No connection found yet between Raul Meza and past cold cases, APD says

As multiple agencies continue to investigate alleged serial killer Raul Meza, 62, the Austin Police Department said there is so far no connection between Meza and 8-10 cold cases they began looking into after his arrest in May.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As multiple agencies continue to investigate alleged serial killer Raul Meza, 62, the Austin Police Department said there is so far no connection between Meza and eight to 10 cold cases they began looking into after his arrest in May.

A grand jury indicted Meza last week on murder and capital murder charges in the deaths of Jesse Fraga, 80, and Gloria Lofton, 65.

During a press conference where APD announced his arrest, investigators said he may be linked to several other area cold cases.

During a one-on-one interview with APD Chief Joseph Chacon this week, he said the department has not yet connected Meza to any of those cases.

"Really have no updates no changes in the statuses," he said. "Our cold case unit is looking at that in conjunction with the homicide unit to see if they can make some connections there to be able to file additional charges, but nothing right now on the horizon."

Because no link has been found, the department said it would not share further details on the cases it considered Meza to potentially be connected to. However, the investigation is ongoing.

Assistant Chief Jeff Greenwalt told KXAN the investigation into Meza's connection to these cases began when police first learned he was connected with Fraga's and Lofton's deaths.

"The connection between him and those cases wasn't there, just that they were cold cases and they wanted to see whether there was any connection," he said. "There has been no indication, we're still looking, we still want to know, we're still doing a pretty thorough review. But as of this date, we don't have any indication that there was."

When APD announced his arrest in May, Bruce Mills - the current interim assistant city manager and former investigator on Meza's case - referred to him as a "serial killer."

In July, authorities searched a field in Pflugerville tied to Meza's case. According to court documents, after APD announced his arrest, Pflugerville police realized they spoke with Meza in March 2022 while Meza was walking on the side of the road with blood on him. Police could not get a straight answer from Meza as to why he “appeared as though he had been in a fight," court documents state.

Officers had seen him walking in a nearby field, and that's why they searched the area last month, where investigators found clothes, rope and a tarp, according to court documents. Those same documents state “several locations displayed the properties of a possible burial site.” 

KXAN asked Chacon if this case was tied to any of the cold cases APD was looking into.

"Well I think there was a concern there might be another case out there that is coming to light," he said. "That was the purpose for the search. That information I can't go too much into, it is still an open investigation. But it might or might not, that's kind of the reason for the search, to determine if it was related to any of those cold cases."