Rene Austin, a 60-year-old mother, grandmother, and business owner, was found shot to death in her Kansas City, Missouri apartment on the evening of September 29, 2016. Her home in the 400 block of Booth Avenue was where her daughter, after hearing a loud boom, went to check and discovered her mother deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. Authorities pronounced her dead at the scene and the Kansas City Police Department opened a homicide investigation; detectives worked through the night and in the days that followed to piece together what happened and seek a motive.

Austin was remembered by family as funny, sweet, caring, and always putting others first. Her killing was described as unusual for a victim of her age and added to the city’s homicide toll that year, leaving her son, daughter, and relatives without answers. If anyone has information about the shooting or the events leading to September 29, 2016, please come forward.