Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

Skeletal remains found in Inks Lake
7/11/2009 3:07 PM
By: Associated Press

MARBLE FALLS, Texas — Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn said skeletal remains found in Inks Lake by recreational scuba divers this week were likely underwater for more than a year.

Deputies are treating the case as a homicide, the River Cities Daily Tribune in Marble Falls reported Friday. The gender and age of the body were undetermined.

The remains were discovered submerged in a boat Tuesday. They were recovered two days later by divers from the Department of Public Safety.

Deputies are working to identify the remains, which were taken to the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office in Austin.

Marble Falls is about 50 miles northwest of Austin.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=246067

PDF MAP
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/inks/media/pdf/inksloc.pdf

Muffy, if you see anything here that isn't correct re: locations...please post corrections. There are many conflicting reports on the location. I'll check again tomorrow in the news for any updates/corrections in reports.

Some reports say Marble Falls/Lake, but most say Ink Lake which is in Ink Lake State Park. That, by checking the map, is located in West Burnet. Some reports are even saying the remains have been there for 2 years  ::MonkeyConfused:: News reporters drive me nuts  ::MonkeyConfused::

(http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasBridges/Images/InksLakeTxThrusTrussBridge1207BG2.jpg)
(http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasBridges/Images/InksLakeTxThrusTrussBridge1207BG3.jpg)

Diving group finds body in Inks Lake
Llano Co. sheriff calls lake death 'homicide'
Updated: Friday, 10 Jul 2009, 6:28 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 10 Jul 2009, 10:02 AM CDT

LLANO COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - Recreational divers exploring the bottom of Inks Lake found a badly decomposed body Tuesday. Llano County Sheriff’s officials are calling the death a homicide, and they suspect foul play.

Chief Deputy John Neff said crews brought the body to the lake’s surface Thursday. Divers located it in a submerged boat under the Highway 29 bridge, which stretches across the Colorado River where it becomes Inks Lake.

“The autopsy is underway today,” Neff said. “We will know a lot more after that, but right now we’re leaning toward foul play.”

Neff also added the condition of the body indicated it had been at the bottom of the lake for “quite some time.”
“It was so badly decomposed,” he said, “we’re not sure if it’s a man or a woman."

He would not comment further on the discovery of the body or why foul play could be behind the person’s death.

"The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, mostly skeletal remains," said Bill Blackburn, Llano County Sheriff.

Blackburn conjectures the body was left on the bottom of the lake a long time ago.
"Anywhere from a year or two, somewhere in there," said Blackburn.

DPS dive teams, Lower Colorado River Authority Rangers, game wardens, Texas Rangers, investigators from the City of Llano and deputies from the Llano and Burnet County Sheriff’s Offices were all part of the investigation initially. Llano County is now handling the case.

Neff said the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office would handle the autopsy. Inks Lake State Park manager Terry Rodgers said he was shocked to learn the news.

“Inks Lake is a very popular scuba diving lake,” Rodgers said. “That area in particular surprises me, because people dive there all the time.”

"I was a little bit shocked and surprised," said Buck Hendrix, a resident of Inks Lake.

Inks Lake is part of the seven-lake Highland Chain. Drought rarely affects the lake, as the Lower Colorado River Authority maintains its level most of the time.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/mobile/Recreational_divers_find_body_at_Inks

5 pages of comments here >>>
http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mpl/breaking/6524584.html?p=1

(http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/336/assets/_DSC6739.JPG?AWSAccessKeyId=0B7XE4Z9Y6MDGTWDRJG2&Expires=1249256991&Signature=S5uZmZgCyETwSy6xBQIKfRtgOc8%3D) Looks like a Row Boat....would not be Registered, IMO.

Body found in Inks Lake mystery

The first question confronting investigators examining the skeletal remains that surfaced in Inks Lake last week is, “Who is it?”

That’s just what the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office is trying to determine—but the process didn’t begin on their examination table.

It started last Tuesday when recreational divers from the Buchanan Dam area found the body during a recreational dive near the SH 29 bridge over Inks Lake.

