Unsolved Halloween Horror Story - Sylvia Salinas

In broad daylight, in the early afternoon, on Halloween in 1989, 30-year-old Sylvia Salinas was working in her small corner grocery store in Galveston, Texas when she was murdered with a single stab to the heart. Her killer has never been caught. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Tell me a true crime story.

Speaker 2: 0:17

Hey there, welcome to Tell Me a True Crime Story podcast. I'm your host, holly. I'm so appreciative of you for being here. I know that there are many awesome true crime podcasts out there, but you are here listening to me and I love that. Thank you for taking me along with you and allowing me to be a small part of your day. I hope that you and your family are happy, healthy and together forever. Big hugs to all of you. Please follow this podcast on Facebook, instagram and TikTok. My username on all three of those is at Tell Me a True Crime Story.

Speaker 2: 0:58

I received a new review on Apple this past week from Myrma19 and it says enjoying your podcast. Thank you so much, myrma, for taking the time out to review the podcast. Big, big hugs to you. I'm trying to get to 50 reviews on Apple by Halloween, so that means I only need eight more. If you haven't done so yet, just go to my show page and scroll down until you see ratings and reviews and select a star rating. Then, below that, click on Write a Review. And I'm so happy to say that I got three more five star ratings on Spotify this past week, so now I have 26. Thank you, guys, so much for that. Spotify won't let me see who you are so that I can thank you by name. But thank you so very much and great big hugs to you. My goal is to get to 30 ratings on Spotify by Halloween, and by the time this comes out that only gives us one more day, so I know you guys can help me do it, though.

Speaker 2: 2:05

Now let me tell you a true crime story. Like the last several episodes, the case we're going to cover today happened on Halloween. Let's go back in time together to 1989. In 1989, a gallon of gas was about a dollar per gallon, a dozen eggs was just 79 cents, a loaf of bread was 66 cents and the minimum wage was $3.35. 1989 was also the year that Ted Bundy, age 42, was executed in the electric chair in Florida State Prison in Rayford, florida.

Speaker 2: 2:43

The place where our story takes place in this episode is Galveston, texas. Galveston is located in Galveston County and the county is located on the Gulf Coast of Texas, 80 miles southwest of the Louisiana state line and about an hour's drive southeast of Houston. Galveston was incorporated in 1839 and became the most active port west of New Orleans, louisiana and the largest and richest city in the state of Texas. By the year 1900, it had a population of about 37,000. But on September 8, 1900, a hurricane known as the Great Storm of 1900 devastated Galveston, killing more than 6,000 residents and completely destroying one-third of the city. It's the deadliest hurricane in US history. After that, the entire level of the city was raised by 8 feet, and by 17 feet at the solid concrete seawall, which spans over 10 miles long. The seawall effectively protected Galveston from subsequent hurricane storm surge. But one hurricane that hit Galveston in 2008, hurricane Ike, has implications in this story that we'll discuss today. You'll hear more about that in a bit.

Speaker 2: 4:03

That Halloween in 1989 was just another Tuesday for 30-year-old Sylvia Salinas, owner and operator of Salinas Food Store, a small corner store in Galveston, texas. She was tending to her store, located at 3028 Avenue Q, which was at the corner of 31st Street and Avenue Q, just about a quarter of a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. Her parents had been at the store visiting with her, but around lunchtime they'd left to walk home, just two blocks away, to eat some lunch. Sylvia Salinas was born on January 7, 1959, to her parents, maria Elena Salinas and Derelyse Peña Salinas Sr. She had one sister, lenora, and two brothers, derelyse Jr and Jose. I couldn't find much information on Sylvia's childhood, but she did grow up in Galveston. Sylvia loved life and was very outgoing. Her brother, derelyse Jr, said that she had one of the biggest hearts and, quote of all the individuals I've ever known, I never knew anyone so compassionate end quote.

Speaker 2: 5:13

Sylvia was affectionately known in the neighborhood and by friends as Sill or Tia Sill or Aunt Sill. Sylvia had many friends. That's because she knew all of the neighborhood patrons, not just as customers but as friends. Those that frequented her corner store said she always had a smile on her face and she was warm and welcoming. She didn't care if you paid with a hundred dollar bill or with food stamp coupons. She treated everyone with the same genuine friendliness. She was always helping her customers in some way too. She'd listen to their problems or allow them to get groceries on credit until they got paid.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Around 1.20 pm a private security firm received a silent alarm from the Salinas food store and police were dispatched to the scene. Police arrived at the store in just four minutes. Just inside the door, behind the counter, they found Sylvia dead from a single stab wound to her heart. It appeared that Sylvia was taken by surprise by her killer because she was stabbed while she sat in a relaxed position on a stool. After they stabbed her, they used the bloody murder weapon, the knife, to pry open the register in order to steal the money inside. This is what had triggered the silent alarm that had been built into the cash register. The police found the cash register empty, except for some change and food stamp coupons.

