Harris County Sheriff's Office launches cold-case webpage for unsolved homicides

The 2015 double murder of Don and Reda Rentz is back in front of Harris County eyes as the Sheriff’s Office pushes a new cold-case webpage to generate leads in unsolved homicides from unincorporated parts of the county.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office launched the “Unsolved Homicide Cold Cases” page on April 10 and said it is meant to give the public a clearer look at long-running investigations, with case summaries and photos where available. HCSO said the page is intended to help investigators develop new leads, renew attention on difficult cases and connect families with the homicide team assigned to each file.

That effort lands in a county the sheriff’s office describes as the largest in Texas and the third-largest in the nation, with nearly 5,100 employees, about 200 volunteer reservists and a service area that covers more than 4.1 million residents across 1,788 square miles and 41 incorporated municipalities. In that kind of system, officials are betting that one forgotten detail from a neighbor, former coworker or relative could still matter.

The Rentz case shows why. Don Rentz, 84, and Reda Rentz, 80, were found dead on March 7, 2015, inside their home in the 6700 block of Pacific Crest Court in the Kings River Village subdivision, in the Atascocita and Kingwood area. Investigators have said blunt-force trauma caused the deaths and have described robbery as a possible motive. Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the charging or arrest of a suspect in the case.

HCSO’s new page is limited to homicides in unincorporated Harris County, not crimes inside city police jurisdictions. That distinction matters for readers in communities on the county’s edges, where a case may fall to the sheriff rather than Houston police or another municipal department. Residents can review the posted cases and send any information that could fill in missing timelines, identify people in the photos or point detectives toward witnesses who never spoke up before.

The strategy follows a broader pattern that has helped crack cold cases elsewhere. Texas and national investigators have used public databases, renewed publicity, DNA testing and genetic genealogy to revive old files, including a Dallas case solved through new DNA work and a Houston “Lovers’ Lane” cold case that led to a March 2026 charge. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office also said in March that it eliminated the county’s criminal backlog, a practical step if a tip from the webpage turns into an arrest.

Crime Stoppers of Houston accepts anonymous tips 24 hours a day at 713-222-TIPS, and the agency says rewards can reach $5,000 on serious cases. For families still waiting on answers, the new page gives the county a single place to keep those names in circulation.