As soon as they reported their find to the Llano County Sheriff’s Office, officials called the Texas Department of Public Safety dive team and asked the divers who made the find to keep quiet.

“They’re witnesses (to a crime scene), so I don’t know if we want to put them out front,” said Llano County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy John Neff.

The DPS dive team was working another dive in McAllen, so the recovery operation in Inks Lake had to wait until Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office checked missing persons lists in the county and databases with the DPS, and posted deputies to keep an eye on the area.

One of those missing persons is Shirley Cowan, 55, who disappeared in January 2001

Her son-in-law, Thomas James Negri, was convicted of her murder in 2007—one of the few convictions in the state’s history without a body having been found.

“We’re certainly looking at that (possibility) also,” Neff said. But, “There’s nothing that says one way or the other.”

However, investigators aren’t counting on the possibility that their murder suspect has already been incarcerated.

“We’ve asked (the people who found the body) not to comment on it,” Neff said. “They’ve seen a lot that we don’t want the public to know (yet).”
http://www.burnetbulletin.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Body+found+in+Inks+Lake+mystery%20&id=2951385&instance=llano_news

Found body brings up old, unsolved case
Neighbors still wonder about the case
Updated: Tuesday, 14 Jul 2009, 6:34 PM CDT

LLANO COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - The discovery of a body in Inks Lake is bringing new hope to solving an old, missing-persons mystery.

Amateur divers discovered the body last week submerged in a weighted down boat beneath the old Highway 29 bridge. Immediately, talk stirred of one of the few murder convictions in Texas that ever came without finding a body.

The skeletal remains pulled from these waters left Llano County authorities with a fresh mysteryÂ… that might have a link to a crime some still wonder even happened.

"For years, it was empty, and we always called it the ghost house," said Polly Gifford.

Art and Polly Gifford live 15 minutes from last week's crime sceneÂ… but next door to something that has troubled them for eight years.

"It was hard going to the trial and watching him and seeing his family torn apart," said Polly.

The man who built the Kingsland home next to the Giffords now serves a 20-year prison sentence for murdering his mother-in-law. Shirley Cowan, 60, commissioned Thomas Negri to complete the house in 2001. The Giffords watched his trial years laterÂ… learning about Cowan's blood found next door.

"He told everybody," said Art. "He told his family and us and everybody else that, 'Oh, she's just on a vacation. She's going to show up.' And I hoped she showed up."

When crews revealed the discovery at Inks Lake, the Giffords waited for answers.

"It appeared to me that the body was submerged in the water inside that boat intended as its final resting place," said John Neff, the Llano County Chief Deputy Chief.

The Llano County Sheriff's Office had little to say about this much-talked-about case.

"We're looking into all possibilities of individuals from Llano County," said Neff. "I can't comment on [whether or not she's one of the cases we're looking into]."

The state shows a total of nine active missing persons cases in Llano and neighboring Burnet Counties. Giving up on Cowan ever coming back from that vacation, the Giffords hope the find is in fact the neighbor they never really knew.

"I think the family needs some kind of closure, and eventually I think she will surface," said Polly.

The autopsy on those skeletal remains is complete, but it could still be weeks before authorities can determine an identity or if the bones belong to a man or a woman.

In the meantime, the Llano County Sheriff's Office urge anyone with information about missing persons, including Shirley Cowan, to call them.
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/Found_body_brings_up_old_unsolved_case#14084281-2

COMMENTS AT THE ABOVE LINK>>>>> Ms. Cowan ruled out.

Karen Cowan Jack · 2 weeks ago

My family and I prayed it would be my Mom(Shirley Cowan) so we could have some closure and bury her remains next to my Father and Brother.
I got the news this afternoon that it was not my Mom!!
Maybe one of these days her body will be found!
Your Loving Daighter
Karen Cowan Jack
RIP January 14th, 2001
We Love and Miss YOU!!!!

geez...still no word on who this person is? who did the boat belong to?

It is a row boat.....unlikely it needs registration for ownership.

I've been checking and haven't seen any information on this case since the initial find.

seems like a rather odd case to me....
no report of a stolen boat in the area at the time?

