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Author Topic: Laura Miller and other "Texas Killing Fields" unsolved Murders  (Read 10407 times)
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MuffyBee
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« on: August 29, 2014, 09:52:04 AM »

http://www.khou.com/story/news/crime/2014/08/27/tim-miller-lawsuit/14720839/
Equusearch founder seeks justice in daughter's 1984 murder
August 28, 2014


(Photo Tim Miller)

Sixteen-year-old Laura Miller was murdered in 1984. Now 30 years later, her father Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch, is still seeking justice. But this time, he's turning to the civil court system to get it.

"This has been something that's very hard to be patient," said Miller.

Tim Miller says he's known for years who killed his daughter Laura and dumped her in this field off of Calder Drive in 1984. Clyde Hedrick is serving a 20-year sentence for the murder of another young woman, but Miller believes Hedrick's the man behind at least three other girls' deaths, girls found in the so-called "Texas Killing Fields."

"As long as I have one breath in my body, I am going after Clyde Hedrick," said Miller.

Although evidence exists potentially linking Hedrick to those murders, he has never been charged. So Miller has filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against Hedrick. Miller wants him questioned under oath, hoping it sparks new leads.

"I want to know who Jane Doe is, I want to know how Laura died," said Miller. "There could be something revealed, there may not be, but I know if I don't do anything, nothing will happen."

The lawsuit will also help prevent Hedrick from making money off possible books or movies about the "Texas Killing Fields."

"I want to make sure he doesn't profit one single penny," said Miller.

Miller says this is not about money though. He's just a father, still fighting for justice, still fighting for Laura.

"Any parent that loves their child would go to any lengths to find out what happened to their child," said Miller. "I hear a little voice that says, 'Dad, don't quit,' and I still hear it, so I'm going to listen to it."

Hedrick will be served with that lawsuit tomorrow while he sits in prison in Galveston County.

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MuffyBee
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« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2014, 04:36:20 PM »

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Wrongful-death-suit-latest-turn-in-EquuSearch-5717081.php#/0
Wrongful death suit latest turn in EquuSearch founder's quest for daughter's killer
Suit against ex-neighbor is latest turn in quest to unmask daughter's '84 killer

By Brian Rogers
August 27, 2014

Tim Miller is a man who will not quit.

He has spent 30 years relentlessly searching for missing people, first with area law enforcement agencies, then by creating Texas EquuSearch. He has found dozens of people and the bodies of more than 180 victims from across the nation and in several countries.

All that work is rooted in the pain of searching for 17 months for his teenage daughter after she disappeared three decades ago.

The man who has worked to help so many other families continued his own quest this week to try to unmask his daughter's killer.

He filed a $110 million wrongful death lawsuit against Clyde Hedrick, the man who Miller believes killed his 16-year-old daughter, Laura Lynn.

"I'm OK with Laura's death today. Because of her death, we've done tremendous things with EquuSearch," Miller said Wednesday. "But I'm just doing what any other father would do who loves their child."

His daughter disappeared on Sept. 10, 1984. Her remains were found scattered in a wooded area off Calder Road in League City. The notorious "killing field" became known as a dumping ground for victims.

Hedrick, who never has been charged in the death, lived on the same street as Miller at the time of the disappearance. Five months ago, Hedrick was convicted in the 1984 death of Ellen Rae Beason, prompting Miller to renew his calls for a closer look at his onetime neighbor.

"He's always been my 'person of interest,' " Miller said. "I have no doubt in my mind Clyde is responsible for Laura, Heidi and Jane Doe's deaths, and I will continue to fight to get him indicted and convicted."
Beason's body was not in the same area where Miller's daughter and the bodies of the three other women were found. Miller said building materials and old shingles were dumped near each. Hedrick was a roofer who was familiar with that area, according to Miller.

"Everything pointed to him from the very beginning," Miller said. "But the investigation was grossly mishandled by the League City Police Department."

It is a criticism that Miller has leveled at the small department in the past.

Assistant Chief Gary Ratliff said that months of exposure to the elements reduces the amount of evidence at a crime scene.

Roller coaster of grief

"I can definitely understand his frustration and his concern about things," Ratliff said. "But this case has never been closed and we have had detectives through the years that have continued to work that case as we still do today."

He also said Hedrick remains a suspect in Laura Miller's death.

"We're not ready to expose our reasonings why we feel he's a suspect or the other things we're doing," Ratliff said. "Clyde knows we're looking at him for these killings."

For Miller, the decades of grief have been a roller coaster.

Two years ago, he bought a Bible for Hedrick and inscribed, "I forgive you from my heart."

It was part of the grieving process.

"I knew I was either going to commit a homicide or a suicide if I didn't get busy forgiving," Miller said. "It's crazy what all these emotions will do to you."

Even after he had resolved to forgive Hedrick and bought the Bible, he considered taking the law into his own hands. He put five guns in his car and started driving, intending to find and kill Hedrick. A friend was able to talk him out of it.

"It's been a struggle," Miller said. "I almost made a terrible choice."

Miller said his lawsuit is unlikely to secure the $110 million, but he hopes the process will lead to developments in the case.

"I want to know what happened to Laura," Miller said. "Chances are we're going to come out of this 100 percent empty-handed, but if I do nothing, there's no chance that anything will ever happen."

Experts said a civil suit can be a legitimate way to expose a private investigation for prosecutors to consider. A favorable verdict is also better than nothing for grieving families.

