The information and photographs below provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
AUSTIN, TX – Two of Texas’s 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders are back in custody following their recent arrests. Authorities captured Abelardo Garza in Brownsville and Elliott Reed in Benbrook last week. A Texas Crime Stoppers reward will be paid for Garza’s arrest.
Abelardo Garza, 56, was taken into custody in Brownsville on Sept. 3. Following up on tip information, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Brownsville Police Department (BPD), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – Special Response Team (SRT), along with members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force, located and arrested Garza at a residence. Garza had been wanted since June 2026 for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
Abelardo Garza is pictured above.
Garza was previously convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child following an incident with an 8-year-old girl in Cameron Co. He received eight years of probation and was required to register quarterly as a sex offender for life. More information about Garza can be found here.
Elliott Thomas Reed, 40, was taken into custody in Benbrook on Sept. 2. Working off investigative information, DPS CID Special Agents, along with officers from the Benbrook Police Department and Fort Worth Police Department, located and arrested Reed at a residence. Reed had been wanted since April 2026, when the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for his arrest for violating his parole. Additionally, in May 2026, a warrant was issued out of Dallas Co. for Reed’s arrest for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
Elliott Thomas Reed is pictured above.
Since 2005, Reed has been convicted of numerous crimes, including sexual assault of a child involving a 14-year-old girl, evading arrest/detention with a vehicle, manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, deadly conduct, unlawful carrying of a weapon and assault causing bodily injury to a family member. Reed was sentenced to four years in prison for his sexual assault of a child conviction. More information about Reed can be found here.
Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. So far in 2026, DPS and other agencies have arrested 56 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 39 sex offenders and nine gang members – with $79,000 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests.
To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about then clicking on the link under their picture.
- Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).
All tips are anonymous — regardless of how they are submitted — and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants Lists. You can find the current lists — with photos — on the DPS website.