Austin police may have missed key DNA lead to stop suspected serial killer Raul Meza Jr.

For three-plus years, investigators had the address of a convicted child killer and the suspect in another sexual assault and slaying but never pursued charges against him − until after they say he killed again.

The American-Statesman found that Raul Meza changed his address five months after police found Gloria Lofton's partially nude body in a bedroom, providing a trail for police to easily follow. Investigators learned a few months after that, in May 2020, that they also had matched DNA from Lofton's body to Meza.

But what investigators did to track him at that time is unclear. Police finally found and charged Meza last week with Lofton's death and that of an 80-year-old man last month.

After the Statesman questioned Austin Police Chief Joe Chacon about how police handled Lofton's death investigation, he confirmed he had opened an administrative review about potential investigative lapses.

“I was just made aware of this,” Chacon said. “I don’t have any of the facts yet to be able to comment on it.”

What we know: Who is convicted murderer Raul Meza Jr.?

According to the arrest affidavit, the Texas Department of Public Safety forensic lab provided the DNA information to the lead investigator in the case. Yet Meza remained free, and police said he killed 80-year-old Jesse Fraga on May 13.

Part of the inquiry will focus on how the DPS lab communicated with the investigator and whether that detective properly pursued the information. The review will be crucial to learning if police could have stopped Meza before police say he killed Fraga.

Police have described Meza as a serial killer who might be responsible for as many as 10 murders in Austin and San Antonio. Meza has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1975. He has spent nearly 20 years in prison for various crimes, ranging from a curfew violation to homicide.

Meza is best known for the murder of 8-year-old Kendra Page in 1982 in Austin. At the time, police determined Page had been strangled and sexually assaulted, and Meza was sentenced to 30 years in prison before being released after 11 years.

Micah Mota, a nephew of Fraga, told the Statesman on Wednesday evening that he believes his uncle’s death could have been prevented if police had arrested Meza when his DNA was linked to Lofton in 2020.

“It is just a shame that something like this had to happen because of the ineptitude of the justice system,” he said. “I do think there are cases where our justice system is completely broken.”

Police revealed the previous hit between crime scene DNA with Meza’s profile in the Combined DNA Index System in a four-page affidavit the Statesman obtained Wednesday charging Meza in Lofton’s murder at her home on Sara Drive off Springdale Road in East Austin. The affidavit describes no investigative steps detectives took to pursue the forensic link.

Meza confessed to killing Lofton last week, saying, “I got out of prison in 2016 … I ended up murdering a lady soon after … it was on Sara Drive,” after calling the Austin police homicide tip line, the affidavit said.

Police: Raul Meza charged in two deaths, may be involved in 10 more

The document stated that police were called to Lofton’s home May 9, 2019, and found her in a bedroom, naked from the waist down and with two shirts pulled above her head.

Detectives requested that a sexual assault exam be conducted as part of the autopsy. Three months after her death, a deputy medical examiner ruled that Lofton’s manner and cause of death were “undetermined.”

The autopsy by Dr. Lauren Edelman noted that Lofton’s body had evidence of strangulation, and that “although there was severe natural disease identified, the circumstances, witness accounts, and findings at autopsy are concerning for potential inflicted trauma. Findings indicative of strangulation such as external or internal neck trauma may not be present in all cases of strangulation.”

Aside from the DNA report, the affidavit detailed other facts potentially linking Meza to Lofton’s death.

It said that he had a driver's license with an address on Sara Drive, a couple of addresses away from Lofton, dating back to 2012.

Detectives also discovered a police report that named Meza about a disturbance on Sara Drive in 2013.

After Lofton's death, Meza updated his address to a Pflugerville address on Campfire Trail in October 2019. Then the DNA match came back in May 2020, with Meza still listing the Pflugerville address for Fraga. Fraga's family said Meza lived with him for several years.

More: Raul Meza, who killed girl in 1982, sought in slaying of 80-year-old man in Pflugerville

Police linked him to Fraga’s death and last month asked the public for help finding him, saying that he should be considered dangerous.

Last week, after Meza called the tip line and confessed to the murders, authorities tracked him down on a bicycle to Parmer Lane and North Lamar on Monday and arrested him. He had a backpack with duct tape and zip ties, police said.

Mota said Wednesday evening that Jesse Fraga and his wife were always trying to help everybody and were very involved with their church.

“Him and my aunt always had a good heart and just believed that everybody deserves a second chance,” said Mota.

He said his uncle’s death is a “major tragedy.”

American-Statesman reporter Claire Osborn contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police may have missed key DNA to stop Raul Meza from killing