Cookie, Inks lake is in a large recreational area.  There are a lot of small boats, canoes, kayaks and such around.  From the articles, it doesn't look as if LE is really sure about the time period yet.  There just isn't any information available except for the articles posted here that Nut or I can find so far.  The skeletal remains are probably with forensics and hopefully they can be id'd.  If I see any news, I'll try to update. 

thanks muffers....
someone somewhere is probably thinking that they have/had gotten away with murder...hope that this person can be identified and their family will know where their loved one is...

 ::MonkeyAngel::

I am impatient  ::MonkeyMad:: You would think they could say male or female by now. It has been over a month.  ::MonkeyMad::

I haven't seen anything else on this at all.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Maybe it's held up in forensics?  But... when LE is this tight lipped about something, it gives me the feeling they know something.  JMHO

Yes....that is what I was thinking.  ::MonkeyWaa:: Me wants to know now!  ::MonkeyWaa::

I'm waiting!!
 :smt102

I've got this case on my watch list, and so far I've found absolutely nothing since the initial finding.  I'm pretty sure it's on Nut's list too...  If I see any news update at all, I will post it here for sure. 

Oh yeah...... I check every single day  ::MonkeyWaa::

Thank you Nutt and Muffy -- you're the best!

http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=251148

Inks Lake body identified as missing Llano County woman
9/1/2009 7:55 AM
By: News 8 Austin Staff

Llano County officials have identified a body found in Inks Lake in early July.

According to the Llano County Sheriff's Office, the body has been identified as 48-year-old Holly Marie Simmons, whose death has been ruled a homicide.

Simmons was reported missing under suspicious circumstances from her home in Buchanan Dam in November 2006.

The sheriff's office and the Texas Rangers have been investigating her disappearance since that time.

The Llano County Sheriff's Office, Texas Rangers and LCRA Law Enforcement responded to a call of possible human remains in Inks Lake July 7 after recreational divers found the remains at the bottom of the lake, under the Highway 29 bridge.

Two days later, the Texas Department of Public Safety Dive Team recovered the remains and confirmed they were human.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2009/09/01/body_in_inks_lake_identified_a.html

Body found in Inks Lake identified as missing person

By Isadora Vail | Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 07:48 AM

(http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/blotter/upload/2009/09/body_in_inks_lake_identified_a/holly-thumb.jpg)
Holly Marie Simmons

The remains of a person recovered from Inks Lake on July 9 have been identified as Holly Marie Simmons, who was reported missing about two years ago from Buchanan Dam in Llano County, the Llano County sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Simmons, who was 46 at the time of her disappearance, was reported as missing under suspicious circumstances from her home in the 200 block of Cortez Trail in November 2006. The sheriff’s office and the Texas Rangers have been investigating the case since then.

The remains were found by recreational divers July 7 near the Texas 29 bridge, the statement said.

Divers from the Department of Public Safety retrieved the remains and confirmed them as human, the statement said. The remains were taken to the Travis County medical examiner’s office for an autopsy, and authorities continue to investigate the case as a homicide, it said.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/mobile/Deputies_ID_body_found_in_lake

Deputies ID body found
in lake
Investigators investigating as a
homicide

Updated: Tuesday, 01 Sep 2009, 7:56 AM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 01 Sep 2009, 7:55 AM CDT

    * Shane Allen
(http://media2.kxan.com//photo/2009/09/01/Holly_marie_simmons_20090901075525_640_480.JPG)
Holly Marie Simmons
(http://media2.kxan.com//photo/2009/07/09/INKS_LAKE_BRIDGE_JOSH_20090709203750_320_240.JPG)
Inks Lake near where body was found

(http://media2.kxan.com//photo/2009/07/09/INKS_LAKE_BANK_20090709203851_320_240.JPG) Bank of Inks Lake near where body was found
(http://media2.kxan.com//photo/2009/07/09/inks_bridge_3_20090709212211_320_240.JPG)
Inks Lake Bridge and lake bank, near where body was found

LLANO COUNTY (KXAN) - The Llano County Sheriff’s Office has identified a body found at the bottom of Inks Lake in July as Holly Marie

Simmons, 48.

