On the morning of Friday, June 28, 2024, at approximately 02:19 A.M., officers from the Palestine Police Department (PPD) responded to a distress call at Premier Inn, located at 2300 W. Oak St in Palestine, TX. The call reported a female allegedly being held against her will in one of the rooms. According to reports, the victim had managed to send distress text messages to 911, detailing that she was being held by a male and urgently needed assistance.
Upon arrival, PPD officers attempted to establish contact by knocking on the door of the room registered to Cesilia Salinas, 31, who was found to have outstanding felony warrants from Smith County for drug possession and credit card abuse, totaling $500,000 in bond. Hotel staff informed officers that the room was occupied by Salinas, Amado Villanueva Gonzalez, 42, and the female victim.
Efforts to communicate with those inside the room were unsuccessful, prompting the deployment of the PPD Emergency Response Team (ERT). Following standard procedure, the ERT announced their presence, breached the door, and safely apprehended Salinas, Gonzalez, and the female victim.
During subsequent investigations, the victim disclosed that she had attempted to call 911 earlier, but Gonzalez forcibly took her phone, preventing her from seeking help. She recounted how Gonzalez physically restrained her from leaving the room, pushing her back onto the bed whenever she tried to escape. Both Salinas and Gonzalez were implicated in the incident, which involved alleged intoxication and drug use by all parties present.
