Six years after 15-year-old Kristen Galvan vanished from Spring, investigators have identified partial remains found in Missouri City as hers. The answer brings her family long-awaited confirmation, but not the person responsible for what authorities describe as an unsolved homicide.
The Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit announced Tuesday that Galvan had been identified. She disappeared in January 2020 after becoming a victim of human trafficking, and the remains were recovered in Missouri City on Jan. 29, 2020, according to ABC13 Houston.
Missouri City police asked the state for assistance in 2022 after the remains were too degraded for a standard DNA profile, the Texas Attorney General’s Office said. Investigators developed a mitochondrial DNA profile with the University of North Texas, then used forensic investigative genetic genealogy with Bode Technology and Astrea Forensics; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Doe Network also assisted.
DNA Solved The Identity, Not The Killing
Specific case details remain withheld because the criminal investigation is ongoing. No suspect or motive has been publicly announced, and authorities are still seeking information that could explain how Galvan died.
Galvan’s disappearance had long been tied to Houston’s Bissonnet corridor, where she was last seen amid a broader human-trafficking investigation, as earlier Hoodline coverage reported. Her mother spent years searching for answers and publicly pleaded for help finding her daughter.
In a 2020 interview cited by ABC13 Houston, Galvan’s mother said, “Please help me find my daughter. She has got to be somewhere. Somebody knows something.”
Anyone with information about Galvan’s disappearance or death is encouraged to contact the Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at [email protected]. Anonymous tips are welcome, according to the state attorney general’s office.