'I will not quit'

"From the standpoint of principle, it's the next best thing to establish the righteousness of your position," said Geoffrey Corn, a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston. "At least it's a denunciation by a jury of peers, based on evidence, of the individual he believes killed his daughter."

Miller said his daughter's death drove him to drink heavily and divorce his wife. He also rented 25 acres of the area where Laura's body was found to search for clues by himself.

In 2000, he founded Texas EquuSearch with two horses. He can now marshal more than 50 mounted riders. The nonprofit also has access to divers and boats, pilots and aircraft and an army of volunteers trained in operating infrared and ground-scanning devices. The organization recently won a court case to use unmanned drone aircraft for their searches.

"We even use satellites," Miller said.

He takes solace in the organization's accomplishments, and said his daughter's death was not in vain.

"This is not what I would have chosen to do with my life," he said. "I wouldn't be doing this if Laura was still alive."

And the quest to see someone held responsible continues to drive him.

"I will not quit," Miller said. "Sorry Clyde, but I'm never going to quit."
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« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2014, 06:40:50 PM »

 an angelic monkey For Tim and his quest to see justice for Lauras death. an angelic monkey
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2014, 09:17:09 AM »

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier.   an angelic monkey

http://texasequusearch.org/2014/08/candlelight-service-in-honor-of-laura-lynn-miller-972014/
Candlelight Service in honor of Laura Lynn Miller, 9/7/2014



Posted on 27. Aug, 2014 by larry slack in Featured News, Memorials, TXEQ News
Texas EquuSearch members invite you to a special Memorial Service and Candlelight Vigil at 7:00 PM on September 7, 2014, at the Magnolia Creek Baptist Creek Church located at 3535 Calder Drive, League City, TX 77573-6783. This service is in rememberance of Laura’s disappearance 30 years ago. Tim Miller, father of Laura and founder of Texas EquuSearch will be a guest speaker. Please join with us to honor Laura and all missing loved ones.

(Invitation to Laura Miller's Candlelight Vigil link below article at Texas Equusearch site)
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RIP Grumpy Cat :( I will miss you.


« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2019, 08:26:05 AM »

Police ID 2 women's bodies found in 'Texas Killing Fields’ decades ago


The remains of Audrey Cook, left, and Donna Prudhomme were found decades ago but were only identified recently.

Updated: Tue 6:07 AM, Apr 16, 2019
LEAGUE CITY, TX (KLTV/Gray News) - Police have finally been able to identify two unknown women whose remains were found years ago in the Calder Road area League City, off of I-45 in Galveston County.

Assisted by DNA technology that was not available when the women were killed and dumped in the so-called “Texas Killing Fields,” police have discovered who the women were, and now they want the public’s help learning more about them as they investigate their deaths.

The area where the women were found has been dubbed “Texas Killing Fields” by members of the public and the media over the years, police said. The crimes have also been dubbed “The Calder Road Murders.”

Thirty bodies have been found there over the years, beginning in the 1970s. Some cases have been solved and linked to serial killers. Others remain open, police said.

On Feb. 2, 1986, police say two boys were riding their bikes in a field off Calder Road when they found the remains of two female victims. The women’s bodies were in close proximity to each other.

One of the women was identified, but the other has remained unidentified for 33 years. She is now known to be Audrey Lee Cook of Alabama. She was 30 years old at the time of her death. Cook lived in Houston/Channelview between 1976 and 1985, working for a Houston golf cart company in 1979, Harrison Equipment Company in 1980, and Balloon Affair in Houston in 1981. At some point she worked as a mechanic for National Rent-a-Car in Houston, as well.

Her last contact was with family in December 1985. Her body was found two months later. Her associates from that time indicated she was believed to buy and sell cocaine, according to police.

Five years later, on Sept. 8, 1991, the skeletal remains of another woman were found in the same area by two people riding horses. When medical examiners could not identify her, she was dubbed “Janet Doe.” She was the fourth female body found in the area in a span of seven years, police say. Janet Doe is now known to be Donna Prudhomme, age 34 at the time of her death. She had moved from Beaumont to Austin in 1986, police said, to escape an abusive relationship. In 1988 she moved to Seabrook where she lived in several different apartment complexes. She then moved to Nassau Bay in 1991.

Police do not know where Prudhomme worked, and ask for the public’s help learning that and other details of her life. They say that she was believed to frequent several local bars in the Nasa Road 1 area of Seabrook, Texas. She was last seen in July 1991.

The women who were identified soon after they were located in the “killing fields” were Heidi Fye in 1984 and Laura Miller in 1986.

Police say that on April 6, 1984, a family dog brought human skeletal remains to its home on Ervin Street. A wooded area was searched behind the home, and the rest of the remains of a woman were found. The woman was identified as Heidi Fye, 25.

The woman whose body was found near Cook’s body in 1986 was identified using dental records. Detectives worked to identify both women, but could only identify one, Laura Miller.

League City Police are asking that anybody who knew or had personal knowledge of either Audrey Cook or Donna Prudhomme around the time of their deaths or has information that will help further the investigation of these cases to please contact the League City Police Department Cold Case tip line at 281-338-8220.

If you would like to arrange for an interview with Lt. Buffington, please contact Public Information Officer Kelly Williamson at 281-554-1844 or email him.
https://www.wabi.tv/content/news/Police-release-identity-of-2-women-found-in-notorious-Texas-killing-fields-508632681.html
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