Simmons’ body was found on July 7 by some recreational divers under the Hwy 29 Bridge. Two days later, a dive team from the Department of Public Safety was able to recover the badly decomposed remains.

The body was sent to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office. Sheriff’s deputies say the medical examiner was able to identify the body as that of Simmons’ using dental records.

In a news release sent Tuesday, Llano County Chief Deputy John Neff said Simmons was reported missing under suspicious circumstances from her home on Cortez Trail near Buchanan Dam in November, 2006. They have ruled Simmons’ death as a homicide.

No arrests have been made.
 

From the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Persons website: (but now she's found)  ::MonkeyAngel::

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/MPCH/mpdetails.asp?id=%27M12/6/200611:25:00AM%27

YESSSSSSS!! Thanks MUFFY! How sad....all this time  ::MonkeyNoNo::

It took a while to find her.  I hope it won't take as long to find who was responsible and bring them in to answer for it.  Hoping there will be justice for Holly Marie Simmons. 

http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/090109kvue_Inks_Lake_body_folo-cb.13974a576.html

Basically same info, but here is a different photo:

(http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/M_IMAGE.1223cc986ef.93.88.fa.d0.13aac39a0.jpg)

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/mobile/deputies_name_woman_found_in_inks_lake
Deputies name woman
found in Inks Lake
Death is considered to be a murder

Updated: Tuesday, 01 Sep 2009, 6:52 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 01 Sep 2009, 6:52 PM CDT

    * Josh Hinkle
    * Shane Allen
(http://media2.kxan.com//photo/2009/09/01/InksLakeVictimHome_20090901153120_320_240.JPG)
Former home of homicide victim Holly Simmons, 45, at 210 Cortez Trail in Buchanan Dam, Texas (Josh Hinkle/KXAN)


LLANO COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - The Llano County Sheriff’s Office identified a body found at the bottom of Inks Lake in July as Holly Marie Simmons, who disappeared in 2006. She was 45.

Simmons’ body was found in early July by some recreational divers under the Highway 29 bridge. A couple of days later, a dive team from the Department of Public Safety was able to recover the badly decomposed remains.

Officials sent the body to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office , where sheriff’s deputies said the medical examiner was able to identify the body as that of Simmons’ using dental records.

A former neighbor, Ron Harris, said many in the area thought she just left without telling anyone.

"Well, we didn't see her around for a while," Harris said. Then over on the Exxon station on 261, I noticed there was a marker put up on the door saying, 'Have you seen this woman?'"

Llano County Chief Deputy John Neff said Simmons was reported missing under suspicious circumstances from her home on Cortez Trail near Buchanan Dam in November 2006. They have ruled Simmons’ death as a homicide.

Simmons' two teenage daughters reported her missing when they arrived at their Buchanan Dam home after school.
One of those girls was the last person to see her, when her mother dropped her off at the school bus stop.

Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn said such an old case will be difficult to solve, but the discovery of the body also provided new clues.

"We do know how she died, but we're not divulging that at this time," Blackburn said. "Her vehicle, cell phone, keys were all home, but she was not. More than likely, it was probably someone she knew."

No arrests have been made. The sheriff urges anyone with information about this case to call his office at 325-247-5767.

Harris said the news brought up a mystery many had put past them. Now he wants answers.

"Well, yes for sure," he said, "and certainly for the daughters, so there's some resolution to the death."

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/090109kvue_Inks_Lake_body_folo-cb.13974a576.html
TV: Body found in Inks Lake identified as missing woman

05:29 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 1, 2009

By AMY JOHNSTON / KVUE News

The case of a missing Llano County woman has been solved almost three years since she was last seen alive.
 Llano County Deputies and Texas Rangers are trying to figure out who killed Holly Marie Simmons. Simmons was 45 years old when she disappeared in November 2006. She dropped her two daughters off at school, but they never saw her again.

"Her daughters, they came home from school that day - she was not at home. Her vehicle was there, her car keys were there, her cell phone was there and she was gone," said Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn.

Her remains were found at the bottom of Inks Lake in July 2009. She was positively identified from dental records.

