Man arrested, charged in 42-year-old Texas cold case

2023-04-24 21:19:05 Written by Alex

A 68-year-old man from San Antonio, Larry Allen West, was apprehended by Texas Rangers on April 13 for a murder charge in connection with a 42-year-old cold case from Comal County, Texas. The Texas Department of Public Safety declared that West is accused of the 1981 murder of Carol Joyce Deleon, an 18-year-old who was killed shortly after graduating from high school.

New evidence linked West to the murder after advanced DNA testing, made possible by the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Carol Joyce Deleon's body was discovered in southern Comal County along IH-35 in June 1981, but her identity remained unknown for 27 years.

Despite attempts by investigators to identify her using fingerprints and a composite sketch released to local media, she was eventually laid to rest as an unidentified person.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, an autopsy established that Carol Joyce Deleon died from multiple gunshot wounds to her head. The case file was reviewed by the Texas Ranger's Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program in May 2008, approximately a year after Deleon's sister submitted a second missing person's report for her.

The Texas Department of Public Safety stated that the victim's family had tried to file a missing person report in 1981, just a few days after Carol Joyce Deleon disappeared following her high school graduation. However, since Deleon was 18 years old and there were no signs of foul play, authorities did not accept the report at that time.

According to DPS, Carol Joyce Deleon had informed her family that she intended to relocate once she turned 18, and they presumed that she had carried out her plans. Nonetheless, after numerous years without any communication from her, Deleon's younger sister decided to file another missing person report in 2007.

Upon re-examining the case in 2008, investigators only discovered a single missing person whose description matched that of the victim from around the time of her disappearance in 1981.

The Texas Rangers met with Carol Joyce Deleon's family and showed them a photograph of Jane Doe from the 1981 cold case. Her family identified her from the photo, and additional DNA testing was conducted, confirming her identity after 27 years of being unidentified.

The Texas Rangers persisted in investigating the case using advanced forensic DNA techniques. In 2010, an unidentified DNA profile was generated and uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System, but no matches were found, and the case once again hit a dead end due to the long time elapsed.

However, in 2020, the evidence related to the case was subjected to advanced DNA testing under the Texas Department of Public Safety's SAKI program, which is financed by the Bureau of Justice Assistance/Department of Justice.

As per the DPS statement, these agencies provide funding for investigative departments all over the US to aid in the resolution of unsolved sexual assaults and sexually-related homicides, with the goal of bringing justice to victims and their families.

Using the evidence obtained with the help of the SAKI program, a new suspect, Larry Allen West, was discovered, and his DNA was verified through regular forensic testing.

Larry Allen West was apprehended and taken into custody, after which he was booked into the Bexar County Jail under a bond of $125,000. Currently, an indictment and trial are pending.