TX TX - Houston, 'Swimsuit Boy' WhtMale 15-19, UP4547, Dean Corll victim, Aug'73

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This missing person has not been brought up that I can tell and he is a bit older than the estimated range and Corll’s usual victims. He went missing from Los Angeles, California on December 24, 1972; Corll’s birthday and right around the time he became “inactive” in Texas. David Leo Graham, 25 years old, 5’5”, 135 lbs, brown hair and green eyes. He was born in Mississippi, raised in Mobile, Alabama and had recently moved to L.A. to attend college. On his WS thread there are articles stating his vehicle was found by the FBI at a used car dealership in Tijuana, Mexico. It had been sold by someone other than David.

There are pictures of a few David Graham’s in Alabama yearbooks, so I’ll let someone try and figure out exactly which one this David is. 18 public member trees and not a photo to be found. (I’ve not looked very long, so I may eventually find the right one.) The photo of David on all the MP sites is hard to compare to any others due to it being an oddly angled profile.

Some of the records indicated a David Leo Graham gave birth to a child in Harris County, Texas in 1967 and married in Grayson County, Texas in 1975; I can’t verify that is the same David either. Basically, I turned up nothing of value. :oops:

9474680C-B01E-4460-8CA4-44CC861A402E.jpeg
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

CA - CA - David Graham, 25, Los Angeles, 25 Dec 1972
 
Snoods said:
Blast from the past. My brother attended Spring Branch high school when it closed and ended up at Stratford high school.

I don’t believe we can post a picture of Dudley without him being listed as missing. Unfortunately these are the people who slip through the missing cracks, they are never reported as missing.

I feel that Swimsuit Boy was never reported as missing for some reason. He was wearing blue corduroy pants over his his swim trunks, a long sleeve khaki t-shirt with a peace sign, cowboy boots, and a leather knotted ankle bracelet.
View attachment 231570

View attachment 231569
Teen Elmer Wayne Henley at High Island beach, pointing out bodies

View attachment 231566
Elmer Wayne Henley (left) and accomplice David Brooks at High Island.

View attachment 231567
Elmer Wayne Henley (background) and Dean Corll

View attachment 231568
One of the torture boards and tools.

There is a more graphic photo of a young, still unidentified boy tied to the torture board that I won’t post, you can google it.
Click to expand...

Those photos reminded me, David Brooks died of COVID-19 back in May.

"David Brooks, 65, was assigned to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston when he was hospitalized May 12 with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. He tested positive for the virus at Hospital Galveston before he died May 28. He had multiple pre-existing conditions at the time of his death, according to TDCJ, but preliminary autopsy results indicate COVID-19 was a contributing factor."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Accomplice-in-Houston-Mass-Murders-dies-in-prison-15331112.php
 
Mrs. Badcrumble said:
Swimsuit Boy's status in the Fb pinned post is now "on indefinite hold" :( His DDP page says "Indefinite hold. This case has been placed on indefinite hold per agency request."
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Oh no! :( Per agency request?? Has this happened before? I’m afraid for what this might mean.
 
The Houston PD has a lot to answer for with their cavalier attitude to so many boys going missing, writing them off as runaways. There were such obvious connections of the missing boys to Corrl and Harvey. They were hiding in plain site courtesy of the HPD. Dean Corrl found a killing partner who was as rapacious as he was. Elmer Wayne Henley was no dupe, he was no victim of Corrl, he embraced the killing perhaps more than Corrl did. He should never get out of prison.

I read Rhonda Williams died in her sleep last September 2019. Did anyone read her book The Girl on the Torture Board? I read some 2011 comments on a cached article where she was given a lot of grief by several commenters, one who was David Brooks' sister. Whatever her reasons for writing the book, she was a victim just as much as those who perished.

A little off topic but the widow of one of the victims, Charles Gary Cobble (it seems so bizarre to be talking about a 14 year old girl as a widow) married again in December 1973 to Martin Steve Elliott whose two younger brothers were murdered, mutilated and decapitated several months apart by a 15 year old boy.

