Austin police arrested Xzaria White-Wooldridge on Sept. 9 in connection with Cristian Rangel’s 2024 death. She faces a third-degree felony charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, according to the Austin Police Department and court information reported by KXAN.
White-Wooldridge is the second woman arrested in the case. Kamery Wooldridge was previously taken into custody, but neither woman has been charged with murder, KXAN reported.
What the charges mean
Texas Penal Code § 37.09 classifies tampering with physical evidence as a third-degree felony. The provision increases the offense to a second-degree felony when the evidence is a human corpse and separately addresses failing to report a corpse’s location when circumstances indicate that an offense occurred, according to the Texas statute and a corresponding statutory summary.
Earlier developments
Rangel, 24, was reported missing in April 2024 after going to a Walmart parking lot off U.S. Highway 290. Security video showed him with Kamery Wooldridge before he entered a white GMC Terrain, according to KVUE.
Police received the missing-person report on April 9, and Rangel’s body was found April 19 in a field near the 5800 block of Spring Meadow Road in Southeast Austin, KVUE reported.
Kamery Wooldridge was arrested in June 2024 and charged with tampering with a human corpse. She later pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony and received a 10-year prison sentence, according to KXAN.
Missing-person cases statewide
For statewide context, the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Persons Clearinghouse reported 44,783 missing-person entries into the FBI National Crime Information Center in 2024, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
White-Wooldridge’s arrest adds an evidence-tampering charge to the case, but the available reports do not identify anyone charged with causing Rangel’s death. Austin police continue investigating, according to KXAN.
