The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Jose Mario Lopez, 59, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list, and a cash reward up to $3,000 is now being offered for information leading to his capture. Lopez is wanted for parole violation and failure to register as a sex offender. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.

Lopez has ties to San Patricio and Nueces counties, including the cities of Corpus Christi, Edroy, and Odem. In January 2017, Lopez knowingly and intentionally cut off his ankle monitor and absconded from a Houston facility, where he had been placed in November 2016. In 1983, Lopez was convicted in San Patricio County of burglary of habitation with the intent to commit a sex offense. He subsequently received a 70-year prison sentence, and was released on parole in 2015 and required to register as a sex offender for life. For more information or updates in the event of his arrest, see his wanted bulletin at:
dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted.

Lopez is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds. He has a tattoo of a cross on his left hand, and other tattoos on his upper arms, left forearm and back. He may also be known as “Mario” Lopez.

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 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: (itunes.apple.com) and for Android users on Google Play: (play.google.com).

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 dps.texas.gov/texas10mostwanted/.

Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.

(Press release from Texas Department of Public Safety)