SAN MARCOS, Texas — It has been five years since a fire at the Iconic Village Apartments in San Marcos killed five people, including David Ortiz and Haley Frizzell.
All this time later, friends and family remember the tragic event like it was yesterday.
Brian Frizzell, father of Haley Frizzell, remembers the call he got from his son telling him the apartment building was on fire.
"The next couple of hours, traveling from San Angelo to San Marcos, was absolute hell for my wife and I," Brian Frizzell said. "Driving around Hays County, Travis County, Comal County, going to every emergency room, going to every hospital, begging for Jane Doe to be your daughter, is an absolutely horrendous experience. I can't imagine what everybody else was going through."
It's an experience shared by Will Wells, a friend of David Ortiz. Ortiz was Haley Frizzell's brother's roommate.
"He was in Europe for a month, and then he came back the night before the fire and then that happened. I was going to go hang out with him. I called the next day, and his roommate said that he died," Wells said.
Brian Frizzell now feels eternally grateful for those who kept looking when there appeared to be no answers.
"I hope that we're able to make this thing stand up forever," Frizzell said. "We appreciate you."
Hays County Criminal District Attorney Kelly Higgins told KVUE that the fire is the most "senseless" act imaginable, and he's motivated to bring justice for the families of these five victims.