NEWMAN, Calif. — Aurora Duran visited Fisherman's Bend near Newman Thursday, one of the first times since her sister Brenda Duran's body was found Saturday by volunteer diver Juan Heredia in the waters of the San Joaquin River.
“I’m shaking," said Aurora. “I just can’t get Brenda’s face out of my head... She was such a lover, a fighter. She was a hard-working person. She gave everything for her three kids.”
Brenda drowned while rescuing her kids from the river. Nostalgic memories have been mixed with moments of anger and mounting questions since that day.
"We want to be able to call 911 and have their support. We want to be able to call 911 and know that we can count on them," said Aurora. "We're already in pain enough and then for them to be saying that they're doing everything possible when they're not... Why keep on lying to us... Why didn't they find her if they were looking in the same location?"
Those questions are just some of the many that keep the Duran family awake at night.
"For whatever reason, the information we got was that she was last seen by the island," said Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Veronica Esquivez. "When Mr. Heredia stopped by, he had information that she was last seen by the boat ramp which happened to be before the point that we started at."
Esquivez said the length of their team's search each day depended on currents and the river's conditions.
"We try to get people help as soon as possible, and we understand the distrust," said Esquivez. "We just encourage the community to continue trusting in us and asking questions and working with us."
Aurora's family launched a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral expenses. As she prepares to bury her sister, Aurora hopes something can change so that no other families have to go through an unbearable week of waiting, like her.
"If we don't speak out, there's not going to be a change," said Aurora. "It's difficult. It's painful and it breaks my heart to know that there are people out there who have never received their bodies back. I'm doing this for her and I'm doing this for people out there."
Watch more from ABC10: Volunteer diver finds body of missing Stanislaus County mother in San Joaquin River
