HOUSTON – A Houston area family is desperate for answers after the man charged in the murder of their son suddenly disappeared for five days without any explanation from authorities.
Deputies arrested Emmanuel Del Olmo and two others in August 2018, five months after they say he shot Christian Castro to death and dumped his body on the side of Patterson Road in west Houston.
Two months later, the judge in the case lowered Del Olmo’s bond to $100,000 and a few months ago, in June, he bonded out of jail and was assigned an ankle monitor.
Christina Castro, Christian’s twin sister, checks the Harris County Jail website occasionally. On Thursday, she said she felt the need to check again and noticed a warrant had been issued for Del Olmo’s arrest.
“Furious. Outrageous,” said Castro’s father, Mike. “How could this even happen? He could be out there, killing someone else.”
“That was a fear that I cannot explain,” said Castro’s stepmom, Carrie. “You feel like you’re in danger because he’s out there.”
Castro says her calls to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Houston Police Department were not returned that day, the same day Tropical Storm Imelda drenched the region.
On Friday, an HCDA Office representative confirmed to the Castros that Del Olmo was missing, but no explanation was given.
On Monday afternoon, the same representative told the Castros that Del Olmo had cut off his ankle monitor. A few hours later, Del Olmo was back in custody.
“They should have immediately started looking for him (on Thursday)," Carrie Castro said, “and told us the situation just so we could be on alert, [and] be aware.”
The Harris County District Attorney's Office recommends high or low bond amounts, but judges actually set them.
The Harris County Probation Department monitors the locations of the ankle monitors.
KPRC 2 called and left messages for the Harris County Probation Department and Del Olmo’s probation officer, but have not heard back.