Irene Garza

Type: Person

As of November 2026, Irene Garza has been mentioned in one podcast episode on 48 Hours (Nov 2025). Irene Garza is discussed in the "Twisted Trials" episode of "48 Hours" as the central figure in a murder case from 1960. Her disappearance after going to confession at Sacred Heart Church and the subsequent allegations of a church cover-up are key elements of the narrative, with John Fe being identified as her murderer and later convicted. Michelle Martino highlights the timeline of her case, noting she was found five days after her disappearance.

Irene Garza was an American schoolteacher and beauty queen whose death was the subject of investigation for several decades. She was last seen alive on April 16, 1960, when she went to confession at a church in McAllen, Texas. She was reported missing the following morning. Following the largest volunteer search to that date in the Rio Grande Valley, Garza's body was discovered in a canal on April 21. An autopsy concluded that she had been sexually assaulted before being killed; the cause of dea