Man charged in Comal County teen’s 1993 cold case killing

AUSTIN – A Brazoria man is in custody on one count of murder in the 28-year-old homicide of San Antonio teenager Emily Jeanette Garcia.

Thomas Ray Galindo, 50, was arrested on Friday at his home in Brazoria by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force and transferred to Comal County, where the crime occurred, on Wednesday.

He is charged with killing 15-year-old Garcia in February 1993. At the time, Galindo was 21 years old and he and Garcia were acquaintances.

Garcia was living away from her mother and sister at the time and staying with friends in the northeastern part of San Antonio.

She was known to hang out with friends in that area of the city and frequent pool halls. Garcia was last seen alive a few days before her death.

On Feb. 25, Garcia’s nude body was found near Cranes Mill Road and Canyon Lake in Comal County.

She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Her body was identified in 1994 after a family member saw a local news report and contacted law enforcement.

Despite a lengthy investigation by the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, progress stalled. In 2017, the sheriff’s office renewed its investigation.

In early 2021, at the request of the sheriff’s office, the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program began reviewing the case.

The initial investigation included several people Garcia was acquainted with, including Galindo. The Ranger and sheriff’s detective working on the investigation reevaluated the entire case and re-interviewed numerous people, revealing new information which ultimately led to Galindo’s arrest.

Galindo is being held in the Comal County Jail under a $100,000 bond.