TYLER, Texas (KLTV). A Tyler man was charged with several counts of kidnapping as well as sexual assault that started 20 years ago.
Following a string crime that had been going on for almost two decades, a warrant was issued for arrest. The defendant is charged with participating in sexual assaults of three victims, two of whom were abducted, on three separate occasions. The string began in 2003. These are the facts, as presented by the investigator. He is a Texas Ranger who specializes on cold cases.
Incident One
Unnamed victims were reportedly kidnapped, raped and assaulted in Tyler on August 16, 2003. The following report was provided by Victim One (as they will be called in this reporting).
The attacker was a Hispanic male, aged between 25 and 26 years. He was muscular and tall. His black hair was curly and his brown eyes were deep. Victim One was able to understand the man’s Spanish accent, and he made comments that led him to believe he was from the U.S. He identified himself as “Raul,” though he later told the victim that this was not his real name.
Victim One noticed the name “Vincente” on the screen of a cell phone, which rang several times in the car throughout the incident. Victim One described the attacker’s car as a red four-door with blue interior, chrome-spoke wheels, and a Texas license plate with the number L52RRR.
The crime was never committed and no suspect was ever arrested.
Incident Two
On December 11, 2012, an unnamed victim was reportedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Tyler by two attackers, who will be referred to as “the driver” and “the passenger.” Victim Two, as they will be referred to in this reporting, gave the following account.
According to the passenger, he was a Hispanic man in his 30s. He was six-foot tall to six-foot two and heavy built. His mustache was neatly trimmed and he had full cheeks. Victim Two stated to the passenger she was thirty-years old and he said he was younger.
The driver was described by Victim Two as a Hispanic man in his mid 30′s who was shorter than the passenger. He was said to have glasses and a mustache. He was referred to by the passenger as “Luis.” Victim Two described the vehicle as a green Ford “access cab pickup,” with a rosary hanging from the rear-view mirror.
Again, no suspect was charged based on the victim’s report at the time.
Incident Three
Unnamed victims were allegedly sexually assaulted on April 29, 2016 after they entered the vehicle of someone they believed they recognized. This reporting will include Victim Three. They provided the following details about the incident.
According to Victim Three, the attacker was a Hispanic man aged around 30 with curly dark hair and a heavy build. Victim Three described his attacker’s vehicle as a brand new, dark-colored SUV with large chrome wheels and Zebra-print seat covers. It also had split rear doors.
Again, no one was ever charged with the crime.
The Suspect
Each case included DNA from the victims of the attack. Through Texas DPS Crime Laboratory reports, the investigator discovered that DNA from the first attacker and the victim in the second attack all match the profile of an unidentified male. Based on the similarities between the victims’ descriptions and past records in Smith County, the investigator now suspects that Vincente Rodriquez Zavaleta (44), of Tyler, has a criminal record going back to 1999.
Similarities
Around the time of the attack on Victim One, Smith County Jail records listed Zavaleta as having a build and look very similar to the victim’s description. The victim thought that Zavaleta was between 25 and 26 years old at the time. Victim One described a red four door car with license plate number L52RRR. Zavaleta had in 2002 reported damage to his maroon four-door Geo Pizm with license plateL52KRR.
Two traffic citations were issued at the time of Victim Two’s attack to Andres Zavaleta (in a 2001 Chevrolet extended-cab pickup) during separate traffic stops. Their descriptions provided by the officers after the traffic stops closely matched those given of the driver and the passenger in Victim Two’s attack. Vincente Zavaleta would have been 34 at the time, and Victim Two had estimated him to be mid 30′s.
Around the time of the attack on Victim Three, Zavaleta had been reported as driving a black Lincoln Navigator in an assault case, which lines up with Victim Three’s description of a dark SUV.
As a result of Zavaleta’s closely matching history of physical appearance and vehicles, the samples of DNA from the victims were entered into the Combined DNA Index System, where it was found that Zavaleta had never been required to submit his DNA in the past, and was therefore not able to be implicated based on his own DNA.
As an act of recourse, a man suspected to be Zavaleta’s 22-year-old son was found and approached at his workplace in Smith County by the investigator on Oct. 27, 2022. The investigator obtained a sample from his DNA and sent it to him for comparison on Nov. 1.
On Jan. 26, the DPS laboratory compared the suspected sons’ DNA sample to DNA which was found on a garment worn by one of the victims. The victim’s DNA was confirmed to be Vincente Rodriquez Zavaleta.
Zavaleta, who was 19 years old and had been convicted of his first alleged crime seven months prior to this arrest, was charged with felony sexual assault. He is currently being held at the Smith County Jail with $500,000 in total bonds.
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