Mom Reveals the 'Weird' Detail She Noticed Before Her 19-Year-Old Daughter Died After a College Football Game

She was young, brilliant, and just weeks away from ordering her Aggie ring — but within hours of watching a holiday movie with her little brothers, Brianna Aguilera was dead.

Now, her devastated mother is speaking out — furious over what she calls a cascade of failures by law enforcement and a chilling clue left unanswered on her daughter's phone the night she vanished.

Family's Joyful Thanksgiving Turns to Nightmare

Nineteen-year-old Brianna Aguilera — a junior at Texas A&M and honors student — had come home to Laredo for the holidays, sharing what her mother described as a special Thanksgiving before taking her younger brothers to see "Wicked."

But on Friday, November 28, 2025, she headed to Austin for a high-energy college football tailgate — the University of Texas vs. Texas A&M — and never made it back.

Her mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, said she last spoke to her daughter before the event. "She was excited to be in Laredo for the holiday weekend. We had just celebrated our first Thanksgiving together I hosted in our home," she recalled.

Phone Went Dark at 6 p.m. — and Police Refused to Act

Rodriguez began contacting the Austin Police Department when she couldn't reach her daughter. "No one reached out to me, I was the one who had to place several calls to Austin PD because I couldn't locate her," she said.

By that evening, Rodriguez knew something was horribly wrong. Aguilera's phone had switched to a different mode. Even worse, her texts went unanswered.

"What was weird to me and skeptical was her phone was on Do Not Disturb. We always had this rule that if she was going to go out, she had to have her phone on 'location on' and answer her text to at least let me know she was ok." Rodriguez noted. "That stopped happening around 6 p.m."

When she called Austin police in a panic, she was stonewalled — told she couldn't file a missing person's report until 24 hours had passed.

The final GPS ping from Aguilera's phone showed it near a creek — and police refused to search it. "Which scared me the most, because all these murders have been coming out in Austin and bodies have been found in creeks," Rodriguez said.

A Mother's Worst Fear Confirmed

By Saturday morning, her daughter's phone was still in the same spot. Rodriguez's calls turned frantic — still no word from Aguilera, and no action from police.

Then, at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the phone rang — with the call every mother dreads. "I get a call from an officer from Austin PD telling me my daughter was found in the morgue," she recounted.

A bystander had found Aguilera's lifeless body, her identity confirmed through fingerprints. She died just before 1 a.m. on November 29 inside a student high-rise near the University of Texas campus.

Rodriguez said her daughter had been at a party on the 17th floor of 21 Rio, a sleek 21-story tower, with around 14 other people.

In a statement to People, Austin police insisted they are thoroughly investigating. "Multiple detectives continue to interview witnesses, gather evidence, and work carefully through the details of the incident… There is no evidence to suggest or support any suspicious or criminal circumstances."

But Rodriguez is outraged. "That's what enraged me because I know my daughter," she said. "My daughter loved life." She said Aguilera was weeks from ordering her Aggie ring and was preparing to take the LSAT. "She had a 4.0 GPA at A&M; she was very studious," she added.

'Thrown or Pushed' – Theories That Keep a Mother Awake

Rodriguez flatly rejects theories that her daughter's death was accidental or suicidal. "I'm thinking either someone shoved her over the balcony, or… maybe either it might've been that, and they probably got scared and threw her over the balcony, or they shoved her off," she opined, adding Aguilera was "thin and frail" and couldn't handle alcohol well.

Police reportedly suggested her death was "suicidal or accidental." Rodriguez was furious. "And that's when it made me very upset because I was like, my daughter wasn't suicidal. I would know. She loved life. She wanted to become a lawyer."

The family's GoFundMe — which has raised over $38,000 — describes Aguilera as a proud Aggie, passionate about law, and a former cheerleader and honors student from United High School in Laredo. She was studying at The Bush School of Government & Public Service — a dream track for a legal career.

"Our hearts are shattered. In an effort to ease the financial burden on Aguilera's mother and loved ones during this unimaginable time, we are asking family, friends, and all who knew or knew of Bri to consider offering a donation," read the fundraiser.

Now, her mother is left questioning everything about how her daughter's death has been handled.

Botched Investigation? Questions Swirl Around Delayed Interviews and 'Eyeballed' Fall Distance

Rodriguez says detectives failed to act fast. She claims the girls who were with Aguilera weren't interviewed until the next day. "They interviewed them at 1 p.m. that Saturday instead of investigating at the time of the scene," she said.

She demanded a new detective on the case — but was told no. "They even told me their geometric system was broken. That they were eyeballing the distance where my daughter fell, which is the 17th floor, down to her death."

Perhaps most disturbing: Rodriguez still doesn't know exactly what happened inside that apartment. According to her, police said a group of friends was seen entering and leaving — but Aguilera wasn't among them.

"To see her gone so soon, gone so soon and not have answers and not have anyone take accountability for what happened that night in that apartment," Rodriguez expressed.

Though the case remains open, Austin Police continue to insist there are no signs of foul play. But Brianna Aguilera's mother isn't backing down — and she won't rest until the truth behind her daughter's mysterious and heartbreaking death is uncovered.