HOUSTON - New information in a 27-year-old Houston cold case, the remains of Patricia Castillo have been identified.
Castillo was a vibrant, 21-year-old woman from East Houston when she went missing. She was one of six children known for her big smile. To this day, no one knows why someone would want her dead.
“She loved to dance and she loved to talk,” remembers her sister, Miranda Moreno.
It was June 1st, 1991 when Castillo vanished. She was last seen on Delmar Street near her grandmother’s home.
“She just disappeared. Nobody knew anything. What happened to her that night? Who did this to her?”
No clues, no arrests and although the case went cold the family kept searching.
“You would also hear stuff on the news like they found a body or they found a skeleton and you were wondering… is it her? Is that going to be her? Are we going to get the call? And it never was her.”
Last year, a sibling sent a DNA sample in to the National Institute of Justice, a government database which helps identify remains. Then on August 13th, the family received the news that Castillo’s remains had been found.
“They called my sister, Trina, and told us that it was a DNA match with remains that they had in the Harris County Cemetery.”
Moreno says that according to the medical examiner and other records, 8 months after Patricia disappeared her skull was found at the side of Port Houston Street, just 5 miles from where she vanished. The cause of death; blunt force trauma.
“It was her skull that they found and that’s all that they found. They didn’t find the rest of her body. Didn’t find any other skeletal remains and that’s the hard part.”
For 26-years, Patricia’s remains have rested under an unmarked grave in the Harris County Cemetery, the family plans to change that.
“She deserves a proper burial. She has a family. She has a name. She was a person with family.”
Although, this family can finally say goodbye their search for her killer continues.
“She’s never going to meet her nieces and nephews, she’s never going to see them grow up and have kids. Whoever did this to her, didn’t just take her away they took her away from our whole family.”
Patricia Castillo’s skull was found in McCarty Market area in East Houston. The family is asking for people who knew that area in the early 90’s to get in touch with them by emailing, mirandam11@att.net.
Anyone with information about the murder of Patricia Castillo, should call Houston Police.