Since the 1970s, more than 30 young women have mysteriously disappeared or been found murdered along Texas’ Interstate 45, in what has become the state’s most notorious killing spree.
A mile from I-45, lies the 25-acre patch known as 'The Killing Fields', where the bodies of four young women have been found. Detectives have described the remote area as a perfect dumping ground for a serial killer, which has made investigating the cases so difficult.
Below is a list of possible suspects in the I-45 Corridor Killings.
Unknown Male-In March of 1986 a man who has never been identified attempted to abduct a 13-year-old girl at gunpoint as she was walking home from a shopping center in Seabrook. The girl jumped from the man's truck in nearby La Porte as a police officer was driving past. The officer's priority was to attend to the girl and the abductor escaped. He is described as being age 35 to 45, 6' to 6'2", with graying black hair and beard. The truck was a green Ford Ranger.
Anthony Shore-Convicted in October of 2004 in the murders of four young women and girls in Houston, three of which had been previously considered I-45 victims. Shore was sentenced to die for killing Laurie Tremblay, 16, Maria Del Carmen Estrada, 21, Diane Rebollar, 9, and Dana Sanchez, 16. The four killings spanned from 1986 through 1995.
Shore is reportedly a suspect in other I-45 slayings but apparently has not been linked to any of the other cases. Many things point to him as a good suspect, however. He once reportedly lived in League City, the city nearest the infamous 'Killing Fields' where four victims have been discovered. Also, his past jobs as a telephone service man and a tow truck driver took him far and wide in the Houston area, giving him ample freedom and opportunity to stalk or kill. Shore also abducted Robollar and Sanchez at or near convenience stores, an oddly common abduction method in the I-45 series.
Jonathan David Drew-Convicted of killing Houston waitress Tina Flood, 23, in December of 1988. Drew was pulled over by a police officer who found Flood beaten and barely alive in Drew's front passenger seat. She died soon afterwards. Drew is suspected of several sexual assaults and a private investigator has speculated Drew could be responsible for the slaying of Jessica Lee Cain. A search of Drew's former home in League City, where his parents still lived produced a vial containing several human teeth.
Mark Stallings-Became a suspect after confessing in 2001 to the 'Killing Fields' murders outside of League City but not much has been heard from him since. This confession can only be thought of as highly suspect since he would have been only 15 or 16 when the first Killing Fields victims disappeared. Assuming the four victims found dead there were all killed by the same man this would effectively rule Stallings out.
However, Stallings does have a history of violence. He is currently serving 489 years in prison for aggravated assault and an escape attempt. He also worked for a time on the property that encompassess the Killings Fields.
Probably the best evidence that Stallings' confessions may not be the real deal is the fact that he has still not been charged in any killings in the three years since his suprising confession.
William Ray Mathews-Led investigators to the body of Wanda May Pitts, an 18-year-old girl who was abducted from the lobby of a Motel in Willis in. A plea bargain prevents authorities from charging him in Pitts' murder but has him serving time for a similar crime, the attempted abduction a Willis office clerk who was forced to leap from Mathews' moving truck to save herself.
William Reece-Arrested after a botched abduction in 1997 and suspect in the murder of Laura Smither. Previously convicted of rape in Oklahoma. Reece worked at a construction site near the Smither home and was reportedly getting off work about the same time Laura Smither disappeared while jogging. A suspect in at least one additional slayings also.
Gabriel Soto-Prime suspect in Disappearance and probably murder of Rene Richerson in 1988. Died in 2002 without being charged but was at one time charged with retaliation against a potential witness in the Richerson case.
Robert Abel-A former NASA engineer who lived and operated a ranch near League City's 'Killing Fields', Able came under public scrutiny by that city's police in 1993 after he seemed to fit an FBI profile of the killer. A search of his property turned up nothing of value. Abel eventually passed a polygraph, courtesy of the show '20/20' after League City police refused to administer one, and the FBI subsequently admitted that the original profile was of poor quality and effectively eliminated him as a suspect. League City authorities appear unconvinced, however, and reportedly still consider him a suspect.
Walter Alexander Sorto, Edgardo Rafael Cubas, and Eduardo Navarro-This trio was arrested in February of 2003 for the rapes and shooting deaths of Roxana Capulin, 24, Teresa Rangel, 38, and 15-year-old Esmerelda Alvarado on the east side of Houston. Sorto has since been convicted in the slayings of Capulin and Rangel, who were abducted from the resteraunt where they worked on June 1, 2002. Thirteen-year-old Laura Ayala, missing since March 10, 2002, and previously listed as an I-45 victim has been linked to Sorto, Cubas, and Navarro after a drop of blood found in Cubas' father's SUV was linked to Ayala by DNA testing. They refuse to discuss their involvement in Ayala's murder and have not been charged in the case.
Dark Minds On Investigation Discovery
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