Denton County Sheriff’s officials say they’ve solved a 7-year-old murder case. It was December of 2003 that Marilyn Hoehn was killed,in her home. It was her son who discovered her body on the kitchen floor. Her throat had been cut.
Now 7 years later, 47-year-old Vicki Davis is arrested following indictment by a Denton County grand jury. She was the daughter-in-law of the victim. Davis was arrested without incident at her home in Krum. She’s jailed on a quarter million dollar bond.
HOUSTON (AP) — A 76-year-old Georgia woman has been returned to Houston to face charges over the 1970 death of her husband.
Investigators say Mary Ann Rivera of Lake Park, Ga., has been charged with murder by omission and was held without bond Thursday in the Harris County Jail. Online jail records did not list an attorney for Rivera, who was extradited and booked Wednesday.
Court documents indicate Cruz Rivera died in 1970 after allegedly being doused with hot grease. His wife was arrested, posted bail and then fled with her children.
Cold case investigators recently tracked the woman to Georgia.
Authorities are trying to determine a motive for the killing.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice)
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - After 27 years, Fort Worth police have successfully closed a cold case murder.
In January of 1984, Elsie Mae Deem was attacked in her Fort Worth home. The 82-year old he was able to describe the man who attacked her, but was only able to assist police in the search for a suspect for a short time.
“While at the hospital it was also determined that she had been sexually assaulted,” Fort Worth police spokesperson Sgt. Pedro Criado said of the investigation. “It’s unfortunate that she did ultimately succumb to her injuries on January 30, back in 1984.”
Before her death Deem described to police how she was awakened by a noise in her home. The woman said after searching her home and finding nothing she returned to her bedroom. It was then that a man entered the room and attacked the elderly woman.
Police continued to look for the person who had beaten Deem unconscious, but had little to go on.
“It was obviously ruled a homicide. At that point we had no suspects and nobody was identified or linked to the case at that time,” Sgt. Criado said.
The FWPD Cold Case Unit revived the case in 2008, and recently got a DNA match. The forensic information came back to James L. Sanders and authorities were able to quickly locate him.
Sgt. Criado said, “Sanders, I believe, is serving a life sentence for an unrelated drug charge.”
On November 1, 2011 a Capital Murder arrest warrant was obtained for James L. Sanders, for the Elsie Mae Deem homicide.
When police talked with the now 57-year-old Sanders they learned the attack and subsequent death of Deem might be one of many crimes he’s committed.
“While he [Sanders] was being interviewed by Detective Reyes he described an incident where he did shoot a man in the head,” said Sgt. Criado. “Detective Reyes did locate a related report number from 1989.”
Sanders has also been linked to a 1977 rape of a 17-year old girl.
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Officials with the Dallas Police Department now consider an open murder case solved — this after linking the crime to two men already in custody for an unrelated robbery.
Martin Coronado was stabbed to death on September 16. Coronado was a husband and father who was killed as he picked his daughter up to take her to school.
According to Coronados’ family, blood on a tennis shoe linked 18-year-old Jeremy Francis to the crime.
“He took something that is worth so much; I can’t compare anything,” said Coronado’s sister, Rosemary Segura.
Tuesday the family huddled together at their mother’s home in Oak Cliff.
Family members told CBS 11 News they’d spent two agonizing months wondering what happened.
“I felt that we finally had some answers, that at least we had some direction to go,” said the victim’s brother, Joe Perez. “At first we didn’t have direction and we didn’t know if they [police] were ever going to find someone. We were completely in the dark. We didn’t know what was going on.”
Another brother, Paul Coronado, said Martin’s murder has shaken the family. “It’s hard. It’s not the same. A piece of a puzzle has been taken.”
Now the Coronado family wants a speedy trial and justice. “Get in on as soon as possible,” urged Martin’s brother, David Coronado.
Paul Coronado wants Francis punished but is not in favor of the death penalty. “I would rather for him to do life [in prison] and serve the rest of his life ’cause death is just the easy way out,” he said.
Francis and his uncle, William Langrum, were originally arrested five days after Coronado’s death. Police say the pair was taken into custody while trying to rob another person in the Oak Lawn area. A knife found during that arrest tied the men to another Dallas murder, that of Shearl Bennett on September 21.
