User:John M. Casas/sandbox

Bold textFirst Woman Investigator Appointed to a Texas Sheriff's Department Twenty-two year old Ernestine Villalba-Silva was appointed to El Paso County's Sheriff Department by Sheriff Joe Campbell in 1949. The mother of two came to the department with a resume that included undercover drug enforcement work with the Pinkerton Agency in San Francisco, California. The vacancy became available with the resignation of predecessor Bill Boykin. Mrs. Villalba-Silva was a Texas native, born in Alpine, Texas.