Author Topic: 2 'killing fields' victims identified by League City police  (Read 556 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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2 'killing fields' victims identified by League City police
« on: April 16, 2019, 02:53:57 pm »
Houston Chronicle by  Nick Powell April 15, 2019

LEAGUE CITY — The identity of two women found in a swampy area off Interstate 45 has confounded investigators for decades. On Monday, police gave the women once known as “Jane and Janet Doe” names, faces, and even brief back stories in hopes of attracting leads as to why their decomposed remains were found within 300 yards of each other, five years apart.

“Jane Doe” was identified as Audrey Lee Cook, who was 30 at the time her body was found in 1986. “Janet Doe” was Donna Prudhomme, 34 when her body was found in 1991.

At a news conference, League City Police Chief Gary D. Ratliff said authorities hoped the identifications would “help bring closure to the victims and their families,” and possibly provide information that could be of use in this case.

Lt. Michael Buffington, the lead investigator, said detectives were most interested in jogging the memories of people who knew Cook and Prudhomme shortly before their deaths. He emphasized that the investigation does not have any leads that connect Cook and Prudhomme other than the location where their bodies were found, nor are there any new potential suspects.

“There’s a lot of different theories you can speculate on,” Buffington said. “We don’t have that one concrete smoking gun piece of evidence that links them all together.”

Back stories

Cook and Prudhomme were two of four women whose bodies were found between 1983 and 1991 in a boggy, 25-acre stretch of land off Calder Road along Interstate 45, dubbed the “Texas Killing Fields.” No one has been convicted in connection with the deaths.

Cook, born in Memphis, Tenn., moved to Texas with a friend in the late 1970s and lived in the Houston and Channelview areas from 1976-1985, police said. Cook kept in regular contact with her parents in Tennessee through letters and phone calls, but fell out of touch with her family in December 1985.

Investigators said a family member came to Houston to look for Cook, but failed to find her, after one of her parents fell ill. She was never reported missing. Associates of Cook told investigators that she sold and used cocaine.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/2-killing-fields-victims-identified-by-League-13769878.php