Southwest
Authorities seek public’s help identifying suspected Texas serial killer after DNA links person to 2 murders
The Austin Police Department (APD) is requesting the public’s help to identify a suspected serial killer whose DNA was linked to the murders of two women in the metropolitan area.
At about 4 p.m. June 21, police responded to a call from someone who reported seeing what appeared to be a body at a home in the 2600 block of Metcalfe Road.
When officers arrived, they found a dead woman, later identified as 34-year-old Alyssa Rivera, inside an abandoned house.
A brief investigation conducted by homicide detectives and crime specialists led investigators to believe Rivera was murdered at the home by an unknown suspect.
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The Austin Police Department is asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect in the murders of Alyssa Rivera and Alba Jenisse Aviles. (Austin Police Department)
On July 3, police released video and images of a person of interest in Rivera’s murder. The videos showed what appeared to be a Hispanic male walking next to a woman who was taller than he was.
As the investigation continued, investigators learned of a DNA connection between Rivera’s case and the April 14, 2018, unsolved murder of Alba Jenisse Aviles in the 300 block of Old San Antonio Road in Bastrop County, Texas.
The Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the murder of Aviles, who left Club Caribe on Felter Lane in Austin on the night she was murdered.
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The Austin Police Department is asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect seen on surveillance. (Austin Police Department)
The club is just over 3 miles away from where Rivera was murdered, police said, and both homicides appear to be sexual in nature.
Police said while no suspect has been identified in either case, DNA evidence shows the suspect to be the same in both cases.
Austin is notorious for its share of serial killers.
Last year, Texas police and U.S. Marshals announced the arrest of Raul Meza Jr., 62, in the murders of former probation officer Jesse Fraga, 80, who had given Meza a place to stay for years, and Gloria Lofton, 66, who was found dead in her home in 2019.
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Raul Meza, 63, allegedly killed at least two people, but law enforcement said he’s connected to at least 10 homicides in Texas. (Austin Police Department)
Meza is a convicted child killer who has bounced in and out of prison for decades.
On May 20, 2023, he allegedly strangled Fraga with a belt, stabbed him and severed his spine, prompting a manhunt that ended with the suspect apparently calling police and turning himself in.
Meza has a lengthy rap sheet that goes back to 1982, when he sexually assaulted and strangled an 8-year-old girl outside an Austin elementary school.
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In 1982, Raul Meza raped and killed 8-year-old Kendra Page before dumping her body behind Langford Elementary School in Southeast Austin, FOX 7 reported. (FOX 7 Austin)
He served 11 years of a 30-year sentence before his release. He violated parole in 1994, went back to prison and was released in 2002. Meza was on parole until 2016.
In January, law enforcement issued a search warrant for Meza’s Google account from Nov. 1, 2016, to May 29, 2023, hoping to find information tying him to a 2018 Austin cold case, as well as information that links him to at least two homicides in San Antonio.
“Meza committed additional sexual assaults after his supervised release ended in 2016, and believe data associated with the Google LLC account herein will assist investigators in corroborating Meza as a suspect in the murder of Gloria Lofton, Jesse Fraga and the shooting he admitted to in San Antonio as well as additional cold case homicides,” the search warrant said, according to a report by the Austin American-Statesman.
There is speculation one of Meza’s victims is college student Nicole Coleman, whose naked body was found in a wooded area of Austin in 2018 with signs of trauma.
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Raul Meza Jr., 62, has been tied to several murders since 1975, but police are looking at other murders that may bare his signature, according to police and local news. (Pflugerville Police Department)
Her unsolved homicide has been like a hovering storm cloud over the city for years.
Meza’s arrest made him Austin’s first known serial killer since the “Servant Girl Annihilator,” who was believed to have killed eight women in 1885, according to city authorities, though the killer was never captured.
Police were looking at Meza in other deaths in Austin, though they told Fox News Digital at the time the deaths were not linked to a series of drownings at Lady Bird Lake near Rainey Street, where four men were found dead in a span of weeks.
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Detectives also said at the time that they had found no evidence of a serial killer or foul play in the Rainey Street and Lady Bird Lake incidents.
Still, independent investigators, concerned residents, web sleuths and tens of thousands of members of a Facebook group following the string of incidents have voiced concerns of a possible murderer on the loose in the deaths of men on Rainey Street, which is home to a strip of bars a block or so from the water’s edge.
The APD told Fox News Digital Thursday the deaths of Rivera and Aviles are not linked to the deaths near Lady Bird Lake.
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Austin Police homicide and missing persons detectives, a lake patrol unit and crime scene specialists responded to investigate at Lady Bird lake last year. A body was discovered in the lake Monday. (FOX 7 Austin)
Police said the homicide unit investigates each death in the city to determine if it is suspicious, and after initial investigations, a medical examiner does a hands-on body exam to determine if there are any signs of physical injuries. After that, a toxicology exam is conducted, which could take months.
“Through this process, one death near Lady Bird Lake in December 2022 was ruled a homicide,” police told Fox News Digital. “In that particular case, the victim was shot as he was driving by two groups that had been arguing. The other deaths in and around Lady Bird Lake are not considered suspicious due to the results of these investigations.”
Police also said there is a possibility there could be more homicides linked to the suspect in the Rivera and Aviles murders. However, the APD said, it “does not have any unsolved murders that match the modus operandi” of what happened to the two women.
Criminal defense attorney Daniel W. Betts, who is running against the George Soros-supported Travis County district attorney, Jose Garza, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that once a suspect is arrested, the district attorney should keep the death penalty on the table as an option for punishment.
The death penalty is legal in Texas, and while Betts – who is a Republican – does not like the penalty, he acknowledged its importance in the case of murderers.
“I think it is important to leave it on the table and to not telegraph to criminals what we’re going to do on cases,” he said. “For cases like this in Texas, when you murder multiple people, you become eligible…for the death penalty, and if you don’t have that, and I’m not saying it’s warranted here, but leaving it off the table and saying we will never consider it like the current DA has, it’s such a horrible precedent.
“The victims here were sexually assaulted and murdered,” Betts added. “So, as district attorney, I would absolutely leave it on the table.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Garza’s office for comment on the matter.
Investigators are continuing to seek leads regarding the person of interest shown in the video and ask anyone with information to contact them at 512-974-TIPS.
Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can contact Capital Area Crime Stoppers by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477. Tips leading to an arrest could result in a reward of up to $1,000.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Eberhart and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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A 23-year-old man from Long Beach is in custody following a deadly hit-and-run crash in Riverside County Saturday.
The crash happened around 8:09 a.m. near the intersection of Dinah Shore Drive and George Montgomery Way in the city of Rancho Mirage, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responded and found one of the involved drivers, 57-year-old Teresa Bowlin of Cathedral City, dead at the scene. The other driver, Tyler Conant of Long Beach, ran from the scene of the crash, according to the sheriff’s department.
“During the investigation, it was determined that Conant was under the influence of alcohol [at the time of the crash],” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
Conant was arrested and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for murder and felony hit-and-run.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Deputy Bret Meservey at (760) 836-1600.
Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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