Austin police believe they have another gay hookup-gone-wrong case on their hands, and are asking for the public’s help in identifying a possible suspect.
According to police, 36-year-old David Villarreal was found dead in his apartment on Monday after a concerned friend had notified authorities of his mysterious absence. Police haven’t revealed the cause of death, but labeled it “suspicious” and combed through the building’s surveillance footage to find an eyebrow-raising sequence of events.
They discovered footage of the victim entering his downtown condo tower early Saturday morning with an unidentified man (right) whom they believe he met that night at a nearby club, Oilcan Harry’s. The man promptly left an hour later, which police believe is when Villarreal died.
“I have a strong feeling we’ll catch this guy,” said Sergeant Brian Miller. Police are asking anyone who can identify this man to reach out directly to the Austin Police Department at (512) 974-5000.
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KyCUBE
Thank you for covering this, David was a really sweet guy. I hope they catch the guy that did this.
Jackhoffsky
@KyCUBE: I second that. Gay-wise, we can be a really small community and this getting national exposure is really awesome… and for such, we are thankful.
oilburner
The only reason why the police are making such an effort in this case is Because one gay guy killed another gay guy now if a straight guy had killed a gay guy the police could care less
Jackhoffsky
@oilburner: OR Austin only has about 30 murders a year… city wide, and only about 5 violent crimes a year for that particular area. I can’t even remember the last murder that happened downtown. So it could be that the police are making such an effort because people in 360 and the surrounding buildings pay A LOT of money to be safe. And they are. Until something like this.
Even straight people are talking about this case.
hyhybt
I’ve never been within 200 miles of Austin, but that name is awfully familiar, and I think it’s from this site. Did he used to write for Queerty?
Will L
@hyhybt: Damn, I’m sitting here thinking the same thing. Doesn’t look familiar but I know that name.
sideliner
You may be thinking of Daniel Villareal, although I haven’t seen him post or comment for quite some time.
I have no idea if Daniel is any relation.
hyhybt
@sideliner: Google says he’s also from Texas; I hope they’re not related.
(And no wonder the name seemed familiar. Same last name, first names not only similar, but each also belonging to one of my brothers.)
austtex
They’ve arrested someone, not much info, but here is the link:
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/arrest-made-in-360-condo-death