Bennett was murdered as she walked from her car to her condominium after returning home from bible study and choir practice at Pilgrim West Baptist Church.
Langrum has been charged with capital murder for the death of Shearl Bennett. Francis faces an aggravated robbery charge related to that case.
Dequin Montgomery, whose mother was killed 41 years ago when he was just six years old. The case remains unsolved. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Dequin Montgomery has had to chart his own path in life.
After his mother was violently ripped from him, he’s learned to go it alone.
The memories remain, though.
They’re mostly the smaller things that people tend to take for granted. The things that feel so natural they get tucked away.
He mentions the way his mother’s face lit up after he finished a drawing. The way she helped him color, or welcomed him in from playing outside.
Those linger.
“It’s the little things; like someone that actually believes in you as you’re doing things,” Montgomery said. “But now it’s as if … all I remember is what happened to her.”
But her violent, tragic end is starting to dominate the picture.
Montgomery is 47-years-old now. But what happened 41 years ago is what shook his world.
“You don’t know what death is at six years old,” he said. “It still haunts me.”
Carolyn Montgomery was 28-years-old in 1971 when she was brutally murdered. Her case remains unsolved. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)
Montgomery’s mother, Carolyn Montgomery, worked as a cocktail waitress at an upscale North Dallas country club to support herself and her son.
They lived in a nicely kept two-bedroom apartment at what was then called the Sherwood Forest Apartments off Northwest Highway.
She was kind, pretty and young –– but her and her son’s futures were stolen on August 8, 1971.
“She comes home late at night, sits down in her apartment,” said Lt. David Pughes, who oversees homicide cases for the Dallas Police Department. “She’s just relaxing after a long night’s work.”
Then the 20-plus year veteran continued: “What we don’t know is at some point someone comes to the apartment.”
Someone stabbed Carolyn Montgomery and left her to die on the floor of her own living room.
“We believe that the knives used were just regular kitchen knives from her kitchen,” said Pughes. “When police arrived you had the larger knife still in her throat and the smaller knife in her abdomen area.”
The stab wounds were extensive; portions of her body were mutilated.
“It makes you think there was something very personal going on inside the mind of the killer,” Pughes said.
Carolyn was murdered while six-year-old Dequin was sound asleep in the back room. He didn’t hear a thing.
A bedroom at the scene of Dallas resident Carolyn Montgomery's unsolved 1971 murder. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)
And while the boy slept, the killer draped a blanket over Carolyn Montgomery’s lifeless body and fled.
When Dequin wandered into the den the next morning, he thought his mom was asleep.
“There was a blanket and everything else,” said Dequin Montgomery. “I thought she’s sleeping on the floor so I went out to play.”
When he came back inside, his mother was still hidden under the sheet. He sensed something was wrong and ran to a neighbor for help.
“The neighbor came over and she just screamed,” said Montgomery. “She grabbed me and I remember her holding me, holding me; holding me so tight.”
But the killer left a piece of evidence in plain sight that’s haunted investigators for more than 40 years. It’s only five words, but they’re never far from Dequin Montgomery’s mind.
“The note says, ‘The wrong one I’m sorry,’” said Lt. Pughes.
A note the killer left at the scene of Carolyn Montgomery's brutal murder in 1971. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)
There it was, an apology carved into the back of a picture frame and left in plain view.
“It’s extremely baffling,” said Pughes. “You don’t get a note left at a crime scene very often.”
Carolyn Montgomery had a roommate at the time. She worked as a cocktail waitress at the same country club.
She wasn’t home the night of the murder.
“That note would lead you to believe the roommate was the intended target,” said Pughes. “But those leads didn’t pan out.”
Police looked at more than a dozen suspects, analyzed fingerprints, blood and both murder weapons. But forensic technology wasn’t available in the 1970s.
Much of the evidence has since been contaminated.
There was even a question of whether the note was intentionally planted to throw police off.
And so 41 years after her brutal murder, Carolyn Montgomery’s fate is sealed within a cold case.
“She lived until she was 28, that’s it,” said Dequin. “So whoever is out there that did this, they had a full life.”
