Cold Cases in Texas
ColdCaseIndex documents 25 cold cases in Texas, spanning 1946–2019. 15 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
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
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
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
Victoria Pham
Twenty-one-year-old Victoria Pham was found murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas in September 2006. Despite investigation, the case went cold. It remains in Nueces County cold case files.
Bonnie Garza
Twenty-seven-year-old Bonnie Garza was found murdered in El Paso, Texas in April 2003. Despite investigation, the case went cold. It remains in El Paso County cold case files.
Jennifer Servo
Television news reporter Jennifer Servo was found beaten and strangled in her Abilene apartment. She worked at a local TV station and had recently started a new relationship. Suspects included an ex-boyfriend and a cowor
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.
Veronica Trevino
Twenty-two-year-old Veronica Trevino was found murdered in Laredo, Texas in October 2001. Despite investigation, the case went cold. It remains in Webb County cold case files.
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
Paul Brooks
Thirty-three-year-old Paul Brooks was found murdered in San Antonio, Texas in March 1997. Despite investigation, the case went cold. It remains in Bexar County cold case files.
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
Ruth Ann Rodriguez
Thirty-four-year-old Ruth Ann Rodriguez was found murdered in San Antonio, Texas in September 1993. Despite investigation, the case went cold. It remains in Bexar County cold case files.
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
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
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
Beverly McLean
Thirty-six-year-old Beverly McLean was found murdered in Dallas, Texas in September 1978. Despite investigation, the case went cold. It remains in Dallas County cold case files.
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