SAN ANTONIO -- For the last 12 years, the slaying of Conrad Arredondo has been a mystery.

Arredondo's decomposed body was found on Pue Road north of Loop 1604 South in an unincorporated area of Bexar County on Aug. 21, 1997.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Arredondo died of blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds.

Bexar County Sheriff's Office cold case investigators Adrian Ramirez and Louis Antu found evidence that showed Arredondo, 36, may have been killed by three people he had been partying with.

"Conrad had been seen with all three of these individuals that day," Ramirez said. "He knew these individuals well. They were actually considered to be friends."

It wasn't until cold case investigators recently started closing in on the case that they noticed a key piece of evidence.

"We used some DNA," Antu said. "We were able to re-evaluate the evidence we did have."

Arrest warrants were then issued Tuesday for Joe Leonard Casas, Alfred Deleon and Gilbert Cardenas.

Within hours, Casas and DeLeon were arrested and charged with murder. They are being held in the Bexar County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond each.

Cardenas is still at large. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call the Bexar County Sheriff's Office at 210-335-6000.