Cold Cases in Texas
ColdCaseIndex documents 48 cold cases in Texas, spanning 1885–2024. 21 of these cases remain fully unsolved. Each case page includes documented details, status, and information on how to submit a tip.
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All Texas Cases
Audrii Cunningham
Eleven-year-old Audrii Cunningham was murdered by Don Steven McDougal, a family friend who was supposed to take her to school. Her body was found in the Trinity River. McDougal was charged with capital murder.
Caleb Harris
Caleb Harris, a 21-year-old Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student, vanished from his apartment complex on Ennis Joslin Road in the early morning hours of March 4, 2024, leaving behind his truck, wallet, and keys. O
Baby Holly (found alive)
Holly Marie Clouse was found alive at age 42 in Oklahoma after her parents were identified as murdered Jane and John Does from 1981. She had been handed to a church by two women in robes.
Lina Sardar Khil
Three-year-old Lina Sardar Khil, a daughter of Afghan refugees, vanished from a playground at a San Antonio apartment complex. Despite massive searches, she has never been found.
Patrick Warren Sr.
Patrick Warren Sr. was shot and killed by a police officer responding to a mental health crisis call in Killeen, Texas. The case raised questions about police responses to mental health emergencies.
Vanessa Guillen
Army specialist Vanessa Guillen was bludgeoned to death by fellow soldier Aaron Robinson at Fort Hood. The case exposed systemic failures in military sexual harassment reporting.
Elizabeth Barraza
Elizabeth Barraza was shot in her own driveway at 6:55 AM while setting up for a garage sale. A doorbell camera captured the suspect approaching her disguised as a delivery person. Despite clear video evidence circulated
Maleah Davis
Four-year-old Maleah Davis was murdered by her mother's boyfriend Derion Vence in Houston. He initially claimed she was kidnapped during a carjacking. Her remains were found in Arkansas.
Maleah Davis (CPS failure)
Before her murder, Maleah Davis had been removed from her home by CPS after a skull fracture but was returned. The case exposed systemic failures in the Texas child welfare system.
Botham Jean
Botham Jean was shot in his own apartment by off-duty Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger, who claimed she entered his apartment by mistake. Guyger was convicted of murder in 2019 and sentenced to 10 years. She was releas
Sherin Mathews
Three-year-old adopted Indian girl Sherin Mathews was reported missing in Richardson, Texas. Her adoptive father Wesley Mathews later admitted to killing her. He was sentenced to life.
Camp Gladiator Slaying (detail)
The distinctive gait of the tactical-gear-clad suspect in the Missy Bevers murder has been extensively analyzed. The suspect's identity remains unknown despite clear surveillance footage.
Missy Bevers
Fitness instructor Missy Bevers was murdered inside a church before an early morning fitness class. Security cameras captured her killer walking through the church dressed in police tactical gear, but the suspect has nev
Terri 'Missy' Bevers
Fitness instructor Missy Bevers was found dead in a church where she was preparing for an early morning boot camp class. Surveillance footage showed a suspect in SWAT-style tactical gear walking through the church before
Sandra Bland
Sandra Bland was found dead in her Waller County, Texas jail cell three days after a traffic stop arrest. Her death was ruled a suicide by hanging but her family and many others believe she was murdered. The Texas Depart
Brandon Lawson
Brandon Lawson, 26, vanished in the early hours of August 9, 2013, after running out of gas on Highway 277 near Bronte, Texas, south of San Angelo, and placing a frantic, confused 911 call. He was missing for years until
Lori Erica Ruff
A Texas woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died by suicide on Christmas Eve, leaving behind evidence she had been living under a stolen identity for decades. Her true identity—Kimberly McLean of Pennsylvania—was not discover
Yaser Said Victims
Egyptian-born taxi driver Yaser Said murdered his daughters Amina (18) and Sarah (17) in an honor killing in Irving, Texas. He fled and was captured 12 years later.
Dana Lynn Dodd (Lavender Doe)
On October 29, 2006, the burning body of an unidentified young woman was found on an oil lease near Kilgore, Texas; she became known as Lavender Doe after the sweater she wore. In February 2019, the DNA Doe Project and t
Jennifer Servo
TV news anchor Jennifer Servo was strangled in her Big Spring, Texas apartment just weeks after starting her first on-air job. The case has never been solved.
Rachel Cooke
Nineteen-year-old Rachel Cooke vanished while jogging near her parents' home in Georgetown, Texas. Despite extensive investigation, she has never been found.
Rachel Louise Cooke
Nineteen-year-old Rachel Cooke went for a morning jog near her parents' home during winter break from college and never returned. A neighbor saw a truck driving slowly behind her. Despite extensive searches and a $100,00
Sara Ann Lewis Trusty
Sara Ann Trusty disappeared while biking near her church in the Galveston County area. Her body was found days later in a local reservoir. Despite investigation, the killer has never been identified or arrested.