"We had amateur divers reported that they discovered what they thought was a body," says Sheriff Blackburn.

Divers and deputies took underwater photographs, then moved the crime scene to dry land.

Deputies say Simmons' body was found inside of a boat, submerged at the bottom of this bridge. While they won't say how she died, they did say both she and the boat were weighted down so neither would resurface.

(http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/M_IMAGE.1223cc986ef.93.88.fa.d0.13aac39a0.jpg)

Holly Marie Simmons

Investigators won't say who the boat belongs to, but they did say considerable evidence was left behind. And that should help lead them to the killer.

"It was more than likely on a personal basis probably," said Blackburn.

They believe she was killed shortly after she disappeared.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Llano County Sheriff's Office at 325-247-5767.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/sep/01/death-notices---sept-2/

Death notices - Sept. 2


The following notices have been submitted for publication in the Wednesday edition of the San Angelo Standard-Times.

<snip>
LLANO - Holly Marie Simmons, of Buchanan Dam, died at age 48. Memorial service is at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at Palms Funeral Home in Angleton with burial in Angleton Memorial Park.

Survivors include daughters Ashley Simmons of Llano and Alicia Simmons of Elgin; sons Samuel Charles McLeod Jr. of Freeport and Harlen Jake McLeod of Angleton; mother Rose Marie Beadle of Holley, N.Y.; sisters Norma Barker of Angleton and Debbie Wishman of Batavia, N.Y.; and brother Paul Wishman Jr. of New York.
<snip>

http://www.legacy.com/Statesman/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=132181778

Holly Marie Simmons       

Death Notice

SIMMONS, Holly Marie, 48, certified nursing technician, of Buchanan Dam, formerly of Clute, has died. Services 10 a.m. Saturday, Palms Funeral Home, Angleton. Burial Angleton Memorial Park. Arrangements by Waldrope-Hatfield-Hawthorne, Llano.
Published in the Austin American-Statesman on 9/2/2009

http://hinklej.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/what-lies-beneath/

What Lies Beneath
Posted by: Josh Hinkle | September 2, 2009

Skeleton reveals missing mom's story
Daughter, co-worker speak of Simmons' last days

Updated: Friday, 18 Sep 2009, 4:45 PM CDT

LLANO COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - When Holly Marie Simmons stopped showing up for work almost three years ago, her boss said he had a sinking feeling, an indication something was wrong.

“It just wasn’t like her,” Bill Young, manager at Escondido Golf Course in Horseshoe Bay, told Austin News on the phone. “Holly was one of the nicest people. Everyone here liked her, and it was unlike her to just skip out on her job.”

The mother of four was last seen dropping her daughter, Ashley, off at the school bus stop near their Buchanan Dam house. When Ashley and her sister, A.J., arrived home that day, they found their mother’s purse, cell phone, keys, and car. Holly, however, was gone.

“I was the last one to see her alive,” Ashley Simmons told Austin News also by phone. “For three years, I never knew, and it’s been the toughest thing me and my family have ever went through.”

Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn said the two teen girls filed a missing persons report shortly after their mother’s disappearance. The fliers that went up around the Texas Hill Country in the following months produced few leads.

“Most likely, she knew whoever did this,” Blackburn said. “We know how she died, but we can’t say at this time how. It’s part of the investigation.”

Holly’s obituary says she “was found July 9, 2009,” the day diving crews pulled a submerged boat from beneath the old Highway 29 bridge over Inks Lake . Inside the boat, someone had weighted down human skeletal remains.

“They didn’t want this boat to be found, for sure,” said Blackburn.

The actual discovery came a few days before when recreational divers first snapped underwater photos of what they believed to be human bones and turned the pictures over to the sheriff’s office. Nearly two months after pulling the boat ashore, investigators were able to match Holly’s dental records to the body. Her missing persons case quickly turned into a homicide investigation.

“When we heard it was her,” Young said, “we were so surprised. None of us ever thought anything close to that. It was so sad.”

Holly had worked with Young at the golf course as a food and beverage server for six months before her disappearance. Last seen in late November 2006, Holly was 45 years old at that time, though her obituary says 48 to indicate the date authorities found her body.