Dequin Montgomery still wants justice for his mom. The six-year-old boy who lost his innocence that day wants answers.
Or, as he put it: “Closure. For it to be solved. It’s a mystery.”
There is a new reward in Montgomery’s case. Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest or indictment.
“What did she do to deserve this? Montgomery asks.
“Sounds like a monster, for sure.”
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Fort Worth Police say they’ve cracked the six-year-old cold case of a 58-year-old woman who was found beaten to death inside a vacant apartment.
Michael Leon Davis Jr. was arrested Thursday and charged with murder.
On December 9, 2005, the body of 58-year-old Gloria Choice was found in the back bedroom of a vacant apartment at the Willows of Woodhaven in the city’s east side.
Choice had been beaten to death.
A lengthy police investigation turned up no suspects. The Choice family started a campaign on their own to look for clues, pass out fliers, and knock on doors, hoping someone would come forward with information.
The lives of Choice’s four adult children changed dramatically after the murder.
Stress brought upon by the unexpected death of their mother sent one sister into a deep depression. The eldest son lost close to 100 pounds after the incident. The family said they also became distrustful of people.
“Sleepless nights, you know, worrying about who did it. Did we know them?” said Scotti Choice, the oldest sibling of four.
After years of searching for the killer, the case went cold.
“A whole piece of me was ripped out and it still is because that’s your mom. You only have one,” said Tawnya Thomas, Gloria Choices youngest daughter. “I can’t call her to say, ‘Hey mom!’ so that bothers me.”
Det. Tom O’Brien reopened the case in 2010.
After processing evidence and interviewing witnesses, O’Brien obtained an arrest warrant for Michael Leon Davis Jr., who happened to be an acquaintance of Gloria Choice.
Scotti Choice said he’d seen Davis Jr. for years walking in the neighborhood.
“We’ve been waiting for six years for this day to come,” said Lashanda Choice.
Though an arrest has been made, it’s only the first step toward peace and justice.
Police did not reveal a motive and family members say they just want to know why.
“I want to just see him, speak to him, ask him why?” said Thomas.
Police are still searching for two more important witnesses in the case.
The Choice family said in the six years since their mother’s death, they never gave up hope their mother’s killer would be found.
“It’s going to get better starting today because I know the man who did this to my mother is locked up,” Lashanda Choice said.
“I think both families are a loss here, mine and his and I just want to pray for him that God will do what’s best,” said Thomas.
Another with information concerning the murder of Gloria Choice is asked to call Fort Worth Police at the department’s non-emergency line, 817.335.4222.
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SOUTH DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - R.V. Johnson was 71, partially paralyzed by a stroke and was laying helpless in bed when he was murdered with a shot-gun.
Seven years later, R.V.’s son seeks justice, even though the case has gone cold. “Though it may be cold with them, it’s very hot with me,” explained Carlton Johnson.
Carlton says he calls Dallas Police almost weekly, hoping for new leads in tracking down the gunman who killed his father “I call to get updates, to find out who’s assigned to the case and to find out what the progress is,” said Carlton.
R.V. Johnson was a retired truck driver, left partially paralyzed on the right side of his body. In September of 2005, an intruder kicked in R.V.’s front door of his home in the 3900 block of Mehalia Drive in South Dallas.
Police say the gunman then walked into R.V.’s bedroom and shot him in the chest. “I would say he was very much not able to defend himself,” recalled Carlton. “Someone felt they had to pull out a shot-gun to subdue him.”
R.V. Johnson
Carlton says after his father retired, he sold sandwiches and cold drinks out of a cooler to make some extra cash. The 42-year-old son believes an intruder who knew his dad may have been looking for that extra cash.
Now that his father’s murder has been moved to the cold case division, Carlton worries it will only get colder and the person who shot a defenseless man will never be brought to justice. “It’s very much frustrating. I’ll never put it to bed. I’ll never put it to rest,” Carlton added.
Detectives are asking for the public’s help to solve this cold case. If you have any information, please call the Dallas Police Homicide Unit at 214-671-3661 or 214-671-3584. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 214-373-8477. You may remain anonymous and may receive up to $5000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspect.