Yates Children
Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the bathtub during a severe psychotic episode. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity after an initial conviction was overturned.
Mary Morris (wrong target)
Mary Morris was murdered in a possible case of mistaken identity in Houston. Another Mary Morris in the same area was the intended target of a hit ordered by her husband. The wrong woman was killed.
Robert Durst Victims
Real estate heir Robert Durst was connected to three killings spanning decades. He was convicted of murdering Susan Berman and suspected in the disappearance of his wife Kathie.
James Byrd Jr.
James Byrd Jr., a Black man, was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas by three white supremacists. John William King and Lawrence Russell Brewer were executed; Shawn Berry received a life s
Amber Hagerman
Nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted while riding her bicycle in an Arlington parking lot. A neighbor saw a man pull her into his truck. Her body was found four days later in a drainage ditch. Her kidnapping directl
Damon and Devon Routier
Brothers Damon (5) and Devon (6) Routier were stabbed to death in their Texas home. Their mother Darlie Routier claimed an intruder attacked them but was convicted and sentenced to death.
Austin Yogurt Shop Victims
Four teenage girls were murdered and the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop was set on fire in Austin, Texas. Four men were arrested in 1999 but their convictions were overturned. The case remains unsolved despite being on
Charles Albright Victims
Charles Albright was convicted of one murder in Dallas but suspected in two additional cases. His victims' eyes were always removed post-mortem, earning him the nickname 'The Eyeball Killer.' He was sentenced to life imp
Mark Kilroy
University of Texas student Mark Kilroy was kidnapped during spring break in Matamoros, Mexico and ritually murdered by a drug-trafficking cult. His remains were found at a ranch with other victims.
Robert Ben Rhoades Victims
Robert Ben Rhoades was a long-haul trucker convicted of murdering a couple in 1990. He later confessed to 50 murders along US highways over 15 years. He was convicted of two murders and sentenced to life in Illinois. Man
Angela Samota
Twenty-year-old Southern Methodist University student Angela Samota was sexually assaulted and murdered in her Dallas apartment. The case went cold for more than 20 years before a DNA database match linked Ricky Nolen Da
Dean and Tina Clouse
The decomposing remains of Dean and Tina Clouse were found in Houston, Texas in 1981. They had reportedly been associated with a 'Jesus freak' cult. Their infant daughter Lisa was found alive having been abandoned. Cult
Mary Day
Four-year-old Mary Day was kidnapped from a rural road in Brenham, Texas by Cameron Willingham, who would later gain fame for his controversial execution in a separate arson case.
Betty Gore
Betty Gore was found brutally axed to death in her home in Wylie, Texas. Her neighbor and friend, Candy Montgomery, was charged with the murder. Montgomery claimed self-defense and was acquitted in a famous trial. The ca
Sherri Ann Jarvis (Walker County Jane Doe)
On November 1, 1980, the body of a teenage girl who had been raped and strangled was found beside Interstate 45 north of Huntsville, Texas. Known for 41 years only as Walker County Jane Doe, she was identified in Novembe
Debra Jackson ("Orange Socks")
A young woman's body was found in a culvert off Interstate 35 near Georgetown, Texas, on Halloween 1979, wearing nothing but a pair of orange socks. Known as "Orange Socks" for four decades, she was identified in 2019 th
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.
Carla Walker
Carla Walker, 17, was abducted at gunpoint from a Fort Worth bowling-alley parking lot in February 1974 and found murdered three days later. The case went unsolved for 46 years until forensic genetic genealogy identified
Fort Worth Missing Trio
Three young women—Rachel Trlica (17), Renee Wilson (14), and Julie Ann Moseley (9)—went Christmas shopping at a Fort Worth mall and never returned. Their car was found at the mall. A strange letter supposedly from Rachel
Texas Killing Fields Victims
At least 11 women and girls were found dead or disappeared in a stretch of wetlands outside League City, Texas known as the Killing Fields. Only some victims have been identified. Multiple suspects have been investigated
Dean Corll Victims
Dean Corll, with accomplices David Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley, tortured and murdered at least 28 young men and boys in Houston. Corll was shot and killed by Henley in 1973, who then led police to multiple burial sites
John F. Kennedy Assassination
President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as a suspect but was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later befor
Henry Lee Lucas Victims
Henry Lee Lucas confessed to hundreds of murders but most were unverifiable. He was confirmed in several cases including the murder of his mother and with accomplice Ottis Toole. A Texas task force eventually cleared him
Texarkana Moonlight Murders
The Phantom Killer committed five known murders and two attacks in the Texarkana area across the Texas-Arkansas border in 1946. The victims were typically couples in cars on lover's lanes. Despite a massive manhunt, the
The Servant Girl Annihilator (Austin Axe Murders)
The 'Servant Girl Annihilator' was an unidentified serial killer who terrorized Austin, Texas, in 1884 and 1885, murdering eight people, most of them young Black servant women, in a series of nighttime axe and knife atta