On December 7, 2007, Augustin Canales, age 48, was found dead in Houston, Texas. The circumstances around his death were initially classified as unclear by the Houston Police Department (HPD), contributing to delays in accurately reporting his death as a homicide. The case became one of several that the HPD "quietly" reclassified as murder following further review. It was subsequently reported to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI as part of their official crime statistics.
The reclassification by HPD was part of a broader effort to correct past inaccuracies in crime reporting. For years, various homicide cases, including that of Augustin Canales, were not initially labeled as such, leading to confusion and depriving families of potential support from the Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund. This fund is designed to offer financial help to victims’ families, but they can only access it once a death is officially classified as a crime.
The HPD Homicide Division continues to work on numerous cold cases, and Augustin's case is among those that require more leads to progress further. The Cold Case Squad, a part of the Homicide Division formed in 2004, reviews such unsolved murders for new evidence, hoping to bring justice to the victims and closure to their families.
