Update, January 25 2018:
Three days after his 30th birthday, a Houston man is arrested on charges of murdering two Bryan men and wounding two others last October.
Frankie Lee Bell Jr. was this month’s most wanted fugitive by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
According to DPS, Bell had been out of prison about four months at the time of the shooting during an armed robbery at a home in the Castle Heights neighborhood of east Bryan.
Bond has been set at $320,000 dollars.
Original story:
Through the end of January, the reward is $12,500 dollars for information leading to the capture of 29 year old Frankie Lee Bell Jr., who has ties to Bryan, Caldwell, Somerville, and Houston.
DPS reports at the time two men were killed in Bryan’s Castle Heights neighborhood, Bell has been out of prison four months after serving 12 years for shooting two men.
Bell is this month’s DPS featured fugitive in addition to being on the state’s ten most wanted fugitive list.
News release from the Texas Department of Public Safety:
The reward for Frankie Lee Bell Jr., 29, a Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and this month’s featured fugitive, has been increased to $12,500 for information leading to his capture if the tip comes in during the month of January.
Bell, affiliated with the Bloods gang, is wanted for murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.
Bell has ties to Caldwell (his last known address) and Somerville in Burleson County, as well as Bryan and Houston.
On October 3, 2017, Bell and multiple other subjects were allegedly involved in an aggravated robbery at a residence in Bryan. As a result of the robbery, two men were shot and killed, and a third man inside the residence was injured. Bell’s whereabouts since then are unknown.
The suspect had recently been released from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility (June 2017), where he served a 12-year sentence for shooting two men in 2005.
Bell is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs approximately 175 pounds. He has a tattoo of a dog paw and a 5-point star on his right forearm; a “B” hand sign on his outer right forearm; a “59” on his left bicep; other tattoos covering his neck and both arms; and a scar near his right eye.
For more information or updates in the event of his arrest, see his wanted bulletin at: http://www.dps.texas.gov/texas10mostwanted/MostWanted/fugitiveDetails?id=385.
One offender from the Texas 10 Most Wanted Program is featured each month in hopes the higher reward money from the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division will generate additional tips. The higher reward amount will only be paid if the tip comes in the same month the fugitive is featured. In 2017, Texas Crime Stoppers paid $61,000 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).