Young mother's murder goes unsolved

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Travis County investigators are still trying to solve the murder of a woman whose burning body was discovered one year ago along a county road in Manor.

Elizabeth Escobar, 24, died on July 6, 2011, and no arrests have been made in her killing.

"I have not lost hope that Elizabeth's killer will be found," said lead detective Alan Howard. "It's frustrating because she died for no reason. I mean, it's just absolutely out of the blue somebody picks her up, kills her, leaves her on the side of the road for dead."

Howard believes Escobar was killed by someone she did not know and that the motive for the murder was sexual in nature. Forensic evidence, including DNA found on Elizabeth's body, was sent to the state Department of Public Safety crime lab shortly after her body was discovered, but is caught up in a backlog of testing.

"Travis County doesn't have their own lab, city of Austin has their own lab -- they get DNA back much quicker than we do," said Howard. "The state lab is overwhelmed with every other agency that doesn't have their own lab and has homicides, too, and sexual assaults and that DNA is in that lab, so it gets held up there."

At first, investigators thought Escobar was last seen getting in to a blue car with out-of-state plates, but the investigation took a different turn.

"She probably got out of that car and got back in another car not at 1 o'clock in the morning, but more like 3 o'clock in the morning," said Howard. "I don't think this case will go unsolved. I think I'll identify who did it and he'll eventually do the right thing or he'll get arrested for something else and say, 'I'm done, you got me on this one, I'll tell you on the other one.'"

Anyone with information in this case is encouraged to call the Travis County Sheriff's Office at 512-854-9770.