Is there something in the water in Houston?
 
JovanSrna said:
I heartily recommend this long form article from Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth.
The Lost Boys
It is a deeply poignant story about Dean Corll's victims.
This was a serial killer with numerous similarities to John Wayne Gacy but he had his own flair of depravity that sets them apart as well.
He isn't as well known though because one of his accomplices killed him and thus the beast never saw a day of trial. There is also a lot of sleaze regarding the police, their attitude to missing boys and investigation of these murders.
I hope they identify Swimsuit Boy with ease. He died a terrible death and a name is such a sad thing to lose too.
Click to expand...

I'm shocked that I've never heard of Dean Corrl before. It's sad that he didn't get to rot in prison like his accomplices.

@Mrs. Badcrumble @MadMcGoo does anyone know what an indefinite hold is??
 
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peace+love said:
I'm shocked that I've never heard of Dean Corrl before. It's sad that he didn't get to rot in prison like his accomplices.

@Mrs. Badcrumble @MadMcGoo does anyone know what an indefinite hold is??
Click to expand...
Corll was quite the monster, to say the least.

I'm not at all familiar with what an "indefinite hold" means in these circumstances...
 
JovanSrna said:
I heartily recommend this long form article from Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth.
The Lost Boys
It is a deeply poignant story about Dean Corll's victims.
This was a serial killer with numerous similarities to John Wayne Gacy but he had his own flair of depravity that sets them apart as well.
He isn't as well known though because one of his accomplices killed him and thus the beast never saw a day of trial. There is also a lot of sleaze regarding the police, their attitude to missing boys and investigation of these murders.
I hope they identify Swimsuit Boy with ease. He died a terrible death and a name is such a sad thing to lose too.
Click to expand...

this was heartbreaking :(
 
Mrs. Badcrumble said:
Swimsuit Boy's status in the Fb pinned post is now "on indefinite hold" :( His DDP page says "Indefinite hold. This case has been placed on indefinite hold per agency request."
Click to expand...

Really hope this is just a case of the agency following up on a promising lead, like someone else suggested.

Otherwise, "Indefinite hold" really makes me worry
 
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leilarose68 said:
Read DNA Doe Project's latest facebook post you guys; it has got me thinking... I am wondering if what they're saying applies to Swimsuit Boy being put on an "indefinite hold" with DDP. It is a high profile case after all.
Click to expand...

Maybe. From their post:
Some organizations view this as a highly competitive field, unfortunately, and have become both aggressive and persuasive. (...) In our view there are, tragically, plenty of John and Jane Does to go around.
Click to expand...
Sounds like they are talking about certain newer organizations doing similar work (solving cases with DNA) but with an ugly attitude. They don't do this to help, but to score points. They want # of solves (wins) and recognition, not peace for families.

In the first post on their page they respond to someone asking about him: "The agency has decided to try a different approach."
Maybe "the agency" (LE) has recruited one of these "ugly" companies to work this case instead of DDP.

eta: Re-reading, it does sound like someone else has "taken over" one of their announced cases, maybe even using DDPs work.
 
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AliceInPain said:
Maybe. From their post:

Sounds like they are talking about certain newer organizations doing similar work (solving cases with DNA) but with an ugly attitude. They don't do this to help, but to score points. They want # of solves (wins) and recognition, not peace for families.

In the first post on their page they respond to someone asking about him: "The agency has decided to try a different approach."
Maybe "the agency" (LE) has recruited one of these "ugly" companies to work this case instead of DDP.

eta: Re-reading, it does sound like someone else has "taken over" one of their announced cases, maybe even using DDPs work.
Click to expand...

I definitely think the takeaway is that some genealogy organizations have been swiping other orgs’ cases. It seems to be worded in a more roundabout way so it’s diplomatic and not overly accusatory or targeted. It’s more obvious if you read CeCe Moore and Redgrave Research’s responses IMO.
 
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