ex-FBI lady thinks the same killer is traveling to Chicago, too. @Nook Yet another reason to not be a Millennial dude, I guess.
Yeah - at least one killer, possibly two separate and independent killers. I am REALLY hoping that the killer turns out to be Austin resident Paul Simon, who moved to Austin around the same time all of these murders began.
Yeah - there are a LOT of people that commute between Chicago and Austin. A lot of Millenials and Xennials are moving to Austin from Chicago. My guess is that the killer is a gay man that looks and dresses like Anderson Cooper that is involved in the music/party scene in Austin but was born or has family in Chicago. Some guy that looks like this and promises free molly or weed to a young looking Tucker Carlson looking guy who agrees before being dumped in the river.
Interesting. I had not heard the correlation to Chicago. I am familiar with the Smiley Face thing. There is an epidemic of young men ending up in water after being in bars in various parts of the country - not just Chicago and Austin. I could be wrong, but I think there's an especially high incidence within 10 miles of interstates. In some cases the guys will be missing for months but only seem to have been in the water for days. It's very odd. I wouldn't be shocked if there was a trucker that had killed dozens of 20-40 somethings in the last 10-15 years.
It's true. It's kind of a fascinating thing that could be purely coincidence, but it's definitely a thing. Between New York, Chicago area, many parts in between, as well as Austin. Hell, I know of two or three random cases of this happening in my neck of the podunk woods between New York and Chicago. A coworker of mine was good friends with one of them. It is a bizarre story. Look up info on the Smiley Face murder theory. And then don't pay muchas much or as little attention to the Smiley Face part as you want - depending on whether you think graffiti Smiley Faces being found near some bodies in totally random spots are mere coincidence (since they're a common symbol) or not. If you think they are coincidence, then suddenly, there are many more of these happenings across the country. That being said, these stories typically have to do with younger men being seen at a bar (near a river or lake) and leaving by themselves. Some could say drunk guy + water = bad, but most of the time, these guys were only witnessed having a drink or two. Sometimes acting normal when they left and sometimes acting way more out of it than a drink or two should make them. I realize this is a crazy, conspiracy theory-esque rabbit hole to go down, but it's a somewhat fascinating one, and when in Rome (this thread)... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley_face_murder_theory
Most of these are not considered suspicious, but not all obviously -- don't forget about the other serial killer about to go to trial. ______ As of August 14, 2024, at least 12 bodies have been found in Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, and the surrounding area over the past 22 months. Alleged Austin serial killer's pretrial hearing reset to August 27 https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/alleged-austin-serial-killers-pretrial-hearing-reset-to-august-27
Another dead body was found in a Houston bayou, marking the sixth in less than two weeks The Harris County medical examiner’s office has released the identities of the five people found in local bayous between Sept. 15-20. The string of recent deaths has sparked concerns and speculation among residents, but Houston police say none of them appear to be connected. Adam Zuvanich | Posted On September 26, 2025, 8:38 AM (Last Updated: September 26, 2025, 11:09 AM) Email Gail Delaughter/Houston Public Media Water pours through a storm drain along Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston. For the sixth time in less than two weeks, a dead body has been discovered in a Houston-area bayou. A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department (HPD) said Friday that it received a call at about 11:35 p.m. Thursday from someone who reported seeing a body in Buffalo Bayou near the downtown intersection of Commerce and Milam streets. The body police recovered from the bayou is believed to be that of a girl or woman, according to HPD spokesperson Shay Awosiyan. Five other bodies were pulled from local bayous between Sept. 15-20, including 20-year-old University of Houston student Jade McKissic, and the body recovered late Thursday marks the 15th this year. The string of bayou-related deaths has fueled speculation and concerns about a potential serial killer, but that has been repeatedly refuted by Houston police and Mayor John Whitmire. “There’s no indication any of these are connected,” Awosiyan said Friday. On Thursday, the Harris County medical examiner's office released the identities of the people whose bodies were found in bayous between Sept. 15-20. In addition to McKissic, who was found in Brays Bayou, Rodney Riccardo Chatman was found Sept. 15 in Greens Bayou. Seth Joseph Hansen was found Sept. 16 in White Oak Bayou. Arnulfo Alvarado was found Sept. 18 in Buffalo Bayou, where Michael Andrea Rice was found Sept. 20. The medical examiner’s office has not yet determined the cause of death of any of the six people discovered in bayous during the last two weeks. Houston police said foul play is not suspectedin the death of McKissic. The recent deaths have prompted questions about safety measures near bayous in the Houston area, where there are more than 2,500 miles of waterways, according to the Houston Parks Board. The nonprofit manages hike-and-bike trails along many of the bayous, which are controlled by the Harris County Flood Control District. City of Houston leaders discussed the issue during a city council meeting this week, but expressed skepticism about the need and potential effectiveness of physical barriers such as fencing. They said alcohol, mental health and homelessness could be contributing factors to the recent deaths. “I'm always willing to listen to the solutions that may be available, but I just don't know how we can stop people's bodies ending up in the bayou, or people being killed on a daily basis, other than trying to get a mindset of people to change those behaviors,” Houston City Council member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz said earlier this week.
