Dr. Claudia Benton, a 39-year-old geneticist from Peru, was murdered in her West University Place, Texas, home on December 17, 1998. She was found sexually assaulted, stabbed, and beaten; the autopsy recorded multiple stab wounds, blunt force trauma including 19 blunt force injuries to the head and three skull fractures, and evidence of sexual assault. Her husband and two children were not at home when the attacker broke in and assaulted her.

Several items were taken from Benton’s house, including a banjo, a guitar, a stereo, and jewelry. Her Jeep was stolen from the garage after the steering column was dismantled and the vehicle was jump-started; it was later recovered in a motel parking lot in San Antonio near railroad tracks. Fingerprints recovered from the Jeep led investigators to a suspect identified as Angel Maturino Reséndiz, who was linked to the crime by fingerprint and DNA evidence.

Reséndiz was known to travel by freight train and had committed multiple attacks near railroad tracks. Does anyone have information about Benton’s life in Houston or recall seeing the stolen Jeep near the railroad corridor?