AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is seeking information on the 2013 murder of 51-year-old Lillian Desiree Descoteau in Harrison Co. The reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for her death is now increased to $6,000 if the tip is received before the next featured Texas Rangers cold case is announced. Anyone with information in this case is asked to please come forward.

Back on Oct. 7, 2013, Descoteau’s partially nude body was found by two truck drivers near the FM 450 ramp onto IH-20, just south of Hallsville, Texas. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. Descoteau’s body was only clothed in a light blue pullover, a white bra and a shiny diamond stud earring in one ear. Before her death, Descoteau lived a transient lifestyle—living in many states across the country, including Alaska, Colorado, Ohio, Georgia, Maryland and Louisiana. Descoteau’s last known residence was Irving, Texas, where she worked as a commercial truck driver for a short time.

Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of those responsible for any Texas Rangers cold case listed on the DPS website—which provides information on more than 140 cases in an effort to garner public interest in unsolved or cold cases.

To be eligible for cash rewards for this case, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of these two methods:

• Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
• Submit a tip online through this link only and select “Cold Cases Featured” and “Cold Case” in the type of crime and offense type sections.

As part of a DPS public awareness program, one case from the Texas Ranger Unsolved Crimes Investigation (Cold Case) Program will be featured bi-monthly in an effort to generate new investigative leads and bring attention to these cold cases. Texas Crime Stoppers rewards are increased up to $6,000 for featured cases in hopes of generating additional tips. The higher reward amount will only be paid if the tip is submitted before the next cold case is featured.

The Texas Ranger Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program was created to assist Texas law enforcement agencies 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.