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – Every year, for the last 10 years, one North Texas family sets out on the same journey. They travel to Lincoln Memorial Cemetery to the gravesite of Larry Joe Tutson.
“He was a wonderful, wonderful young man,” said Tutson’s mother, Barbara Smith, as tears ran down her face. “He was a great father to his kids and he was a great son to me.”
On May 30, 2002 a female friend of Larry Joe’s was in trouble and needed a place to stay.
Minutes after he checked her into east Dallas’ Regency Motel, two men kicked the door in, robbed them at gunpoint, and then shot Larry Joe in the chest.
The 29-year-old died later that night at the hospital.
Marvin Ned, a 25-year veteran on the Dallas Police department, was the lead detective at that time.
“In this case it was truly an innocent victim,” said Ned.
The female friend who had sought help from Larry Joe and witnessed the shooting helped compile a sketch of the killer.
“You follow the leads until you get to a place where there is no more new information.” Ned said. “The case is never closed. It remains open forever if it’s a homicide.”
Dallas police said at the time there had been similar armed robberies happening at east Dallas hotels.
Over the years police arrested several robbery suspects, but never linked any of the crimes to the murder of Larry Joe.
Now, a decade later, Larry Joe Tutson’s murder is a cold case.
“It’s been 10 years but its just like yesterday,” Mrs. Smith said. “I’m hoping and praying that it comes to pass, but for me it’s got to happen.”
Larry Joe’s two children are now 13 and 19 years old.
The elder teen is a sophomore at Stephen F. Austin State University and is doing well, but says he’d be better if he had his father.
“Without having a father in the house–you miss some of those quality things you’re supposed to know to become a man.”
(credit: CBS 11 NEWS)
On the 10 year anniversary of Larry Joe Tutson’s death the family shared fond memories and released bright colored balloons in honor of the vibrant 29 year old they lost.
While remembering helps with healing the family would prefer to have answers and justice.
“Whoever knows something, come to the forefront and be a blessing to this family and a blessing to yourself by bringing the truth to the light,” Tutson’s father, Gregg Smith, urged.
As for Tutson’s mother, she’s doing her best to forgive the person who took the life of her loving son.
“I have no hate in my heart for that person but I would like to have some closure.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (877) 373-8477 (TIPS) or contact the Dallas Police Department.
Former Garland resident Steven Alan Thomas has been arrested for the murder of a 73-year-old Texas woman in 1980. (credit: Williamson Co. Sheriff’s Office)
GEORGETOWN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – Investigators say DNA evidence in a 1980 Central Texas killing led them to a former Garland resident.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday announced the arrest of 53-year-old Steven Alan Thomas on a capital murder charge.
The case involves the November 1980 beating, sexual assault and strangling of 73-year-old Mildred McKinney. She was discovered dead in her southwest Williamson County home.
In the 1980s, well known serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to killing McKinney, but DNA evidence later proved he was not the killer.
Thomas was arrested Monday in Austin, where he had been living. Investigators say Thomas has denied knowing the victim or assaulting her.
Sgt. John Foster says DNA from Thomas was obtained at a previous time. Foster declined to provide further details.
The investigation into the murder of Mildred McKinney is ongoing. Anyone with information about the case or Steven Thomas is asked to contact the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office at (512) 943-1300.
Bond has been set at $1.5 million for Thomas. Williamson County jail records Tuesday did not list an attorney for him.
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – DNA that cleared two men in a 29-year-old sexual assault case is now being used to prosecute two other men.
The victim of the crimes, who does not want to be identified by name, is testifying against the new defendants almost three decades later.
From the stand, she recalled the night she was raped and shot back in 1983.
She says she was on her way to meet friends for dinner, when two men attacked her.
“I screamed very loud. One man hit me over the head with a gun. I fell to the ground. He pulled me up by my hair. And told me to unlock the car,” she testified.
She recounted how a driver found her on the side of the road near Overton and I-45.
“I was sobbing, and I asked them to help me, I had been kidnapped, raped and shot, and left to die.”
Marion Sayles is on trial for sex assault and attempted murder. Prosecutors say his DNA, and that of Frederick Anderson, matches samples preserved from the attack. Closing arguments are set for Thursday.
