Two years later, on Feb 3, 1986, children riding dirt bikes in Calder Field smelled an odor and located the body of an unidentified female, who was given the name Jane Doe. But in 1986, her body was found in the same field Fye's had been located. Debbie Ackerman And Maria Johnson. Seventeen days later, her body was found in a retention pond in, Last seen at the Bennigan's restaurant near, After mapping a route between League City and, After leaving her Algoa, Texas home during the evening hours of the day, she was last seen riding her bike near the Algoa Baptist Church. He even founded Texas EquuSearch, a search and rescue organization to help find missing people, according to local outlet Click2Houston. Evidence at the scene, however, was more or less destroyed. Texas Killing Fields on Pluto TV | Thrillers | 1hr 45 min | In the Texas bayous, a local homicide detective . From the 1970s into the 1990s, around 35 slain women were found among a 25-acre stretch of land between Houston and Galveston in what became known as the Texas Killing Fields. "Killing Fields" refers to an area along the Interstate 45 corridor from Huntsville to Galveston, where the bodies of . Since 1971, dozens of murder victims have been found in a 25-acre area near Interstate 45, between Galveston and Houston. Most of the victims were aged 1225 years. He died on December 21, 2000, and 16 years later, a number of police officials admitted their belief that Self had been wrongly convicted, according to Fox News. Following their arrests, Zwarst told police where he had hidden Sikes's body, but unfortunately Sikes' body has never been found. But if you yelled, no one would necessarily hear you. The four Calder. "I shouldn't have did (sic) what I did," Stallings said. The victim was a 23-year-old League City bartender named Heidi Fye, who had disappeared year earlier. In a featured story by CBS News, for 48 Hours Mystery, federal agent Don Ferrarone noted, This bridge up ahead had a sign on it when you came out in this directionit said, You are now entering the cruel world,' as he and the reporter, Erin Moriarty, drove along Interstate 45. [55], In May 1997, William Lewis Reece was arrested for the kidnapping and attempted murder of 19-year-old Sandra Sapaugh from Webster. Discovered in a field in the 3000 block of Calder Road alongside Laura Miller, coroners estimate the woman was 22 to 30 years old and 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8, and that she died six weeks to six months prior to being found. ", "FamilyTreeDNA Helps Identify Two Victims from the 'Texas Killing Fields', "Houston-based DNA company helps identify 'Killing Fields' victims", "Texas 'Killing Fields' victim from Memphis, police say", "The Texas killing fields and the highway of death", "Man convicted in 'Killing Fields' murder of Texas City teen", "DNA linking man to teen's '96 death gives her family answers", "Krystal Baker murder case featured on TV series Tuesday night", "Man convicted in Texas City girl's 1996 slaying", "Krystal Jean Baker Act Aids Law Enforcement in More Quickly Connecting Missing Links in Unsolved Cases", "The disappearance of 12-year-old Friendswood girl Laura Smither", "The killing fields: Disappearance of Texas girl still haunts reporter", "William Lewis Reece sentenced to life in prison for murders of Laura Smither, Jessica Cain and Kelli Ann Cox", "Remembering Jessica Cain, 20 years after her disappearance", "Parents of slain girl face Reece in courtroom", "Man seen at Jessica Cain body search site linked to young girls' disappearances", "Body found in SE Houston field confirmed to be Jessica Cain", "Remains confirmed to be those of Jessica Cain, who vanished in 1997", "Family awaiting news about missing woman", "Dickinson family hoping for break in Halloween cold case murder", "Elderly Inmate Claims to Have Committed Nearly a Dozen Murders", "Texas killer's death leaves unanswered questions in girls' slayings", "Confessed killer details murder of Texas Killing Fields victim", "League City police determine identities of 2 women found in 'Texas Killing Fields', "Clyde Hedrick: Man convicted in decades-old murder case in Galveston County released from prison", "Galveston Co. man released from prison for 1984 killing due to old mandatory release law", "The Killing Fields 48 Hours CBS News", "Man convicted in one of 'I-45 Killings' cases dies in prison", "Kidnapper convicted in Texas City teen's 1986 disappearance denied parole again", "Experts: William Reece fits 'serial killer' profile", "Cases against accused killer William Reece at a standstill", "Convicted kidnapper reveals location of Kelli Ann Cox's remains", "Detectives hope 'Killing Fields' film help solve 60 murders", "Victims' kin skeptical on film on Galveston Co. killings", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Texas_Killing_Fields&oldid=1142230120, Last seen on her way to visit her aunt. "Texas has convicted people for less than this," Carroll said. In 2010 Killeen's population shot to 127,921. [6], The soundtrack was scored by Dickon Hinchliffe (formerly of Tindersticks) except for three tracks credited to The Americans. MISSING: 79-year-old man with dementia last seen in NW Harris County, Texas GOP officially censures Rep. Tony Gonzales, Houston forecast: Get ready for a picture perfect weekend, Damage reported throughout North Texas area during severe weather, Man confesses to a Texas Killing Field murder. