{"id":589940,"date":"2026-02-14T18:07:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/589940\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T18:07:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:07:28","slug":"6000-reward-for-tips-in-45-year-old-mom-and-son-cold-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/589940\/","title":{"rendered":"$6,000 reward for tips in 45-year-old mom and son cold case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) says evidence in a 45-year-old Houston Christmas Day <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/Double_murder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/Double_murder\/\">double murder<\/a> has been submitted for analysis using modern DNA technology as investigators renew their push for answers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Authorities are seeking new information in the 1980 murders of 31-year-old Estella Salinas and her 14-year-old son, Andrew Salinas.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The reward for information leading to an arrest has been increased to $6,000, but only if the tip is received before the next featured Texas Rangers<a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/Cold_Case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/Cold_Case\/\"> cold case<\/a> is announced.<\/p>\n<p>What happened on Christmas Day, 1980<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to DPS, on Dec. 25, 1980, Estella and Andrew Salinas left their home to spend Christmas with family at Estella\u2019s parents\u2019 house across town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Later that day, their bodies were discovered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">DPS said the mother and son were found strangled to death on the east side of White Oak Bayou near the Pinemont Bridge, close to the 4500 block of Creekmont Drive.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Investigators said witnesses last saw Estella and Andrew in a blue 1972 Mercury Cougar near the intersection of Cavalcade Street and the northbound US-59 frontage road in front of a McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Family members later located the vehicle near the intersection of Cavalcade and the Eastex Freeway. The car keys and personal items were still inside the vehicle, DPS said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Despite interviews with several witnesses over the years, no arrests have been made.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The Houston Police Department and the Texas Rangers are actively investigating the murders and believe members of the community may have critical information that could help solve the case.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p>How to submit a tip<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Submit a tip online through the DPS cold case website and select \u201cCold Cases Featured\u201d and \u201cCold Case\u201d in the appropriate sections.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Anyone with information about the murders of Estella and Andrew Salinas is urged to come forward.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) says evidence in a 45-year-old Houston Christmas Day double&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":589941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[44679,5624,4219,1126,255137,36405,36752,4345,5429,14259,9620,358,42653,1278,3187],"class_list":["post-589940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-christmas","tag-cold-case","tag-crime","tag-crime-stoppers","tag-dna-technology","tag-double-murder","tag-dps","tag-houston","tag-houston-police-department","tag-hpd","tag-murder","tag-texas","tag-texas-department-of-public-safety","tag-texas-rangers","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116070321102665783","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}