Speaker 2: 6:39

Investigators weren't sure if the knife that was the murder weapon was already in the store or the killer brought it in. According to news reports, back then, the wooden handled knife was shown to Sylvia's family members and they did not recognize it, and it was said that Sylvia didn't butcher meat in her store. However, in March of this year, 2023, sylvia's great-niece, amanda Upton, said the opposite in an episode of the Catch my Killer podcast. Amanda said that it's her understanding that there was a little meat market at the store and it's thought that the knife the murder weapon came from that part of the store. Sylvia kept a machete and a loaded pistol close by, right under the counter, but those weren't touched and she didn't have any defensive wounds.

Speaker 2: 7:25

This makes investigators believe that Sylvia knew her killer well enough to let them get close to her. She trusted them. It could have been a close friend, an acquaintance or just a regular customer that she thought she knew well enough to trust. Sylvia's brother, darleys Jr, agreed with investigators. He said that Sylvia never would have let someone behind the counter unless she knew them and felt comfortable with them. Sylvia's roommate and close friend of over five years, cynthia Marsh, thought the same thing. She said quote Sylvia was a very alert person. She watched everyone in the store. That store was her life. She's been doing it for 10 years and she was a person who was alert to danger. She could tell when people who came into her store were a threat. End. Quote. Father Albert Carrion, pastor of Reina de la Paz Catholic Church, had administered last rights to Sylvia on that Halloween in 1989. The next day he helped her family make her final arrangements.

Speaker 2: 8:26

While Sylvia's family planned her funeral, detectives were busy interviewing witnesses and studying evidence from the crime scene. They searched through fingerprints lifted from the scene and had to eliminate friends, relatives and regular customers. They interviewed about 20 men and all of them were eliminated as being Sylvia's killer. During the initial investigation, authorities were trying to locate two different men that were seen near the store around the time of Sylvia's murder. One of the men was a black man dressed in dark clothing. He was talking on the payphone right outside the store about 10 minutes before Sylvia was murdered. Police believe that he may have seen her killer. The other man they wanted to locate and talk to was a white man with sandy blonde hair. He was seen running down the alley by the store shortly after the murder. I couldn't find anything that said that these men were ever identified or that authorities were ever able to talk to them.

Speaker 2: 9:21

Detectives recorded the crime scene on videotape just hours after Sylvia's murder. The eerily silent video shows a crowd of about 10 to 12 people gathered outside the store. Police caution tape is strung up in front of the building, tied off to a newspaper stand. That's next to a payphone. Above the phone booth, painted on the wall in black all-capital letters, it says Salinas food store. Then the camera moves inside the store and shows shoe prints in blood on the floor and Sylvia Salinas dead on the floor. Next to the cash register there's a bloody knife with a wooden handle. There's blood on the drawer of the cash register. Incredibly, that VHS videotape survived, along with the knife that was used as the murder weapon when nearly all of the other evidence in this cold case and many other cold cases was destroyed During Hurricane Ike in 2008. In recent years Christine Taylor, a great niece of Sylvia, contacted ABC 13 Houston reporter Courtney Fisher, who covers cold cases in Texas. Thankfully, courtney Fisher did cover Sylvia's murder in her unsolved series and that helped to reinvigorate the case and the old video footage from the murder scene was actually released to the public. Then Galveston Police Department detective Michelle Solenberger told Courtney Fisher of ABC News 13 that there were fingerprints preserved from the crime scene that were going to be resubmitted to the crime lab.

Speaker 2: 10:53

Sylvia's brother, d'aerlie Salinas Jr, went back to the Salinas food store for the first time in 28 years. When he went there to talk to ABC 13 Houston reporter Courtney Fisher, he said he'd never been back there because it was just too painful. In 1989 D'Aerlie's Jr said he regretted selling the small grocery store to his sister. If he hadn't sold it to her, she wouldn't have been working there alone and wouldn't have been killed. The Salinas family had operated the store for the 18 years prior to Sylvia's murder, since around 1971. D'aerlie's Jr had been the original owner but had turned it over to his parents, d'aerlie Salinas Sr and Maria Elena Salinas. Sylvia purchased the store in 1988, a year before she was killed. The lease was due to expire in 1990, just one year from when Sylvia was murdered. She planned to sell the store and move to Hawaii to be near her brother D'Aerlie's Jr, who was living and working in Honolulu, hawaii, at the time.

Speaker 2: 11:56

400 people attended a funeral mass for Sylvia that was held on Friday, november 3, at Mission Reyna de la Paz Catholic Church. The mass was delivered in both English and Spanish. Detectives said at the time that Sylvia's killer may have even attended her funeral. Sylvia was laid to rest at Lakeview Cemetery. Her brother, dairleys Jr, was quoted in the Galveston Daily News as having said at her funeral. Quote we pray for Sylvia's soul. My parents also asked for forgiveness for the person responsible. They pray for his soul. My family is doing much better now because we know Sylvia is with the Lord. Now we are able to cope through the Lord. There's no other way".