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 37% based on 46 reviews, with a consensus that read: "Texas Killing Fields is a competent boilerplate crime thriller, brewing up characters and plots used in better films. One of Netflix's latest true-crime docuseries,Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields, tells the story of the unsolved murders of four Texas women that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s in League City. "I know I had no right to take this young girl's life;she was just an innocent girl," Carroll read from one of the letters. Skip past search results. It competed in the 68th Venice International Film Festival. Despite the fact that his testimony shows great consistency with details, he hasn't been charged with any murders yet, but remains a suspect in the murders of Donna Prudhomme and Audrey Cook, as well as two unrelated murders in Fort Bend County. [42], Michael Self died on December 21, 2000, still in custody. The inconsistencies throw even more questions into the mix, and add to the mystery of the Texas Killing Fields. But Grant said Stallings later recanted. Bell was able to name some of his victims: Despite his alleged confession, Bell was never charged with the murders and there was no physical evidence against him. "I'd walk out there right now and point straight at where she was," Stallings said. In 1976, some of her remains were found by police, but due to neglect, weren't identified as hers until a new detective took over the case in '81 and re-examined the ditch where they were originally found. The area was dubbed "The Killing Fields" and the cases were never solved. Yes, there have been multiple arrests in the numerous murders that have been associated with the Texas Killing Fields. The fact that any of this occurred is unsettling, to say the least. texas killing fields crime scene photos. "[4] Also, despite the fact that many popular true crime podcasts have grouped the murders of Dean and Tina Clouse with these victims, Dean and Tina Clouse were actually found in Houston off Interstate 10 in the 13,000 block of Wallisville Road, not League City (the location of the Texas Killing Fields). 26 memorials. Last seen with Brooks Bracewell at the U-Totem convenience store off of FM 517 and I-45. Years after finding the four bodies in that field near Calder Roadpart of an area that became known as "the Killing Fields"investigators are still trying to find the murderer (s). After his arrest, Zwarst told the police that he had hidden the body in one of the fields, where the other bodies were found. This started in 1971 when three Galveston girls disappeared. The monkier is chilling enough, but once you delve into the Texas Killing Fields' murderous history, it's easy to fall down a true-crime rabbit hole. The following year, he was extradited to Texas and was convicted of the murders of Smither, Cain and Cox, receiving a life term after pleading guilty to each of the three murders.[27]. The empathy on Brian's mournful face suggests that, if he could just find the killer of. She is believed to have hitchhiked, but it is unclear how she ended up in Texas. theYear=now.getYear() Bell lived on a property near the beach in Galveston, where he was a silent partner of a surf shop. ", RELATED:EquuSearch Founder Awarded $24 Million In Teen Daughters 1984 Abduction, Murder. The documentary dives . After that, she never heard from Prudhomme again. Since the early 1970s, 30 bodies of murder victims have been found within the Killing Fields area. Texas Killing Fields (also known as The Fields) is a 2011 American crime film directed by Ami Canaan Mann and starring Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jessica Chastain and Chlo Grace Moretz. The disturbing unsolved crimes are the focus of the new Netflix limited series "Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 06:21. [4], The film was distributed overseas by Entertainment Film Distributors, a British company. That ride took them south to League City and a field off Interstate 45 and Calder Road. Stallings had picked up the young woman on Telephone Road near Interstate 610. Over 30 victims mostly women or girls were found along the 1-45 corridor south of Houston between 1971 and 2016. ", In that rural field off Calder Road, four people were found dead from 1983 to 1991. Roland remains a prime suspect in the 1991 murder and two other slayings in Fort Bend County. This led authorities to seek out potential serial killers and other leads, but decades later, these murders still remain a mystery. The decomposed body was found months later in 1991. | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Return Policy. The Texas Killing Fields is an area bordering the Calder Oil Field, which is a 25-acre patch of land situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45.. While not the official name, the "Killing Fields" has become a term used to describe the 25-acre stretch of an abandoned oil field located in League City, Texas, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller announces documentary Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields on Netflix. After this revelation, Reece confessed to killing Jessica Cain and Kelli Cox, leading the investigators to the bodies' burial sites. The Texas Killing Fields is a stretch of abandoned land just off the interstate road the I-45 between Houston and Galveston in Texas. At the time of death, Cook was 30 years old and working as a mechanic living in Houston, Channelview, and Heights, Texas. It makes a body deteriorate so much faster.. