Mary Catherine Edwards
Photo provided by DPS
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is seeking information in the 1995 cold case homicide of Mary Catherine Edwards. The DPS is offering a reward of $6,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for her death if the tip is before the next featured Texas Rangers cold case. There is a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest on all matters on the Texas Rangers Unsolved Homicides website.
Edwards, 31, was a well-loved teacher who lived alone in Beaumont. Friends last saw her on the evening of Friday, Jan. 13, 1995. The following day, she didn’t respond to phone calls, so her parents went to her house on Park Meadow Street to check on her. When they arrived, they found Edwards drowned in her bathroom. She had been sexually assaulted and killed.
Texas Rangers and Beaumont detectives have worked diligently on this case; however, all leads have been exhausted, and the case remains unsolved. The Rangers are asking for the public’s help to solve the case.
To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities by calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). All tips are anonymous.
Individuals can also submit information through the Texas Rangers cold case website or by phone at 1-800-346-3242 (Missing Persons Hotline).
The DPS Texas Rangers Unsolved Homicides website provides information on more than 125 cases to garner public interest in unsolved or cold cases. Texas Crime Stoppers offers rewards (funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division and administered by DPS) of up to $3,000 for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible for any Rangers cold cases listed on the website. For more information, visit the Texas Rangers cold case website.
As part of a DPS public awareness program, they feature one case from the Texas Ranger Unsolved Crimes Investigation (Cold Case) Program bi-monthly to generate new investigative leads and bring attention to these cold cases. The Texas Crime Stoppers reward is up to $6,000 for the featured case in hopes that the higher reward money will generate additional tips. The DPS pays the higher reward amount if the tip is submitted before the next case is featured.
The Texas Ranger Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program exists to assist Texas law enforcement agencies in investigating unsolved homicides or violent serial crimes. Since there is no statute of limitations for the offense of murder, investigators pursue these cases to a successful resolution or until no viable leads remain.