TX TX - Unidentified victims of Dean Corll, Houston Serial Killer, 1970-1973

[Snoods]

@MadMcGoo THANK YOU so much for the links. I’m reading the police reports now. This will keep me busy for a while. It’s surreal reading the reports, so many years later.

Don’t bother with the book I mentioned, it reads more like fan fiction instead of a true crime book. Many facts left out and it is mostly made up conversations between the victims and the trio. (Which the author admits are made up.) It is also extremely sympathetic towards David Brooks and even Henley. David is practically made out to be a victim and is (according to the author) constantly sick to his stomach and vomiting while rushing out of Dean’s house if a victim is being tortured and murdered. Elmer is a hero for shooting Dean. (Nothing to do with saving his own skin, uh huh.)

Brooks is the forgotten one, probably because of what you said. He keeps his mouth shut.

There is so much information, so much misinformation, so many victims, so many burial locations, so many leads, so many LE with egg on their faces after all this came to light, and so many loose ends. So much information that you needed to make a spreadsheet! Just for the record I am usually very pro LE, but things were/are not (being) handled well.

 

[Snoods]

Is John Harmon, 15, who was reported missing from the Wescott apartments in 1971 still missing? I can’t find any information on him. Suspicious because Dean moved to the former Westcott towers in 1972 and trolled the area. The needing money phone call to his parents is also similar to the phone call Charles Cobble made to his parents.

I suspect Dean of murdering almost all of the many missing teen boys in the general area and in the general time frame. He was murdering alone before he enlisted David and Elmer as procurers and helpers, and he murdered boys of which David and Elmer were not aware during the time the two were involved.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Is John Harmon, 15, who was reported missing from the Wescott apartments in 1971 still missing? I can’t find any information on him. Suspicious because Dean moved to the former Westcott towers in 1972 and trolled the area. The needing money phone call to his parents is also similar to the phone call Charles Cobble made to his parents.

I suspect Dean of murdering almost all of the many missing teen boys in the general area and in the general time frame. He was murdering alone before he enlisted David and Elmer as procurers and helpers, and he murdered boys of which David and Elmer were not aware during the time the two were involved.

Yes, the police reports are a must read in my opinions. Nine times out of ten, that’s where the most accurate information can be found. In my experience anyway. Those reports and statements were documented before anyone had time to sit and think about things and potentially fabricate their version of events.

It also doesn’t help law enforcement’s image much - being able to see the wealth of information they had right under their noses, and for the most part ignored. Or so it seems. I’m pro-LE also, but have seen first hand the “bad apple” side of things. I‘m certain a case of this magnitude would be a tremendous undertaking for an agency in this day and age, I can only imagine how much more difficult it would have been 50 years ago. I still see no good reason why someone can’t at least try to right a few wrongs here.

I haven’t gotten so far as looking to see if any of the missing boys mentioned are still missing today. I checked the 3 main sites for several of them, but came up with nothing. I’m not so sure that if they are still missing today there’d be any record of it. Looking at a few of the known victims’ MP reports, there are discrepancies even in some of the dates. One in particular, and I forget who at the moment, was reported missing quite a while before what we’ve seen in most of the other sources. These could be typos, but there sure are a lot of them if that’s the case. And it may very likely be that the person(s) reporting some of the boys weren’t certain about the dates. Then there are a few who had been reported as missing prior to the last time (I didn’t see that any of these reports are from the earlier “runaways” though).

I would really like to think that law enforcement (then and now) looked into these other missing boys. Especially the ones that were not reported as such, but mentioned by one or more of the people interviewed early on. I eventually want to go through the yearbooks and see what I can dig up there as far as some of the names mentioned. I mean, for Pete’s sake, these boys lived next to one another, went to the same schools/churches, hung out with the same people and at the same places, were siblings in some cases - yet, dots were still not being connected?! Literally, unbelievable! Someone suspected something, I’d almost bet on it.

I also agree that Corll, at the very least, knew most every missing young boy from the area at the time. As I’m reading through all this I keep wondering, if things had ended differently and the three kids had been killed by Corll that day, would they have been reported missing? Because I’m sure that Brooks and Henley weren’t his first procurers, and I highly doubt any before them are still living to tell about it. Are they among the reported missing? Have they already been found someplace and identified.

Geez, I could go on and on with the questions.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I just happened to come across one of the things I mentioned previously...

According to most all of the sources: “During the time Corll resided at Schuler Street [about July 1972], the trio lured a 19-year-old named Billy Ridinger to the house. Ridinger was tied to the plywood board, tortured and abused by Corll. Brooks later claimed he persuaded Corll to allow Ridinger to be released, and the youth was allowed to leave the residence...”

Now, according to the police reports, on or around August 3, 1970, Corll signed a 6-month lease at the Pine Lodge Apartments (2747 Houston). On that lease agreement, he listed “Billy Ridinger” as a personal reference.

That’s 2 years before he was allegedly lured to his home.

and: “...On another occasion during the time Corll resided at Schuler Street, Henley knocked Brooks unconscious as he entered the house. Corll then tied Brooks to his bed and assaulted the youth repeatedly before releasing him. Despite the assault, Brooks continued to assist Corll in the abductions of the victims.”