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields is a three-episode limited series that tells the story of the victims whose bodies were dumped in an oil field that makes up a 50-mile stretch of highway . "I think he's trying to clear his conscience, because he knows he's not going to get out," Carrol said. But to this day, Stallings has not been charged in the murder of Janet Doe. Her family believes police found a white blouse that belonged to her after one of her convicted kidnappers, Gerald Peter Zwarst, drew them a map of where to find her body, but she still has never been found. Coroners estimate that that female victim was 24 to 34 years old, 5 feet to 5-foot-3 and weighed 100 to 130 pounds. Culture of Suspicion 51m The case of a missing 12-year-old gets media attention, while more bodies turn up. They were convicted of aggravated kidnap and were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998. Since the early 1970s, some 30 bodies of murder victims have been found within the Killing Fields area. Last seen at a teen club with her friend, Lynette Bibbs, and a 22-year old companion. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Seventeen picks products that we think you'll love the most. [56][57][58] He has been suspected of kidnapping and killing Laura Smither and confessed, in 2016, to Friendswood Police that he did kill her. In June 2022, he was extradited to Texas where he was found guilty of the murders of Smither, Cain, and Cox. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! However, there have only been two convictions for murder, leaving countless homicides unsolved today. Grant said investigators plan to pay Stallings a visit in prison, with the hope he will once again talk about what happened to Janet Doe. It would take decades to identify the final two victims, until a breakthrough came in January 2019. In 1978, Bell, while masturbating on the street in front of a group of teenage girls, he was confronted by 26-year-old former Marine Larry Dickens, while his mother called the police. 10. engagedbbw 18 days ago. Texas Killing Fields (location) - Unionpedia, the concept map Scene in 'Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields' on Netflix. Miller was last seen using the same pay phone that Fye was using months before. From 1971 until 2006, over 30 women were found dead along an area of Interstate 45 that runs for 50 miles between Houston and Galveston. These bodies joined the one other body that was found in the Calder field in 1983. Unfortunately, the movie often seems to stray from such discipline. Debbie Catherine Ackerman 23 Jun 1956 - 16 Nov 1971 . After telling her mother she was going on a 20-minute jog, Laura was last seen running down the same street that her home sat on. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields tells the story of the Calder Road Oil Field, colloquially known as the Texas Killing Fields, a 25-acre patch of land . A dog discovered the first victim, Heidi Villareal Fye, 23, on April 4, 1984. Its rattlesnake season in Texas. ALSO STREAMING: Netflix true crime documentaries also focus on Vanessa Guilln case. William Lewis Reece is the only suspect to be convicted of more than one murder linked to the Texas Killing Fields. Left her home in June 1982, possibly through her window. In 1998, Bell wrote several letters to the Harris County Attorney, confessing to the murders of five girls in 1971 and six more between 1974 and 1977. The area is quite far away from civilization as well. [2] Furthermore, many additional young girls have disappeared from this area; these girls' bodies are still missing. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Authorities have never been able to identify the woman. After 33 years, the body was identified as Audrey Lee Cook. Who Died in the Boat Accident on Murdaugh Murders? A 50-mile stretch of road that has been nicknamed the Highway of Hell due to the high frequency of traffic accidents, it is also a desolate, remote area, and one that has become a legendary dumping ground for bodiesin part because of the pop-culture rendering of the so-called Texas killing fields in the 2011 movie starring Jessica Chastain. Local and federal investigators believe, at least, some of the cases are. One man, Edward Harold Bell, a convicted sex offender and murderer, claims to have killed Debbie and Maria (along with many of the other girls found in the fields), but he . He told police he carried out the rape and murder with the help of Gerald Peter Zwarst. Police have not yet found Lauras killer: With the climate and terrain making the area a perfect killing field, its likely they never will. Furthermore, many young girls have disappeared from this area; the girls' bodies, if deceased . Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for TEXAS KILLING FIELDS (Blu-ray, 2011) NEW at the best online prices at eBay! The Texas Killing Fields is an extremely large area of land (approximately 25-acres) off of Interstate 45 in southern Texas, between the cities of Houston and Galveston. if (theYear < 1900) Four women were ultimately found dead in a rural area of Texas that has become known as the Texas Killing Fields. The same day Miller was found, police discovered a third unidentified body that they named Jane Doe. It is a "principal city" of the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area. Netflix is all set to cover these murders with its upcoming docuseries Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields. Texas Hill Country Facebook page is growing by over 1,000 fans per In Texas City, Texas, detective Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) and his partner, Brian Heigh . A year after Villareal-Fye's disappearance, 16-year-old Clear Creek High School student Laura Miller went missing. Stallings, 50, is serving more than two life sentences for unrelated crimes, including aggravated kidnapping for a 1998 escape attempt while in prison. At about the same time, a detective tested Baker's dress for DNA. A man named Kevin Edison Smith was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for murdering a 13-year-old girl named Krystal Jean Baker in 1996, according to The Houston Chronicle. Since the 1970s, over 30 young women and girls have disappeared or been found murdered in the 50-mile desolate area between Houston and Galveston - a stretch of land that some call a highway of. In 2016, Reece confessed to police he had kidnapped and murdered Laura Smither, 12. The murders of Laura and Heide and five other women and girls, including two unidentified female murder victims, gave infamy to Calder Road and the fields surrounding it. Almost two decades later, in 2015, Reece's DNA was found to match 19-year-old Tiffany Johnson, who had been murdered in Oklahoma in 1997. While in prison, Reece provided a map of the burial sites and afterwards offered to fully help investigators in order to avoid the death penalty. They were unable to identify this victim, and she became known as a Jane Doe. Bell confessed to murdering eleven young women in and around Galveston in the 1970s, and there was an A&E miniseries made about it. [5][6][7] Filming began on May 3, 2010,[5] in Louisiana, United States. It competed in the 68th Venice International Film Festival.[2]. Ahead, find everything we know about the Texas Killing Fields victims, including who they were, when they went missing, and when their bodies were found. Thats something that Goetschius does in real life. Previously, he was a reporter for Houston Community Newspapers covering the Bellaire and Memorial areas. ", There, four women were found murdered in the same rural field, posed in a similar way. There has been little evidence to go on, and nothing to connect the four victims. But hindered by niggling flaws, it hardly revolutionises an over-saturated genre."[13]. This remote tract of land became a dumping ground for killers. [citation needed], The fields have been described as "a perfect place [for] killing somebody and getting away with it". Donna found happiness after breaking up with her husband, but it was short-lived. For over 3 decades, dozens of women & girls along a stretch of TX highway have gone missing, or been found murdered. Three years later, police chief Don Morris and his deputy, Tommy Deal, were arrested and convicted of numerous crimes, including torture and misconduct against detainees. We also run the premiere real-estate site in the hill country at HillCountryRealestate.com. Ryan Nickerson is an engagement reporter for the Houston Chronicle. This Sat night 5/9, Part 1 of 2 episodes covering the Texas Killing Fields/I45 Murders. Heres what you need to know. When she's not busy watching the latest true crime docuseries, you can find her strolling through Sephora, thrifting the perfect dress, or jogging with her pup. Last seen with Georgia Geer at the U-Totem convenience store off of FM 517 and I-45. The Texas Killing Fields is easily one of the most discussed topics of the last decade due to the massive mystery around the area. After some roadblocks, she ultimately brought her children to live with her mother. A man named Kevin Edison Smith was charged and sentenced to prison for murdering a 13-year-old girl named Krystal Jean Baker in 1990s. As for the other women found dead along Interstate 45, only one case has ever been solved. The film is loosely based on the murders while depicting a fictional portrayal of the struggle that local police faced while attempting to solve the murders. Her body was found in Galveston Bay near, Last seen walking with Sharon Shaw along Seawall Boulevard in Galveston. Jane Doe was finally named as Audrey Lee Cook, a 30-year-old mechanic who worked in various parts of Texas and had last been seen alive in December 1985. The Texas Killing Fields is a 25-acre patch of land in League City, Texas[1] situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45 and approximately 26 miles southeast of Houston. Last seen accepting a ride near an island ice cream shop with Debbie Ackerman. After two decades on the run from U.S. police for the murder of former Marine Larry Dickens, Edward Harold Bell was extradited from Panama to the states to face trial in 1993. She said she'd walk herself the short way back home. Since the early 1970s, 33 bodies of murder victims have been found along the I-45 area. Initially, investigators wrote her off as a runaway, despite the fact that she needed medication for epilepsy which had been left at home. [52] A jury deliberated for about 30 minutes and found Smith guilty. He posted bail several weeks later and in order to avoid conviction and further incarceration, he fled Texas and escaped from the United States, evading police for more than two decades.
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