(credit: CBS 11 News)” width=”420″ height=”313″ class=”size-full wp-image-234170″ />
Marion Sayles is charged with the 1983 attempted murder and sexual assault of a North Texas woman.(credit: CBS 11 News)” width=”420″ height=”314″ class=”size-full wp-image-234171″ />
Frederick Anderson is charged with the 1983 attempted murder and sexual assault of a North Texas woman.Last year, two other men, Raymond James and James Williams were exonerated, after the same DNA cleared them of this crime. They served almost three decades in prison connected to this case.
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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The Texas Rangers are looking for help solving cold homicide cases across the state. Today there’s a new section on the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) website that features cold case murder investigations.
One of the cases still being investigated is the Tarrant County murder of Marianne Wilkinson. On the evening of December 9, 2007, someone knocked on Wilkinson’s door in North Richland Hills — when she answered, she was shot several times. Wilkinson, who was a wife, mother and grandmother, died at the scene.
The Texas Rangers are hoping the webpage will spark new interest in the cases. “Our goal… is to shine a new light on these crimes, so they are not forgotten,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a press release statement. “We are committed to bringing these ruthless criminals to justice and to bringing some amount of closure to the families involved.”
Another North Texas case being featured online is the 2006 murder of Patricia Oferosky. The 47-year-old woman and her co-worker Stephen Dale Mitchelltree were both found dead at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Terrell. The pair died from gunshot wounds.
Police arrested four people shortly after the murders, but they were later released and all charges were dropped.
The public can submit tip information online or by calling (800) 346-3243. Rewards are being offered for some cases featured on the website. Everyone providing information may remain anonymous.
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FORT WORTH (AP) - Cold case investigators say a North Texas woman has been charged in the 1986 death of her toddler nephew after he had been in her care.
Fort Worth police say Patricia Ann Jones was arrested a few days after 19-month-old John P. Jones died but formal charges were not filed and she was freed.
The aunt on Tuesday was charged with murder after police recently took another look at the case. Mansfield city jail records show Jones was being held Wednesday on $25,000 bond. Online jail records don’t list an attorney for Jones.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the woman’s then-husband took his nephew to a hospital on Sept. 4, 1986. The child had a head injury, lost consciousness and died five days later.
Police don’t expect more arrests.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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A mug shot of Alonzo Grayson who was convicted of shooting and killing his girlfriend’s brother nearly 30 years after the crime. (credit: Collin Co. District Attorney’s Office)
McKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) — A North Texas man spent more than half his life with a secret, now the world knows he is the person responsible for murdering a teenager more than two decades ago.
Today a Collin County jury sentenced Alonzo Grayson to 50 years in prison.
It was a crime that happened nearly 30 years ago in Frisco – not the city you now know, but an area that at the time was considered extremely suburban, and had a population of less than 4,000.
During Grayson’s trial the jury was told how in 1984 a then 21-year-old Grayson and his girlfriend Tina Taylor both shot and eventually killed Bobby Ray Taylor. Shockingly Bobby Ray was Tina’s brother.
Jurors heard how Tina Taylor first shot her brother in the leg and how Grayson then shot him in the chest. Neither of the shots killed Bobby Ray, so the couple put him in the trunk of a car and drove him to a rock pit. It was there that Grayson shot Bobby Ray three more times, killing him. Amateur fossil hunters found Bobby Ray Taylor’s body three days later.
As Collin County Sheriff’s investigated the murder they learned Bobby Taylor didn’t approve of his younger sister dating Grayson and that the two men had been feuding. When authorities talked with Grayson he claimed to have only witnessed the murder, and claimed that another man, Rogelio Elizondo, committed the crime.
While Elizondo was taken into custody the day after Grayson’s interview, a grand jury declined to charge him in the case. There was no new information on the Bobby Ray Taylor murder for 28 years.
Flash-forward to 2011 when, a man by the name of Kevin Lancaster reached out to Frisco police. It turns out Lancaster is the estranged son of Tina Taylor.
Lancaster told authorities that during a conversation his mother, without explanation, told him that Alonzo Grayson had killed her brother. Collin County Sheriff’s re-opened the case, tracked down potential witnesses and once again interviewed Tina Taylor and Alonzo Grayson. This time the then 48-year-old Grayson, who had previously stood by his innocent bystander claims, admitted to shooting Bobby, but only “once.” He was arrested and charged with murder.
