Orange Socks
A woman wearing only orange socks was found murdered along I-35 in Texas in 1979. Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed but his conviction was commuted. She remains unidentified.
On Halloween 1979, the body of an unidentified woman was found in a culvert along Interstate 35 near Georgetown, Texas. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. The only item of clothing on her body was a pair of orange socks, which became her identifier.
The case took a controversial turn in 1983 when serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to the murder. Lucas, who was known for making hundreds of false confessions, was convicted and sentenced to death. However, evidence later suggested Lucas was in Florida at the time of the murder.
In 1998, Texas Governor George W. Bush commuted Lucas's death sentence to life imprisonment, the only such commutation during his tenure. Lucas died in prison in 2001. The murder conviction was widely questioned.
Despite advanced forensic testing including DNA analysis and isotope studies, the woman known as Orange Socks has never been identified. She remains one of Texas's most well-known Doe cases.
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Have Information About This Case?
Cold cases are solved when someone comes forward. Even a detail that seems minor can matter. If you have any information about this case, contact law enforcement through one of these channels:
- FBI Tips (tips.fbi.gov) — submit a tip online to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- FBI Tip Line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
- NamUs (namus.nij.ojp.gov) — the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System maintains records of unidentified remains and accepts public information
- The local police department or sheriff's office in Texas, or the state bureau of investigation
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