Texas officials are increasing the reward to $6,000 and turning to modern DNA technology in the hope of finally solving the 1980 Christmas double murder of a Houston mother and her teenage son.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Rangers this week renewed their public appeal for tips in the killings of 31-year-old Estella Salinas and her 14-year-old son, Andrew, who were found dead in their Houston home on Dec. 25, 1980.
Investigators said the reward for information leading to an arrest has been raised to $6,000 if the tip comes in before the next featured Texas Rangers cold case is announced. Authorities stressed that callers can remain anonymous through Texas Crime Stoppers, according to Yahoo News.
DPS said the case is getting a new look as part of the Texas Rangers Cold Case program, which now relies heavily on advanced DNA testing and national databases to review old evidence.
In other long-unsolved murders across the state, previously untested clothing and other items have been reexamined, with DNA profiles uploaded to systems like the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, leading to new suspects decades later. Officials say they hope similar methods can uncover new leads in the Salinas case.
The Salinas murders are among more than 140 unsolved killings listed on the DPS Texas Rangers cold case website, a public database created to draw attention to long-dormant investigations, Forensics Colleges reported.
The program is funded in part by the Governor's Public Safety Office, which supports cash rewards to encourage members of the public to share information. DPS notes that even small details, including memories from people who were children at the time, can help detectives connect missing pieces in an old investigation.
To qualify for the reward in the Salinas case, tipsters must contact authorities using approved Texas Crime Stoppers channels, such as the hotline, website, or mobile app, and must provide information that leads to the arrest of whoever is responsible.
DPS officials say they hope the increased reward, combined with improved DNA tools, will finally bring answers to the family more than four decades after the crime, as per Fox26 Houston.
