Man charged in connection with some of 'Texas Killing Fields' deaths of
dozens of women
[April 02, 2026]
By JUAN A. LOZANO
HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a man allegedly connected to
some of the deaths linked to the “Texas Killing Fields,” an area near
Houston where the bodies of dozens of women were found beginning in the
1970s, saying they have solved a piece of a tragic mystery that has
inspired books, movies and a Netflix documentary.
A stretch of land along Interstate 45 southeast of Houston was dubbed
the “Texas Killing Fields" after the bodies of more than 30 women were
found there. Investigators believe multiple perpetrators may be
responsible for the deaths of mainly girls and young women.
A Galveston grand jury has indicted 61-year-old James Dolphs Elmore Jr.
for his alleged role in the deaths of 16-year-old Laura Miller and
30-year-old Audrey Cook, whose bodies were found in the infamous area in
1986, Galveston County District Attorney Kenneth Cusick said Wednesday.
Court and jail records did not list an attorney who could speak on
behalf of Elmore, who was arrested Tuesday and is being held without
bond in the Galveston County Jail.
Miller and Cook were two of four young women whose bodies were found
between 1984 and 1991 in a rural field off a desolate dirt road in
League City, located about 28 miles (45 kilometers) southeast of
Houston. The other two women were 25-year-old Heidi Fye-Villareal and
34-year-old Donna Prudhomme.
Cusick said after being appointed as district attorney in October that
he would to take a harder look at these cases.
“Due to the concerted efforts of the law enforcement agencies in this
county, this 40-year cycle of violence by these defendants against
women, we’re trying to make headway on it, and I think we made
significant headway yesterday in getting a charge against Mr. Elmore and
having him arrested," he said.
Elmore has been charged with manslaughter and felony tampering with
evidence in the death of Miller and with tampering with evidence in
Cook’s killing.
Cusick said prosecutors had also presented evidence to a grand jury
seeking indictments against Clyde Hedrick, who authorities allege was
the person responsible for the deaths of the four women and had been
Elmore's longtime friend.
But the 72-year-old Hedrick died by suicide last month before the grand
jury came back with a decision in his case, Cusick said.
Hedrick was convicted of manslaughter in 2014 in the death of Ellen
Beason, a young woman whose body was found in 1985 after going missing
the previous years. He was released in 2022 and was still on parole at
the time of his death, according to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
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This photo provided by the Galveston County Sheriff's Office shows
James Dolphs Elmore Jr. (Galveston County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Relatives of the victims on Wednesday said they were relieved an arrest
had been made but expressed frustration it had taken so long.
“I think with everything that they had in the past, it’s inexcusable
that Clyde Hedrick had the opportunity to die without never been
indicted, convicted," said Tim Miller, the father of Laura Miller. After
his daughter's death, Miller founded Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit that
helps look for missing people.
Miller said that in the last four years, he had met 30 times with Elmore
who had shared information but he declined to elaborate on what Elmore
told him because he didn't want to jeopardize the case against him.
Nina Jager, Fye-Villareal’s niece, celebrated Elmore's indictment but
said it was also “bittersweet” because her grandfather had investigated
the case and long believed Hedrick was responsible but his efforts were
ignored by authorities.
“Maybe today is a result of all the work that he put in, all the
searching the fields, going and talking to people and doing his own
investigation because he just didn’t feel supported,” she said.
Cusick said he's committed to continue working on these cases and that
there are active leads that can be pursued "to bring to justice some
people who may have escaped justice thus far,” he said.
Most of the deaths associated with the “Texas Killing Fields” remain
unsolved.
In 2022, William Reece, an Oklahoma death row inmate, pleaded guilty to
three murders in Texas, including those of 12-year-old Laura Smither and
17-year-old Jessica Cain in Galveston County, and 20-year-old Kelli Cox,
who was from Denton in North Texas but whose body was found hundreds of
miles away in Brazoria County, located next to Galveston County. He
received life sentences for all three murders.
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