on the western shore of the Salton Sea. There, among vacant lots in a scattered residential development, they found a decomposing human leg.
For weeks, the identity of the remains remained a mystery. On February 12, the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office announced that DNA analysis had matched the leg to a sample provided by T’Neya’s mother, confirming the teen’s fate. The flyer circulated by her family had always pointed toward the area, noting that the man they believed she was with resided in Thermal, with a street address in unincorporated Salton City—a mere half-mile from where the leg was discovered.
A Community Grapples with Questions
The confirmation of T’Neya’s remains has sent shockwaves through her Hemet community and beyond. Friends and family remember her simply as “TT,” a teenager with her whole life ahead of her. The circumstances of her disappearance—a planned meetup with an adult man—have ignited painful conversations about online interactions and the vulnerabilities of young people.
The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office has stated that its investigation is far from over. Alongside the FBI, authorities are continuing to search the area for additional remains and evidence. They have not released details on the specific charges against Feinbloom, but the case has drawn intense scrutiny due to the nature of the crime and the victim’s age.
T’Neya’s mother, who provided the crucial DNA sample that led to her daughter’s identification, now faces the unbearable task of mourning while seeking justice. The family’s flyer, once a plea for information, has become an epitaph for a life cut tragically short.
As the legal process against Feinbloom moves forward, the broader community is left to reflect on a devastating truth: a teenager who went to meet someone she may have trusted will never come home. The search for T’Neya Tovar, in the fullest sense, has ended in the only way her loved ones never wanted it to.
This story is based partly on facts from a Press Democrat article.