So...not only were they torturing and assaulting dozens of others young boys, they were taking turns doing the same things to each another??? This doesn’t make sense to me. Yah, they were drunk and/or high a lot of the time. What made August 8, 1973 any different from the previous times? They had always been “let go” before, why kill Corll this time?

I don’t know...something (else) that doesn’t add up in my opinion.

 

[Snoods]

@MadMcGoo I also agree that Corll, at the very least, knew most every missing young boy from the area at the time. As I’m reading through all this I keep wondering, if things had ended differently and the three kids had been killed by Corll that day, would they have been reported missing? Because I’m sure that Brooks and Henley weren’t his first procurers, and I highly doubt any before them are still living to tell about it. Are they among the reported missing? Have they already been found someplace and identified.

Same ol’ song and dance. Elmer would have been reported missing by his mom, and then most certainly chalked up as a runaway, taking off with the troubled Rhonda Williams. Tim Kerley as well.

I think that Elmer and David eventually read the writing on the wall and it finally dawned on the sadistic simpletons that they were soon going to end up covered in lime somewhere. They had previously talked about killing Dean before they ended up dead themselves. Elmer was also tied up and assaulted twice by Dean. They were all sick as fck. Elmer finally saw his chance to kill Dean and took it. I also read that Dean was increasingly interested in Elmer’s younger brother, which was seriously troubling Elmer.

Remember the rumors about one alleged former procurer who wound up dead and is still buried somewhere on High Island? Elmer rolled on him. IMO Dean carefully vetted and groomed his procurers and killed them off at his whim or when they ran out of friends to bring him. No doubt there are others IMO.

Billy Ridinger (appearing in court with a garbage bag on his head) as a personal reference for Dean Corll’s apartment in 1970, WTF? This confirms my personal opinion about his relationship and dealings with Dean. IMO.



Sorry for this thread becoming a catch-all for everything Dean Corll related, but I think it works and hopefully nobody minds. We are all working towards the same end goal.

 

[Snoods]

The police reports are a gold mine, I’m jotting down questions as I read them.

 

[Snoods]

This is new to me. A detective contacted a Mr. Slayton at NASA and asked them for help locating bodies at the High Island and Sam Rayburn locations using infrared photography. Mr. Slayton said they would use this and other techniques to search for bodies.

The next day, Slayton said they were unsuccessful at High Island in the filming efforts and there would be no further action taken by NASA.

 

[Snoods]

The parents of victim Wally Simoneaux, 14, told police when they reported their son missing, the principal of Hamilton Jr. High told them there were 20 other boys also missing from Hamilton. TWENTY. Twenty-one missing boys from ONE junior high school.

 

[Snoods]

I thought I took a screenshot but I can’t find it. From the police reports.

Homer Garcia was never seen again after meeting Elmer Wayne Henley at Coach’s driving school. After driving school Homer called his parents and told them he was going to a party. His parents said Homer was excited about his new job and learning to drive.

Homer Garcia’s parents told police they thought he met someone new at driving school and LE should check this out. LE NEVER interviewed anyone from the driving school.

If only LE had talked to and vetted the other students, they may have discovered Elmer’s connection to so many other missing boys. Boys Elmer went to school with, was friends with, and lived within minutes of each other.

Perhaps the connection between Elmer, a complete stranger to Homer Garcia, and the double digit number of other missing boys with a solid CONNECTION to Elmer would have been realized.

Homer Garcia, center.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I thought I took a screenshot but I can’t find it. From the police reports.

Homer Garcia was never seen again after meeting Elmer Wayne Henley at Coach’s driving school. After driving school Homer called his parents and told them he was going to a party. His parents said Homer was excited about his new job and learning to drive.

Homer Garcia’s parents told police they thought he met someone new at driving school and LE should check this out. LE NEVER interviewed anyone from the driving school.

If only LE had talked to and vetted the other students, they may have discovered Elmer’s connection to so many other missing boys. Boys Elmer went to school with, was friends with, and lived within minutes of each other.

Perhaps the connection between Elmer, a complete stranger to Homer Garcia, and the double digit number of other missing boys with a solid CONNECTION to Elmer would have been realized.

Homer Garcia, center.
View attachment 246162

I know! There is SO much stuff in those police reports! Of course hindsight is 20/20, but there are (were) too many red flags. I can’t imagine, in this day and age, that many students being missing from my school within a short time period and not being suspicious - as a student! Much less as a parent or teacher. Twenty-one students over the course of even 20 years would stand out to me.

And then the mountains of information discovered after Corll’s death that was pushed aside. We’ll likely never know the crimes that could have been prevented had this been properly, and thoroughly, investigated in the beginning.

 

[faithx]

Former henchman of one of Houston’s most notorious serial killers dies of COVID-19

"A onetime henchman of one of the Houston area’s most notorious serial killers has died of COVID-19, officials said Wednesday.

