AUSTIN, Texas – Austin Police have made a significant discovery in a cold-case homicide that may be connected to Raul Meza Jr., 63, a suspected serial killer, according to a newly filed search warrant affidavit. The search warrant sought access to Meza’s Google account to uncover more information about the murders he is already linked to, as well as any potential cold case homicides.
Detectives filed the search warrant to access Meza’s digital footprint after associating him with the murders of Jesse Fraga, 80, and his former neighbor, Gloria Lofton, 65. Meza was arrested in May after confessing to Fraga’s murder and has since implicated himself in Lofton’s 2019 murder. Authorities also believe that Meza may be linked to as many as ten cold cases.
In an even more alarming revelation, Meza confessed to police that he had committed a double homicide in San Antonio, Texas, sometime between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. Following these developments, an Austin official formally labeled Meza a “serial killer” during a press conference last May detailing his charges.
In July, the FBI, Austin Police, and Pflugerville Police conducted a thorough search of a Pflugerville field. Their efforts uncovered possible evidence of a burial site, including clothing, rope, and characteristics indicating the presence of a grave site.
Meza’s criminal history, dating back nearly 50 years, includes convictions of aggravated robbery and murder. In 1975, as a 15-year-old, Meza participated in a convenience store robbery in Austin where the store manager was shot in the back. Following a brief prison sentence, he was later accused of raping and murdering 8-year-old Kendra Page while still on parole. The body of Page was discovered in a dumpster on an elementary school property in 1982.
These horrifying revelations paint a grim picture of Meza’s violent criminal past and the potential for numerous unsolved homicides to be connected to him. As authorities continue their investigation, the full extent of Meza’s involvement in these heinous crimes is yet to be revealed.