Trying to Track Down Old Deed Ownership

I am trying to determine if my grandfather and his brother still have ownership in a mineral and royalty deed from Hidalgo County. Both have passed away for many years and we found some paperwork from a Sterling M. Morris dated 1985 wanting to purchase both of their rights to the property in question. There is even a check and deed that needed notorized but only for his brother though the letter indicates there should have been two checks and two deeds to sign. Any ideas on how to track down if either are still owners of this property or how to get in touch with Sterling M. Morris? Here is the legal description:

100.4 acres of land, more or less, out of the Santa Anita Grant, Abstract No. 63, and being the same land described in a Oil, Gas and Mineral Lease dated February 8, 1962 from Virginia Lawler, et vir to Shell Oil Company, recorded in Volume 269, at Page 8 of the Oil and Gas Records of Hidalgo County, Texas.

I live out of state so not sure how to go about tracking this down. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

The Shell leases in Hidalgo were eventually sold to OXY. I believe OXY sold to Merit Energy out of Dallas in 2014 or 2015. You may want to check the county lease records which you may be able to access on-line or hire a land man to check or contact Merit Energy to get their information ofn the lease you stated

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