RIO GRANDE CITY — Authorities have yet to name a single suspect in the grizzly deaths of two school district employees more than a week after their bodies were found.
More pieces of forensic evidence still needed to be processed after no real revelations were made in a preliminary report released Wednesday showing the manner of death was gunshots to the head of the Rio Grande City CISD employees, Starr County District Attorney Omar Escobar said.
“We need more scientific evidence — we need more evidence. All (the examiner) prepared is the manner of death. It’s pretty standard practice,” Escobar said.
A full autopsy report is pending and the examiner has given priority to this case.
The bodies of Oneida Alanis Balderas Garza, 44, and Lourdes M. Elizondo, 33, were found inside a residence at about 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday in the 200 block of Ebony Court — their hands bound and the women had been shot execution style, according to Rangers with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Elizondo, who up until recently was using her married name of Lourdes Luna, was married and going through a divorce with an investigator at the Starr County Sheriff’s Office named Osdy G. Luna.
Luna has not been named a suspect in the double-homicide, and neither has anyone else, but Escobar said investigators with his office and Rangers have interviewed several people in connection with the deaths. The district attorney would not get into specifics about Elizondo’s soon-to-be former husband, Osdy Luna, because he said he didn’t want to perpetuate misinformation that may just be rumor and disrupt the current investigation.
It is not known if Luna has taken a leave from work due to the death of his wife. A call left for officials at the sheriff’s office was not returned as of late Thursday afternoon.
Last Friday, Escobar’s office put up a $10,000 reward for any information related to the shootings that lead to an arrest and successful prosecution of anyone involved in the homicides, but no one has claimed to have information regarding the case.
Escobar said he plans on raising the reward amount to $20,000 by the end of week if no one comes forward with new information.
Despite the lack of community information into the cause of the shootings, Escobar said he’s optimistic about the case and the progress made by the Rangers and investigators with his office.
“The Rangers have been working diligently. I know I can speak for their agency, and they’re really pushing,” Escobar said.