I don't know why there isn't a cop drama/true crime series based in H-Town. Most diverse big city in the USA, human trafficking capital, port city, etc
Chicago PD Chicago MD Chicago FD Chicago ?? Substitute NY and you get the same thing. I don't know that I'd want a whole multi-season series in Houston, but I'd love a miniseries, there's a lot of stuff to mine I've watched a few Australian crime shows recently (now that spectrum cable gave me AMC+ for free), 6 1-hour long episodes. It's perfect. Mystery Road Troppo High Country
I thought that this thread was bumped for this... Who was Robert Eugene Brashers? | What we know about the man law enforcement sources say committed the Yogurt Shop Murders Brashers, who died in 1999, was a serial killer whose DNA has been connected to numerous crimes across the U.S., including the 1991 quadruple murder in Austin. AUSTIN, Texas — Law enforcement sources confirmed to KVUE on Friday that investigators believe the Yogurt Shop Murders have been solved. Robert Eugene Brashers has been identified as the man who killed 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas and 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt Shop in North Austin on Dec. 6, 1991. Law enforcement sources say Brashers was identified as the suspect as a result of genetic genealogy technology applied to a DNA profile. But this isn’t the first time Brashers’s DNA has been tied to a grisly crime. Robert Eugene Brashers’s history of murder On March 28, 1998, the bodies of 38-year-old Sherri Scherer and her 12-year-old daughter, Megan Scherer, were found in their home in Portageville, Missouri. Missouri officials said both of the Scherers had been murdered, and Megan Scherer had been sexually assaulted. A partial DNA profile was developed from evidence at the crime scene, but the profile didn’t have enough markers to be entered into the Combined DNA Index System, commonly known as CODIS. In 1999, Brashers died by suicide. But his death was far from the end of his story. In the years that followed the Scherer murders, Missouri officials said investigators conducted numerous interviews and followed hundreds of leads. The case was also featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” Then, in 2006, significant advances in DNA testing led evidence from the Scherer murders to be resubmitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Crime Library. A full suspect DNA profile was developed and entered into CODIS. That resulted in a match to the April 1990 murder of 28-year-old Genevieve Zitricki in Greenville, South Carolina. Missouri officials said following that match, investigators from South Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri worked together to investigate more than 1,200 leads and the cases were again featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” More years passed. In 2017, the investigation yielded a CODIS match to the March 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Memphis, Tennessee. Then, in 2006, significant advances in DNA testing led evidence from the Scherer murders to be resubmitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Crime Library. A full suspect DNA profile was developed and entered into CODIS. That resulted in a match to the April 1990 murder of 28-year-old Genevieve Zitricki in Greenville, South Carolina. Missouri officials said following that match, investigators from South Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri worked together to investigate more than 1,200 leads and the cases were again featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” More years passed. In 2017, the investigation yielded a CODIS match to the March 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Memphis, Tennessee. In 2018, investigators contacted a private company called Parabon NanoLabs. Using genetic genealogy technology, Parabon was able to identify Robert Eugene Brashers as a possible suspect in the cases. Investigators obtained DNA samples from Brashers’s surviving family members. Missouri officials said traditional forensic tests results indicated Brashers “was, with very little doubt, responsible for the crimes.” The same year, Brashers remains were exhumed in order to confirm the DNA in the profile was his. Additional DNA samples were collected, and lab tests confirmed Brashers’s DNA matched the suspect DNA in the cases.
Chief Bond Before I looked it up, I thought that it was Short, but he was earlier than that. The Legacy of Joe Campos Torres: A Martyr for Justice In response to these new developments, Chief of Police Byron Glenn Bond suspended the other officers involved with Torres’s murder. He also established an Internal Affairs Division in the police department. However, on June 10, 1977, Chief Bond resigned, and his successor, Harry Caldwell, terminated the police officers involved. Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance brought charges against the officers as did the Texas Attorney General John Hill. Orlando and Denson were charged with murder, while Janish, Kinney, and Brinkmeyer received misdemeanor counts. No charges were filed against the rookie Elliott, and he returned to duty.
