Press Releases

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will be increasing the number of Texas Highway Patrol Troopers on the road from Friday, July 2, through Monday, July 5, as part of Operation CARE (Crash Awareness Reduction and Effort) and Operation Holiday. DPS Troopers will be on the roads looking for drivers who are speeding, driving while intoxicated or not their wearing seat belts.

LAREDO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) during Operation Lone Star seized $389,620 in cash after a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in La Salle County.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is seeking information in the 1985 disappearance of Kathleen Laura Attwood Ranft, of Guadalupe County. An increased reward of up to $6,000 is now offered for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible if the tip is received before the next featured Texas Ranger cold case is announced.

WESLACO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized 20 pounds of marijuana and two pounds of cocaine, after a Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in Hidalgo County during Operation Lone Star.

EL PASO – It is with great sadness the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces the death of a Trooper in El Paso County. Sergeant Paul Mooney, 52, died Monday, June 14, 2021. He was battling cancer and was recently hospitalized with COVID-19.

AUSTIN – As temperatures rise this summer, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is urging the public to take extra safety precautions to avoid some common heat-related dangers, especially for vulnerable populations like children and the elderly.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Brett James Martinson to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list. Martinson, 47, is wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, aggregate theft and a parole violation. Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and capture of Martinson.

AUSTIN – More than a decade after she was last seen alive, a person has been charged in the cold case slaying of Mitchell County eighth-grader Hailey Dunn. Shawn Casey Adkins, 35, of Big Spring, was arrested Monday, June 14, in Big Spring and charged with one count of murder in the death of 13-year-old Dunn.

EL PASO – A multi-agency effort, led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), has resulted in the recovery of 24 missing and/or runaway children throughout El Paso County and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently announced the promotion of Susan Oballe to assistant chief for the Chief Auditor’s Office. The promotion, effective June 10, was approved at the June meeting of the Public Safety Commission (PSC). She’ll be stationed at DPS headquarters in Austin.

WESLACO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) disrupted a smuggling attempt after a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in Hidalgo County as part of Operation Lone Star.

WESLACO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized $147,490 in cash when a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper assigned to Operation Lone Star stopped a vehicle in Hidalgo County.

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Safety Commission (PSC) along with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw presented two Adolph Thomas Distinguished Service Awards and three Lifesaving Awards to department personnel at the PSC meeting on Thursday, June 10, at DPS Headquarters in Austin. One Director’s Award was also presented to a member of a partner agency at the meeting.

AUSTIN – Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Tieon Lashad Legan is back in custody after investigators received a Crime Stoppers tip about his whereabouts. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Special Agents and Tarrant County Sheriff’s deputies used the information to locate and arrest Legan at an apartment complex in Fort Worth on June 1. A reward of $7,500 will be paid to the tipster.

WESLACO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized seven firearms and various firearm parts, after a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in Hidalgo County during Operation Lone Star.