Texas inmate charged in 2003 strangling of woman

WACO, Texas — A Texas man has been charged in the 2003 strangling of a woman who was found on a rural road, authorities said.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Andy Castillo, 57, of Lubbock, was charged with murder Friday in the death of Cynthia Joann Palacio, 21, of Lubbock.

Palacio’s partially clothed, strangled body was found by authorities on a road in southeast Lubbock County on July 15, 2003, the agency said.

An investigation into the harassment of a Waco Realtor helped investigators crack the case, KCDB reported. In January, Lubbock police arrested Castillo in connection with the harassment of several Waco-area real estate agents who claimed they were receiving lewd messages, the television station reported.

Castillo, 57, was in the McLennan County Jail, KSAT reported. He was being held on charges of criminal solicitation to commit child sexual assault charges stemming from his January arrest, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Deputies alleged that nearly 100 Realtors from 20 cities and 10 states had been harassed by Castillo, KCDB reported.

A recent alert from a DNA database led the Texas Rangers and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office to focus their efforts on Castillo, KSAT reported.

“One of our duties in law enforcement is to pursue every lead and seek justice for victims and their families, even when the case runs cold,” agency director Steven McCraw said in a news release. “I’m proud of the diligent efforts by the Texas Rangers and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office to solve this nearly two-decade-old case and find justice for a young woman who was brutally murdered.”

Cox Media Group