Soto, circa 1993

Herlinda Ann Soto
Missing since July 2, 1993 from El Paso, El Paso County, Texas.
Classification: Involuntary

Vital Statistics

• Date Of Birth: March 4, 1950
• Age at Time of Disappearance: 43 years old
• Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'6; 150 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair; brown eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Herlinda Soto was violently abducted from her home on Bill Ogden in east El Paso between July 2nd, 1993, at 6:00 p.m. and July 5th, 1993, at 6:00 pm.
Her ex-husband had picked up the children for the weekend and when he returned he found blood smears on the garage floor. There was a substantial amount of blood throughout the house and it appeared as if Soto had been dragged to the front door. Although, this is not considered a murder case, detectives believe she had been murdered.
Detectives don't think robbery was a motive. Soto had few valuables in her sparse, three-bedroom brick house. There was no trace of a forced entry, but one of the garage doors did not lock. Foul play is suspected.
Herlinda Soto’s car was taken during the abduction and was recovered on July 6th at the 12400 block of Rojas. The area used to be nothing but desert and one theory was that the body could have been dumped there and if that's true the chances of finding any sort of evidence is slim.
The San Antonio native served in the Army Reserve and was an Operation Desert Storm veteran, who spent about eight months in Saudi Arabia. Soto, who had recently won custody of her two boys, then ages 10 and 7, worked as a public health technician for the El Paso City-County Health and Environmental District.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

El Paso Police Headquarters
Cold Case Unit
Detective Jesus Pantoja
915-564-7010

NCIC Number: M-662784702
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
El Paso Police Department