Episode 14: Sylvia Salinas
This is the final case I’m going to cover for my Texas Murder Rabbit hole.
This one is the case of 30-year-old Sylvia Salinas from Galveston Texas. She was born on Jan 7, 1959, and lived on Galveston Island her whole life with her parents, 1 sister, and 2 brothers. They had a family grocery that was originally owned by her Derlis for 18 years and then gave it to their parents before moving to Hawaii. In 1988 Sylvia bought the store from them since she was a natural businesswoman who helped with the business and worked there for 10 years. Everyone knew her and how friendly and witty she was. She was someone who was the kind of person who always wanted to see the good in everyone and wanted to help them but also said to not take any shit. Sylvia was so loved she was often referred to as Tia Syl. She was known to try to help her customers in any way she could even going so far as to give them credit advances for Groceries until they got paid or letting them slide if they were short
In 1989 on Halloween day, Sylvia was at her Store Salinas Food Store in Galveston, Texas. She stayed behind to stock the shelves while her parents went back home for lunch. They only lived 2 blocks away. It was a Tuesday during school hours so there weren’t a lot of business or Halloween tricks that happened at this time of day. Around 1:23 that afternoon the Alarm Company notified the police that the silent alarm had been tripped at the store. When the officer arrived he found a quiet store which was unusual. When he walked in further he saw blood on the found Sylvia in a pool of blood behind the counter. She had been stabbed in the chest with a large knife, which pierced both her heart and a lung. The office did notice there were t 4 bloody boot/shoe prints around the open register. The stool she usually set on behind the counter was turned over. The knife used to stab her was used to pry open the cash register, in which they took what little money and food stamps were in there. Slyvia didn’t even set off the alarm it was set off when the register was open. The Knife used to kill her was a 10-in boning knife that no one recognized and wasn’t one that was used in the store even tho they did do deli things. So it’s unsure where the knife came from since it seems strange for someone to. be concealing a knife so big.
Suspects
A White male with sandy blonde hair who was seen running through the alley after the alarm went off.
10 mins before the alarm black man using pay for may have seen the killer go into the store.
Possibly, someone, she knew and trusted which is why she didn’t pull the gun that was still behind the counter on them. Also, they had to come behind the counter to stab her and she wouldn’t let just anyone back there.
There were so many phone cards with tips in the first few days but nothing panned out and no one came forward. The case went cold almost immediately. They tried to test fingers prints found at the store, but there were so many that it was hard to sort them all. In 2008 Hurricane Ike destroyed most evidence that had been stored so there isn’t much left but a videotape of the scene.
400 mourners came out for her wake which should tell you just how much this person was loved. Her brother had stated after it that he regrets giving the store to their parents and then it going to her. Cause if he wouldn’t have he would have still been there and she wouldn’t have been in the store alone. I also heard on one podcast I listened to that she had planned on not renewing the lease on the store the following year and was going to move to Hawaii with her brother.
I decided on this one since it was so similar to the murder of Hector Alaniz Sr- who to remind you was murdered on April 23, 1988, just after midnight, behind Alaniz Grocery Store in Edinburg, which was a drive-in grocery store his family-owned and operated. there is about 5 hrs difference between the 2 places but the similarities were too much to not do this one.
recipe
References
The Galveston Daily News from Newspaper.com
ABC13 article and a new report.