On May 23, a jury found Grayson guilty and one day later sentenced him to 50 years in prison. The sentence handed down by the jury must be applied in accordance with the laws in place in 1984, that means Grayson will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence.
Trisha Taylor, the victim’s other sister, says she is enraged that this secret was kept so long. She says she visited her brother’s grave Thursday to deliver the news.
“I know he’s not there. It’s just a grave. I believe he’s with God, and I just told him we got partial justice.”
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CLEBURNE (AP) - Remains of a man found dead more than 40 years ago have been exhumed from a North Texas cemetery so a cold-case team of retired investigators can try to find out who he is and hopefully who killed him.
DNA from the body removed Thursday will be compared with DNA of missing people entered into a database. His DNA also will go into other databases.
The man removed from the gravesite Thursday in Johnson County is known by police there as “Mr. X.” He was found by a rancher on Dec. 11, 1972, dumped in a field. He was shot three times.
Investigator James Ferguson tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the best outcome would be to identify the man and use that ID to lead to a suspect.
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FORT WORTH (AP) - An inmate serving 70 years in a North Texas drug case has pleaded guilty to the 1984 slaying of an elderly woman and was sentenced to 20 more years behind bars.
Prosecutors in Tarrant County say 59-year-old James L. Sanders pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder in a cold case finally solved with DNA evidence.
Fort Worth police on Jan. 6, 1984, responded to reports of a woman attacked at her home. Investigators say 82-year-old Elsie Deem Stuck was beaten but managed to call a friend, who summoned help. Stuck died several weeks later.
Detectives in 2008 requested DNA testing on Stuck’s bedding and pajamas. A law enforcement database matched DNA evidence to Sanders, who was imprisoned for a Tarrant County drug conviction.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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OKLAHOMA CITY (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - Oklahoma City police say a man who was shot and killed during the weekend was wanted for questioning in Texas about the 2007 shooting death of a woman in North Richland Hills.
Police say 36-year-old Willie Boley was shot Sunday during a fight with his girlfriend in northeast Oklahoma City. Police declined to discuss details of the shooting – but say the woman has not been arrested and her name was not released.
Boley was wanted as a “person of interest” in the 2007 shooting death of 67-year-old Marianne Wilkinson.
Wilkinson and her husband were together in their North Richland Hills home the night of December 9, 2007. She was shot when she answered the door.
Six years later, police have not determined a possible motive for the shooting. Authorities in Texas believe Boley was hired to kill another woman – but went to the wrong house and shot Wilkinson by mistake.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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GRANBURY (CBSDFW.COM) – A disturbing find in Lake Granbury may be a key piece in solving a mysterious disappearance there nearly 35-years ago.
Low water levels at the lake revealed the existence of a pickup truck there Thursday. And when the Hood County Sheriff’s department took it to an impound lot, investigators found the skeletal remains of a woman inside.
Chopper 11′s view of the truck pulled from Lake Granbury (Credit: CBS 11)
This might help explain the disappearance of Helen Holladay, who disappeared from her weekend home on Whippoorwill Bay in September of 1979. Speculation at the time linked her disappearance to her husband, with whom she reportedly had numerous physical altercations. She was officially declared deceased in 1986; he was a suspect at the time, but died in 1987.
Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds says the recovered truck is too deteriorated to retrieve the VIN.
A forensics expert from the University of North Texas will examine the human remains on Monday.
CBS 11′s Bud Gillett is en route to Granbury and will have reports at 4 and 5 p.m. on CBS 11 News.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – It has been exactly one year since a Fort Worth mother and grandmother was carjacked, kidnapped, beaten and killed. Despite having received hundreds of tips, the homicide of Leona Swafford remains unsolved. Now Arlington police and Oak Farms Dairy are doing what they can to generate interest in the case again and possibly gather new information and evidence.
Members of the Arlington Police Department not only organized a tree dedication to honor Swafford Wednesday, but also are now gathering volunteers to go back to Swafford’s neighborhood to re-interview residents and possibly generate new leads that result in the arrest of her killer.
