Teen found dead near jogging trail in Missouri City park

Jeff Ehling Image
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Teen found dead near jogging trail in park
The teen victim was a witness to several gang-related murders when members shot at him 15 times at Buffalo Run Park five years ago.

MISSOURI CITY, TX (KTRK) -- Missouri City police are searching for a killer after the body of a 16 year old boy was found in Buffalo Run Park.

Investigators have identified the victim as Estuai Quinonez. They say he was shot repeatedly.

Missouri City PD investigating death near jogging trail at park

A jogger made the gruesome discovery around 7 am Tuesday. Missouri City Police Department Capt. Paul Poulton said, "We received a report this morning from a citizen of a body lying in one of the jogging trails inside the park."

Detectives say Quinonez's body was discovered near a footbridge.

The park was closed as investigators began to scour the park for clues which could help lead to the killer.

Poulton said, "It's one of our largest city parks, that has multiple lakes, hundreds of acres and it's going to be a lengthy process to do a very intensive search of the area."

People who use the park every day are shocked by the discovery.

Park visitor Ellis Jones said, "This is not normal over here. It's usually very quiet."

HISD tells Eyewitness News that Quinones was last a student at Madison High School in 2014. It's unclear if he was enrolled elsewhere before his death.

His family lives less than 7 miles from the scene, in Southwest Houston. They were too distraught to talk in much detail today, though Quinonez's uncle did tell us they last heard from him around 10pm Monday night. He called and said he was on his way home, according to that uncle.

Authorities cannot say what might have motivated this murder. Investigators are asking anyone with information to call Missouri City Police.

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