“This weekend has been so hard,” her daughter, Ashley choked out. “It’s just so hard to think about it after three years. The funeral was tough, because we had gone so long not knowing what happened.”

Ashley, her family, and friends buried Holly on Saturday at Angleton Memorial Park in Angleton. A sister and a son both live in that city. Holly had moved from nearby Clute to Llano County in 2004.

“She was a single mom who raised four kids all by herself,” Ashley recalled of her mother. “That’s how I want people to remember her, not what happened.”

In the few brief phone conversations, Ashley expressed her hope of closing the case soon. Young said Holly’s former co-workers still at Escondido are curious about what really happened to their friend.

“It’s horrible to know she’s dead,” he said, “but, in the same sense, hopefully finding her will help somebody remember something or somebody come forward.”

Blackburn said in the few weeks since identifying Holly’s body, his office has started talking to people they believe might have information. However, a strong lead has yet to present itself.

“We’re confident we will solve this one,” he said, “but with a case this old, it’s going to be a challenge.”

Ashley, who now lives in Llano, graduated from Llano High School the school year after her mother’s disappearance and married a fellow Llano alum. Holly is also survived by another daughter, Alicia “A.J.”; and two sons, Samuel Charles McLeod Jr. and Harlen Jake McLeod, one of whom is also married. Holly has three grandchildren, as well.

This week, Escondido also gave the following statement to Austin News:

“The entire Escondido organization is deeply saddened by the loss of Holly Simmons. She was an exemplary employee and always performed her duties with dedication and a positive attitude. We send our sincere condolences to her family and friends and hope clues will now be found to bring the perpetrator of this heinous crime to justice. She will be greatly missed by our all of our members and her fellow employees.”

Before her time at the golf course, Holly worked for 24 years as a certified nursing technician at various nursing homes and assisted living centers. She was born in New York, where her mother still lives in a town called Holley.

The sheriff’s office is urging anyone with information to call 325-247-5050. For more details about Holly’s case and a behind-the-scenes look at its coverage, check out Josh’s “ Living Off The Air ” blog.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/mobile/Skeleton_reveals_missing_moms_story

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/2009/12/02/1202roundup.html

CENTRAL TEXAS DIGEST
COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

I snipped out this article from the list in the Digest:

LLANO COUNTY

Officers seek help in case

The Llano County sheriff's office and Crime Stoppers are hoping that someone who bought a doghouse and aluminum boat at a Buchanan Dam garage sale in 2006 can help them solve a murder case from that time.

Holly Simmons had been missing for three years when a recreational diving team found her remains in July in Inks Lake near Texas 29. She was 45 when she disappeared from her home in Buchanan Dam.

The sheriff's office would not disclose what the doghouse or boat had to do with the case, saying only, "The person who purchased items may have useful information on the case and is not suspected of a crime."

Simmons was reported as missing under suspicious circumstances from her home in the 200 block of Cortez Trail in November 2006. Officials said Simmons was last seen taking her daughter to a bus stop for school. When the daughter returned home, Simmons was not there, but her car, purse, cell phone and identification were left behind, officials said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigator Glen Williams at 800-832-9271 or Crime Stoppers at 866-756-8477 to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward up to $2,000. The sheriff's office also accepts text tips at 274637; place 218tip at the beginning of the message.

I came across this older article when I was researching another crime:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/missing_persons/
Llano Sheriff's department seeks help in missing persons case
November 30, 2009

The Llano County Sheriff’s Department and Crime Stoppers are hoping that someone who bought a dog house and aluminum boat at a Buchanan Dam garage sale in 2006 can help them solve an unsolved murder case from that time.

Holly Simmons had been missing for three years when a recreational diving team in July found her remains near Texas 29 in Inks Lake. She was 45 when she went missing from her home in Buchanan Dam.


The sheriff’s office would not disclose what the dog house or boat had to do with the case, saying only: “The person who purchased items may have useful information on the case and is not suspected of a crime.”

Simmons was reported as missing under suspicious circumstances from her home in the 200 block of Cortez Trail in November 2006.

