LAKEWAY, Texas (KXAN) — It’s a mystery that’s evaded investigators for more than 37 years. Who shot and killed Elizabeth "Betty" Thomas?

Why would someone target the beloved 45-year-old wife, mother and soon-to-be grandmother from Lakeway? Why was her body found in the trunk of her own car at a motel in Austin more than 20 miles away from her home?

Through the decades, rumors swirled in the tight-knit and affluent suburb of Lakeway. According to reporting at the time, investigators suspected a professional hit, and they examined whether Thomas’ murder was connected to her own father-in-law's death eight years earlier. Lakeway police investigators now say both theories led to dead ends. However, new search warrants, filed this year and discovered by KXAN Investigators, point to a possible

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