David Owen Brooks was 65 when he died in a Galveston prison hospital on May 28, two weeks after he had been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website. He also suffered from a number of preexisting conditions but did test positive for the virus, and preliminary results of an autopsy suggested it was a contributing cause of his death."

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

Former henchman of one of Houston’s most notorious serial killers dies of COVID-19

"A onetime henchman of one of the Houston area’s most notorious serial killers has died of COVID-19, officials said Wednesday.

David Owen Brooks was 65 when he died in a Galveston prison hospital on May 28, two weeks after he had been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website. He also suffered from a number of preexisting conditions but did test positive for the virus, and preliminary results of an autopsy suggested it was a contributing cause of his death."

Good riddance to bad rubbish...........................................................................................................................

 

[MadMcGoo]

“...he died in a Galveston prison hospital on May 28, two weeks after he had been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with the illness caused by the novel coronavirus...”

I hope he was...uncomfortable.

 

[Keiri]

Does anyone have info on Bobby French? I looked in namus with no luck and I’m curious to know what the details of his disappearance were.

 

[cyberguy]

Madmcgoo thank you! I was just coming here to talk about the wealth of information in those reports and other information you posted.

11 of the first 18 boys were in child *advertiser censored*. LE found this out, the names of the books they were in and addresses to places like Brenham were either boys were filming there, trafficked there or both. One father knew his sons Played with gay men for cash.

Corll knew Gacey. Corll had two notorious serial killers, one Corona from CA? at his Pasadena home. There was a vast network. LE swept it under the rug alright. There are so many more bodies out there. 100%. Lots of them. Corll didn’t get that good by the time Brooks saw him with two boys.

I’m not happy Brooks died. He knew much more than he said but wanted parole so he stopped talking. 47 years ago today James Stanton Dreymala was probably still alive being tortured. Brooks knew more about his killing. He was taken Aug 3 but listed as dying Aug 5. They may have recruited Stanton before that day. A lot is covered up about Stanton’s abduction and killing. In photos from the stall, he clearly has a Huge gash down his back. I
lived 5 blocks away from Lamar street in 1973 when Stanton was murdered. I was a baby. I’ve always felt his murder held some clues and Corll was hunting now in Pasadena as well. I have a feeling Corll tortured that kid worse than others if he had him alone which I don’t think is the case.

Sorry for the rant. I’ve been looking for a forum to talk about Corll since I grew up 5 streets away. Fun fact: Corll went to South Shaver Elementary. In 5th grade, there was a 2nd grader who would be a future star who met a grisly fate later in life- Sharon Tate.

LE refusing to follow up on the child *advertiser censored* and connections to other serial killers is a gross, stunning dereliction of duty. This story is huge, huge yet it is a forgotten sad tale. If we ever find out the entire truth I think it will blow our minds.

 

[cyberguy]

Oh I’ll share what my dad, who worked with Pasadena PD, shared about the case. This case was, indeed, way bigger than anybody can imagine.

 

[Marysel]

Hello everyone. I recently found out about this forum that there are still people here who are ready to spend their time analyzing this mysterious case. So I wanted to ask you about this article: https://archive.md/20120723181807/h...remains-20-years-later-memories-of-dean.html/
I found a link to this article on the Dean Corll wikipedia page. It has some extremely entertaining testimonies from Sister of Willard K. "Rusty" Branch about the way the parties were held. And I have never seen anyone discuss it or cite it as an example in disputes on reddit or on another page

 

[Keiri]

“Entertaining” is an odd word choice. Anyway, how do you know about the child *advertiser censored* angle? Nothing I’ve read anywhere mentioned it.

 

[Marysel]

“Entertaining” is an odd word choice. Anyway, how do you know about the child *advertiser censored* angle? Nothing I’ve read anywhere mentioned it.

Sorry for that. I am not very good at choosing words, because english is not my native language. I mean intriguing, it's more suitable word. What about "child *advertiser censored* angle"? I read in some newspaper articles of those years about the investigation of the connection between the corll and the accomplices and the organization. The results of the investigation in different police departments came out ambiguous. I remember exactly that the Dallas cops found connection ( https://archive.is/MkYUC) , but the data about the investigaton in Houston varies. I will put in a few links to newspaper articles I can find. I can still recall some disturbing moments in the police reports. Some of them relate to confessions by outsiders such as Ahern, while others relate to Henley's words or other people directly related to the investigation(for example, in the witness words of Rhonda Williams).
Clipping from Independent - Newspapers.com
Clipping from Corsicana Daily Sun - Newspapers.com
Alleged Homosexual Ring Found In a Raid on Apartment in Dallas
the name of Ames was also mentioned in the police reports. He was engaged in shooting child pronography (https://www.houstonpress.com/music/good-riddance-to-bad-rubbish-655516. It's article about him). In the case, he was mentioned 2 times: in connection with the disappearance of the WALDROP brothers and in the testimony of Ahern. mari-liti (it's screenshots s of the police reports that I mentioned)

 

[Keiri]

You are right,it does say that. But that’s so weird because I thought all of the boys were local, and many went to the same schools.