During the tree planting ceremony at Marrow Bone Springs Park in Arlington Swafford’s son-in-law Roy Mitchell, said the oak tree being put in the ground would be a testament to Leona Swafford’s strength. “That’s the way she was through all of her life… she would help anybody, anytime.”
Carjacking murder victim Leona Swafford. (credit: Arlington Police Dept.)
Leona Faye Swafford was just three days from celebrating her 84th birthday when she became a homicide victim. Events started early in the day on June 4, 2013. Swafford had just made a morning run to a donut shop when a man accosted her as she pulled back into her driveway.
A male neighbor who witnessed the incident said the unknown man attacked the 83-year-old woman as she sat inside her car. The neighbor ran to help and the two men struggled, but the suspect was able to get in the car, with Swafford still inside, and drive away.
Minutes after the carjacking and kidnapping police were contacted and began feverishly searching for Swafford and the suspect. Their efforts went on for more than an hour, but to no avail. Less than two hours after being taken by force, Swafford’s body was found between a strip shopping center and a residential area, in the 1900 block of Kimberly Drive.
Another hour or so later, police located Swafford’s silver-colored 2010 Lincoln MKZ in the parking lot of the Place on the Park Apartments, in the 200 block of East Pioneer. The suspect however was never found.
(credit: Arlington Police Department)
On the same night of Swafford’s murder police released a sketch of the suspect who was described as a dark-skin black man in his late 20s to late 30s, standing between 5’11” and 6’ tall with short hair possibly styled in a half-inch afro. At the time of the murder the suspect had a muscular build and little to no facial hair.
Mitchell isn’t just Swafford’s son-in-law; he’s also an Arlington police officer who Wednesday said he searches for the face in the sketch everyday. “To be honest with you, when I’m on patrol, everyday, I look at people and I think what did he really look like.”
On this one-year anniversary of the death of their loved one members of Swafford’s family made another plea. “To whomever did this to my mother or whomever knows something… speak up,” urged Swafford’s son tearfully, Larry Carson. “It could have been your mom, could have been your grandma, your great-grandma, your aunt.”
There was no getting around reflecting on the horrible events of June 4, 2013, but family members also took time to share their fondest memories of the matriarch of their family.
Steven Harben is Leona Swafford’s grandson. He said, “My grandmother was a person who came out for my 40th birthday and when I was there I said, ‘Hey Granny, lets get on the back of my bike!’ And she did.”
Those recruited volunteers will join detectives back at the crime scene on Saturday. The group will pass out fliers and talk to neighbors about the case, hoping someone will come forward with new information.
Oak Farms Dairy has also renewed the $10,000 reward first offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Arlington police at 817-459-5373, or contact Crime Stoppers at 817 469-TIPS (8477).
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Plano police have identified the man they say murdered a 23-year-old woman nearly a quarter century ago.
Police say Temmie Cooley, 48, of Dallas has been charged with the 1989 murder of Sharon Trimble.
Trimble, who was from Glen Heights, was found dead in the 1800 block of County Road in Plano on November 25, 1989. She had been reported missing earlier that day.
The Collin County Medical Examiner determined her death as a homicide, but at the time no arrests were made.
Investigators reopened her case in January 2014, and determined Cooley was the suspect.
Sources tell CBS 11’S JD Miles that the investigators used DNA to identify Cooley, who is already serving time in jail on other charges.
Plano Police say the investigation is ongoing and urge anyone with information to call the tip line at 972-941-2148 or Crime Stoppers at 1-877-373-8477.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Authorities have arrested a 53-year-old Minnesota resident for a murder that occurred in Denton over 30 years ago.
Francisco Narvaez, then a 42-year-old male from San Antonio, was found murdered in a Denton motel room on Sept. 30, 1983. Detectives with the Denton Police Department investigated the death but were unable to make an arrest.
New leads and evidence led to the indictment of Robert Otteson, currently a resident of Lakeville, Minnesota. He was taken into custody by Lakeville Police and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officers.
Investigators from Denton were also on hand to assist in the arrest.
The murder investigation is still ongoing. Authorities have not released a motive in the killing.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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