Glen Williams, an investigator with the sheriff’s office, said Simmons was last seen taking her daughter to a bus stop for school on Nov. 29, 2006. When the daughter returned home, Simmons was not there, but her keys, car, purse, cell phone and identification were left behind, Williams said.

He did not say whether there were signs of a struggle at the home, nor would he say if authorities are interviewing any potential suspects.

Any one with information is asked to contact Williams at 800-832-9271 or Crime Stoppers 866-756-8477 to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward up to $2,000. Llano Sheriff’s office also accepts text text tips at 274637, texters should place 218tip at the beginning of the message.

Permalink | Categories: Missing Persons

http://www.burnetbulletin.com/view/full_story/3518282/article-Holly-Marie-Simmons-Dec--25--1960---July-9--2009?

Holly Marie Simmons
Dec. 25, 1960 ~ July 9, 2009
Holly Marie Simmons, 48, of Buchanan Dam, Texas, was found Thursday, July 9. She was born in Buffalo, N.Y., to Rose Marie (Tabone) and Paul Robert Wishman on Dec. 25, 1960. Holly moved to Llano County in 2004 coming from Clute, Texas. She had worked as a certified nursing technician for 24 years at nursing homes and assisted living centers and Escondido Golf Club at Horseshoe Bay.

Survivors include two daughters, Ashley Simmons and husband Johnathon of Llano and Alicia “A.J.” Simmons of Elgin; two sons, Samuel Charles McLeod Jr. and wife Crystle of Freeport and Harlen Jake McLeod of Angleton; mother, Rose Marie Beadle of Holley, N.Y.; two sisters, Norma Barker of Angleton and Debbie Wishman of Batavia, N.Y.; brother, Paul Wishman Jr. of New York; and three grandchildren, Sammy McLeod III and Devin and Conner Fehr.

Holly was preceded in death by her father, Paul Wishman, and nephew, Phillip Wishman.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. at the Palms Funeral Home in Angleton, Texas. Internment will follow at Angleton Memorial Park in Angleton.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to the charity of your choice.

E-mail condolences may be sent to whhfuneral1@verizon.net or you may log onto www.whhfuneralhome.com for online condolences.

http://www.burnetbulletin.com/view/full_story/4970084/article-Authorities-ask-public-for-information-on-woman%E2%80%99s-killer?
Authorities ask public for information on woman’s killer

The Llano County Sheriff’s Department and Hill Country Crime Stoppers are asking for the public’s help in the investigation of the disappearance and murder of Holly Marie Simmons of Buchanan Dam, whose body was found in Inks Lake last July.

The Hill Country Crime Stoppers issued a crime alert on Monday, stating that investigators are looking for information on the person who purchased a metal 4-foot by 4-foot doghouse and a small aluminum boat from a garage sale in the Golden Beach area in October 2006.

Simmons, 45 at the time of her disappearance, went missing from her Buchanan Dam home on Nov. 29, 2006. On July 7, recreational divers discovered her remains at the bottom of Inks Lake under the SH 29 Bridge in an aluminum boat that was weighted down. Authorities are ruling her death as a homicide.

“It’s still an active investigation,” said Glenn Williams, lead investigator with the Llano County Sheriff’s Department.

http://www.burnetbulletin.com/view/full_story/4970010/article-Doghouse--boat-figure-into-murder-probe?
Doghouse, boat figure into murder probe
The Llano County Sheriff’s Department and Hill Country Crime Stoppers are asking for the public’s help in the investigation of the disappearance and murder of Holly Marie Simmons of Buchanan Dam, whose body was found in Inks Lake last July.

The Hill Country Crime Stoppers issued a crime alert on Monday, stating that investigators are looking for information on the person who purchased a metal 4-foot by 4-foot doghouse and a small aluminum boat from a garage sale in the Golden Beach area in October 2006.

Simmons, 45 at the time of her disappearance, went missing from her Buchanan Dam home on Nov. 29, 2006. On July 7, recreational divers discovered her remains at the bottom of Inks Lake under the SH 29 Bridge in an aluminum boat that was weighted down. Authorities are ruling her death as a homicide.

