Major Takeaways
The disappearance of Andreen McDonald began after a domestic dispute, with police later finding blood and signs of cleanup inside her home.
Andre McDonald’s online searches, bloody tools, and burned remains pointed to an attempted cover-up and violent confrontation.
A Texas jury convicted Andre McDonald of manslaughter, not murder, and the judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison for his role in Andreen’s death.
The Vanishing of Andreen McDonald: San Antonio Mother’s Disappearance, Andre McDonald’s Arrest, and the 20-Year Manslaughter Sentence
Welcome to Urban City True Crime, where we peel back the layers on the stories that shock communities and force us to face what people do behind closed doors.
Tonight, we’re taking you to San Antonio, Texas… where a mother, wife, and entrepreneur named Andreen McDonald disappeared and what started as a desperate search turned into a chilling murder mystery that ended with her husband’s arrest.
It was early March 2019. Thirty-year-old Andreen McDonald, a Jamaican-born businesswoman, was known for her drive she ran several assisted living facilities and was raising her autistic daughter with her husband, Major Andre McDonald, an Air Force Reserve officer.
Neighbors said the couple looked like they had it all. Big house, big dreams… but behind those walls, things weren’t peaceful.
On the night of March 1st, Andreen was last seen alive after a heated argument with her husband. Friends say she didn’t show up to her business the next morning — no calls, no texts, no posts on social media. Just silence.
Her friends went to check on her.
And what they found? Disturbing.
Andreen’s car was still at home. Her purse and phone left behind.
And in the garage… a strong smell of bleach.
Police were called.
Andre told officers he didn’t know where she went said she “just needed space.”
But when detectives took a closer look inside that house… they found blood on the floor.
And in the backyard a fire pit that looked recently burned.
For days, hundreds of volunteers searched across San Antonio. Police, community members, and even military personnel combed the woods near Camp Bullis, where Andre worked.
People were holding vigils, lighting candles and praying she’d be found alive.
But deep down… folks had that sinking feeling.
Investigators soon discovered Andre had purchased an axe, gas cans, a shovel, and heavy trash bags just days before her disappearance.
And his Google searches man, they were straight out of a horror script:
“How long for a body to decompose?”
“How to destroy evidence of blood?”
They even found a hammer with Andreen’s blood and hair on it.
Still no body.
Andre was arrested not for murder, yet but for tampering with evidence.
Meanwhile, the community kept searching.
Then, three months later, a jogger made a gruesome discovery on a private property just north of town human remains partially buried and burned.
Dental records confirmed what everyone feared.
It was Andreen McDonald.
When the case finally went to trial, prosecutors laid it all out:
The blood, the hammer, the internet searches, the fire pit and the fact that Andre was caught buying the exact tools used to cover up his wife’s death.
But the defense told a different story.
They claimed it was a fight gone wrong that Andre hit Andreen in the heat of the moment, panicked, and tried to hide it.
They painted him as a man who “snapped” not a cold-blooded killer.
And here’s the twist:
The jury didn’t convict him of murder.
Instead, they found him guilty of manslaughter.
But the judge wasn’t having it easy.
She handed him the maximum 20 years in prison after hearing how he desecrated Andreen’s body and lied to everyone who loved her.
Andreen’s death shook the community especially women of color who saw themselves in her story.
A strong, successful Black woman taken by someone who was supposed to protect her.
Her friends turned that pain into purpose, creating foundations to help victims of domestic violence.
And for San Antonio, her name still echoes.
At candlelight vigils, people still say:
“She should have been safe in her own home.”
So what do we take from this?
That success doesn’t protect you from danger and silence can be deadly.
If you or someone you know is in a violent relationship, reach out. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
Andreen’s story reminds us that behind the smiles and success… sometimes there’s a storm nobody sees.
This has been Urban City True Crime.
Stay aware. Stay smart. And most of all stay alive.
