Teague police hunt for killer goes on

It's been more than three years since someone shot a much-loved Teague grandmother to death in her car, but the town's police officers remain more determined than ever to solve the mystery, according to Chief of Police DeWayne Philpott.

"Teague Police Department considers this its top priority case and has been and is continuing to follow up on evidence and any leads we have or will come across," Philpott said. "We want this case solved to afford some closure to the family of this horrific incident."

Von Staggs, 64, was found by a coworker in the parking lot of Brookshire Brothers on Loop 255 Sunday, Feb. 23, in the early morning hours. The killer apparently shot the grocery store manager in the head just as she was preparing to open the store for the day.

Staggs, who was known as Momma Von and often seen reading her Bible, was known for being charitable and devoted to her religion, according to her loved ones. Her death shocked the town and left her children and grandchildren devastated.

Chief Philpott said he is optimistic that Staggs' murderer will be brought to justice. He noted that Staggs' homicide is the only one that has occurred during his 10 years working in the city, and he is unaware of any others prior to that.

"This is still an active investigation, which I am working closely with the County Attorney’s Office Investigator and the Texas Rangers to solve," Philpott said. "We have a lot of information on the case and, as a group consensus, the case is very solvable. We are reviewing all evidence and information gathered in the case, along with reanalyzing analytical data to aid in our investigation."

Philpott said he could not reveal more information about the case because it might harm the investigative efforts to solve it.

Staggs' murder is the subject of a podcast called Silent Witness that will air April 3 that will feature interviews with Staggs' family members. The podcast is produced by Rogue Media of Waco and features crime experts Christina Gaston and Angela A as the hosts, who each have a quarter-century experience in criminology. Silent Witness is on platforms, such as Apple, Spotify, Amazon and You Tube, where people listen to podcasts.

" We focus on unsolved cases in Texas and a few in other states with a bit of true crime thrown in," Gaston said.  "Our goal is to bring attention to these unsolved cases in hopes we can touch someone who knows something and will report to the police.  I have a heart for victims and the family of Von Staggs truly touched me and they deserve justice for their mom."