Speaker 2: 12:40

Pamela Castile, a journalist for the Galveston Daily News, wrote a short piece about Sylvia that was published in the paper on November 18, 1989. It reads, quote Sylvia Salinas was my friend. I'd never been in her home or she in mine. We were never at the same party or did lunch together or ran into each other anywhere but at her little corner store on 31st and Q. I used to live and work in that neighborhood. I'd stop by Sylvia's for cigarettes and to let her talk me into buying another pair of her quote unquote cheapest but coolest sunglasses on the island. Mostly I stopped by for a laugh at one of her rapid-fire jokes or to marvel at the way she handled her assortment of customers. Sylvia was tough on the rowdies and tender with the children who didn't have quite enough pennies to pay for their candy. She was kind to old people, tolerant of teenagers, a smart businesswoman with a big heart.

Speaker 2: 13:38

It's heartbreaking, maddening, terrifying, to know that someone walked into Sylvia's store on the afternoon of October 31st and stabbed this young Galveston girl to death for a few dollars. That someone shouldn't get away with this cold-blooded murder. Surely during the middle of that Tuesday at that busy street corner, a neighbor or passerby saw or heard something, anything that could lead to the apprehension of Sylvia's assailant. While this killer's free, any one of us could be his next victim. End quote their lease junior said he knows there is a witness out there somewhere and he wishes they'd come forward. Cynthia Marsh, sylvia's friend and roommate, said, quote when this happened, it was a busy time. It was lunchtime, people were always going in and out. There was always activity around Salinas Grocery. Someone is always watching People sit on their porches. It is hard for me to believe at that time of day that no one saw anything. There has to be someone out there who saw something. End quote. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find anything. That's been done in the case in the last several years, since the case was revitalized in 2018, but I'm still holding out hope because you never know what's going on behind the scenes in an investigation.

Speaker 2: 14:59

This Halloween marks 34 years since Sylvia Salinas was murdered. That's longer than the 30 years she lived on this earth. His dad, dearly Sr, died in 2010 at the age of 86, and her mom died in 2021 at the age of 94. Even though both of Sylvia's parents lived long lives, sadly, they died without knowing justice for their daughter and without ever finding out who murdered her Sylvia, her dad and her mom were all laid to rest at Lakeview Cemetery in Galveston. Dearly Sr is in the middle of his beloved wife of 64 years and his daughter that was taken away from him way too soon. If you know anything about what happened that day in broad daylight around 1.20 pm on Halloween in 1989, please call Galveston Police at 409-765-3702 or Galveston Crime Stoppers at 409-763-8477. You can also submit tips online at galvestoncrimestopperswebcom and you can remain anonymous if you wish.

Speaker 2: 16:09

Thank you for listening to this episode of Tell Me a True Crime Story. Please follow the podcast on social media at Tell Me a True Crime Story on Facebook, instagram and TikTok. I have two ways you can support the podcast. You can buy me a coffee by going to buymeacoffeecom slash truecrimestorypod. They call it buy me a coffee, but it's really just a way to show your appreciation and send me a tip, don't forget. The other way is totally free. You can review this podcast on Apple Podcast and Spotify. You can write a short but sweet review for the podcast on Apple Podcast or give it a five star rating on Spotify. Thank you again for being here. I love you guys lots. I wish you safety as you go about your days. Always be aware of your surroundings. I hope that you all and your family have good health and happiness too. Please join me in episode 34 when I'll tell you another true crime story. Big, big hugs to each and every one of you. Bye, bye.

Speaker 3: 17:18

Sylvia Salinas' family reached out to our own Courtney Fisher 28 years after she was killed during a robbery at her store. Now detectives are sharing new video and new hope. In this case, durlis Salinas, when I first walked up, hasn't been to his sister's old store. It hit me all over again In 28 years. And, uh, it breaks the heart you know this is where Sylvia Salinas was murdered on Halloween Day 1989. She didn't deserve to die that way. Nobody does.

Speaker 3: 17:55

Her 30 year old, was sitting behind the register when she was stabbed in the heart. Detectives shot this video mere hours after the murder the killer's footprints, the bloody knife, the very, very large knife Never seen by the public until now. Investigators say the killer, pride, opened the register with the murder weapon, then stole all the cash. Salinas didn't fight. It appeared very personal, never grabbed the pistol or machete. She kept close by, which is why detectives think she knew and trusted her killer. About 20 men were interviewed, all of them eliminated as the murderer. But fingerprints were found at the scene and preserved. Detective Michelle Sullenberger says now she plans to resubmit those prints.

Speaker 3: 18:40

The family is actually always the driving force in these cases to get some sort of closure for the family. So I'm hopeful. The Salinas family is hopeful too. Good memories are difficult to move past, but the good ones she had one of the biggest hearts Always win. Christine Taylor never met her great aunt Sylvia. I hear lots of stories about her, but when she saw our stories digging into unsolved murders, to be honest I figured it was a sign from my aunt Sylvia. She called. So Salinas isn't forgotten. We got the help that we needed and as I stand here in front of this store 28 years after that horrible, fateful day. We do have some good news. I just spoke to the detective yesterday on this case and she says now, because of this story, because of the attention it's gotten, they are going to reevaluate some of the evidence. Finally, that was never done after all those years, and technology had changed. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.