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Reynaldo Chavez
Last April, authorities arrested a suspect in the murder of a Quinlan woman at a Royse City motel. Friends filed a missing person report, and detectives later determined that the suspect entered a room with Reynaldo Chavez of Houston. The video showed Chavez leaving with what appeared to be a body and putting it in the car, and they later found Martinez’s body in Houston. Rockwall Police arrested Chavez on June 25 on unrelated charges. Royse City Police and Texas Rangers later arrested him for murder, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon, and Theft of a Firearm.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM:
Kirk Aldridge, Chief of Police
Royse City Police Department
972-636-9422
972-524-4774
kaldridge@roysecity.com
The arrest of the Murder Suspect in the Disappearance and Death of Sandra Denise Martinez
The Royse City Police Department has obtained and served an arrest warrant for murder on a Houston man identified as Reynaldo Chavez. Officials are accusing Mr. Chavez of murdering Sandra Denise Martinez, a 47-year-old mother of three who lived in Quinlan, TX. The murder occurred at the American Inn Motel at 300 E. IH30 in Royse City, TX.
The investigation started due to a missing person report filed with the Greenville Police Department on April 29, 2022. The Greenville Police Department determined that the last place anyone saw Ms. Martinez was the American Inn Motel in Royse City, TX. Video surveillance at the motel showed Ms. Martinez entering the motel with Reynaldo Chavez on May 2, 2022. In the early morning of May 3, 2022, Reynaldo Chavez is seen on video, coming out of a room, carrying what appears to be an unconscious female wrapped in a blanket and placing the body in the passenger seat of a car. After discovering that Ms. Martinez was last at the motel in Royse City, the Royse City Police Department and the Texas Rangers began a joint investigation into her disappearance.
On June 25, 2022, Rockwall Police Department arrested Reynaldo Chavez on unrelated charges. Investigators with the Royse City Police Department and the Texas Rangers interviewed Mr. Chavez at the Rockwall County Detention Center. During the interview, Mr. Chavez admitted to physically assaulting Ms. Martinez in the motel room in Royse City on May 2, 2022, and stated she died during the night. Mr. Chavez told investigators that he drove to the Houston area with Ms. Martinez’s body in his car and placed her body in a wooded area behind a business.
The distance between Royse City and Houston is 265 miles. The Houston Police Department was contacted and confirmed they had recovered a body of a deceased female from that location on May 9, 2022. Still, the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office had not been able to identify who the remains were. The Royse City Police Department provided recent medical records for Ms. Martinez to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office, and they positively identified the body as Sandra Denise Martinez. The Harris County Medical Examiner cited homicidal violence as the cause of death.
Reynaldo Chavez is currently held on a $1,000,000.00 bond at the Rockwall County Detention Center and charged with murder and other charges, including Possession of a Controlled Substance, Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon and Theft of a Firearm. The death of Ms. Sandra Martinez remains under investigation, and anyone with information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance or death should contact Detective Andrew Mason with the Royse City Police Department at 972-636-9422.