Is notorious Texas serial killer linked to 1981 murder of Durham girl?
Investigators are seeking new leads in the disappearance of a Durham teen whose death nearly 40 years ago could be linked to a notorious Texas serial killer.
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The remains of the victim, who has never been positively identified but is known only as Cheryl, were found on Oct. 29, 1981, in Grimes County near Iola, Texas, said Lt. Daniel Wagnon. He said the girl's skeletal remains had been placed in a trash bag in a 10-foot-deep ditch along the side of a rural Texas road before they were discovered by a road crew.
"Any help in identifying this teen-age murder victim is greatly appreciated," Wagnon said in a written statement. "We want nothing more than for her to be identified and bring closure to a family who is out there somewhere."
The hunt for clues in the girl's death has been cold for some time now, and the only clue to her identity lies with Henry Lee Lucas, a drifter and serial killer who is notorious in the state of Texas.
Wagnon said the victim was between 5-feet-1- and 5-feet-3-inches tall with auburn colored hair.
Lucas led investigators in 1984 to the location where the girl's remains were dumped and confessed to her murder, Wagnon said.
In 2001, Lucas died at the age of 64 in a Texas prison from heart failure. Before his death, he had confessed to killing up to 3,000 victims during his lifetime.
In the end, Lucas was convicted of 11 slayings because his confessions were often inconsistent or contradicted by verifiable sources.
Lucas said he picked up Cheryl near Durham in the spring of 1981 and never knew her last name. He told investigators that he and an accomplice, named Ottis Toole, murdered the girl after they traveled together for several months.
Lucas told investigators that he placed the girl's body in a plastic bag before discarding it alongside a Texas road, Wagnon said.
The girl was found with a 1904 gold St. Gauden's coin, which had been turned into a necklace, Wagnon said, adding that those rings were popular and sold in teen magazines during the 1970s and 1980s. Investigators have also released a sketch of what the murder victim may have looked like before her death.
"We are asking that anyone who has a family member murdered/never found or missing between 1976-1981 to contact us if they believe this unidentified girl might be known to them," Wagnon said.
Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at 936-873-6408.
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