The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Billy Wayne Gilliland, 58, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, and a cash reward up to $7,500 is now being offered for information leading to his capture. Gilliland, a confirmed member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang, is wanted for parole violation and evading arrest/detention with a vehicle. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.
Gilliland received a life sentence for murder in Liberty County in the 1980s, and was released on parole in March 2014. In October 2016, Gilliland absconded from the halfway house where he was placed in Del Valle, Texas. Gilliland has ties to Liberty County, and also to the cities of Baytown, Conroe and Midway. His criminal history also includes convictions for escape, burglary and drug charges. For more information or updates in the event of his arrest, see his wanted bulletin at: www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/fugitiveDetails.aspx?id=358.
Gilliland is 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds. Gilliland has numerous tattoos on his back, chest, arms and left shoulder. He also may wear glasses.
Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of the Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives or sex offenders. So far in 2017, Texas Crime Stoppers has paid $15,000 in total rewards for anonymous tips that resulted in arrests.
To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of the five following methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
- Text the letters DPS – followed by your tip – to 274637 (CRIMES) from your cell phone.
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about, and then clicking on the link under their picture.
- Submit a Facebook tip at http://www.facebook.com/texas10mostwanted by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).
- Submit a tip through the DPS Mobile App. The app is currently available for iPhone users on the Apple App Store: (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/texas-dps/id902092368?mt=8) and for Android users on Google Play: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microassist.texasdps&hl=en).
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 Fugitive and Sex Offender lists. You can find the current lists – with photos – on the DPS website at http://www.dps.texas.gov/texas10mostwanted/.
Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.
(News release from the Texas DPS in Austin)