“It’s still an active investigation,” said Glenn Williams, lead investigator with the Llano County Sheriff’s Department.

Simmons was last seen dropping her daughter off for school in Buchanan Dam on the morning of Nov. 29, 2006. Her daughter reported Simmons missing after returning home from school and noticing that Simmons’ vehicle, keys, purse, identification, cell phone and other personal belongings were left at the house. Authorities immediately began an investigation because of the suspicious nature of the disappearance.

http://kxan.com/investigative-story/the-lady-in-the-lake/
Unsolved Lady in the Lake
October 30, 2015
By David Barer

Llano County (KXAN) – For years, Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn has hunted for the person, or people, who killed Holly Marie Simmons.

The 48-year-old mother of four vanished under suspicious circumstances the morning of Nov. 28, 2006. It would be three years before authorities and her family got answers, when a scuba diver found Simmons’s body cemented into an old jon boat sunken in the murky depths beneath the old Inks Lake bridge.

The murder left a family in turmoil, and the killer still roams free.

Now, after the case has run cold, Blackburn offers new clues about what may have happened down that rural gravel road and inside the mobile home Holly shared with her daughters.

“Nobody deserved to die like Holly Simmons,” Blackburn said.

A disappearance, a murder

The day she disappeared, Simmons dropped off her daughter, a Llano High School junior, at a bus stop near their home in Buchanan Dam, a rural Hill Country town of 1,500 set beside Central Texas’ largest reservoir.

It would be the last time Ashley Simmons would see her mother.

When the daughter returned home that cold November evening, “Nothing was broken, and nothing was out of the ordinary … It looked like she just left,” Ashley said.

The family left often the front door unlocked, Ashley said, because they had a "brindle American English pit-bull.”

Holly’s phone, her purse, her wallet, her keys, all of it was sitting at home, Ashley said. “Mom just was gone, something had happened to her mysteriously. I knew something wasn’t right.”

Ashley, 17 years old at the time, said she left the front porch light on for her Mom that night. She said her younger sister, who was 15, had gone to a school basketball game and stayed over at a friend’s house.

The next morning, when her Mom still had not come home, Ashley called the police, and the family filed a missing persons report.

By that time, Blackburn said, someone had already taken Holly’s life.

A concrete tomb

Blackburn, wearing a cowboy hat and jeans held up by suspenders, met with KXAN at his Llano County headquarters. The ruddy-faced lawman would not divulge many details about the homicide, due to the ongoing investigation.

The sheriff said he still believes he will catch the killer. Investigators just need the right tip.

Blackburn said he and his deputies have combed the area’s back roads, peppered with scrub oak, mesquite, mobile homes and lakeside getaways.

What investigators have found, the sheriff said, leads them to believe Holly did not leave her home willingly.

“Something did occur at the house that led us to believe that is was a violent occurrence,” Blackburn said. “We don’t think that she left the house alive.”

Bill Blackburn

The killer, he said, is probably local to Llano County and knew the single mother.

In fact, Holly may have known the killer so well, the person’s car was a familiar sight parked on her Buchanan Dam cul-de-sac with multiple mobile homes, he said.

For three years, the clues to Holly’s death stayed with her at the bottom of Inks Lake, just miles from her home.

On July 8, 2009, a scuba diver happened upon Simmons’ body. Days later, investigators dragged her concrete tomb from the cloudy lake. The killer weighted down the metal boat with 600 pounds of concrete. Due to decomposition, forensic experts identified Holly through dental records, according to media reports.
Blackburn said investigators know how Holly died, but he would not divulge the manner of death. He did say forensic evidence shows Holly’s death was a “personal type of death.”

It may have been a single killer, the sheriff said, but it would probably take more than one person to dispose of the body in that fashion.

“The ties that bind those people together are sometimes broken,” Blackburn said. “It may take years; it may take months…somebody’s conscience breaks down and they can’t live with it anymore.”

And while Blackburn waits for a tip from the public, Holly’s family is waiting for answers from him.

Track the locations connected to Holly's death (You can click on a button "Start Exploring) There is much, much more...
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