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

[Snoods]

I didn’t notice at first, but UP9728’s NamUs profile was last modified on February 03, 2020. (for whatever that’s worth)

Okay, this is SO the unidentified arm bone and pelvis found in the mass grave that LE chose to ignore. This would be the little talked about 30th victim of Dean Corll and Co.! High Island is in Jefferson County.

NAMUS
Inventory of Remains:
Head not recovered.
One or more limbs not recovered.
One or both hands not recovered.

Why isn’t this more publicized?! This is %100 the 30th Dean Corll victim, @MadMcGoo!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Hmm...interesting. First, thank you for taking the time to thoroughly read the thread, that isn’t always possible but it is appreciated!

LE have stated for a while that swimsuit boy is the only unidentified victim, but we all know there are more boys buried out there. The UID mentioned with Joseph Lyles who was about to be buried is confusing; who was he? The remains of Joseph Lyles were not discovered until 1983, as you said. This boy was found in 1973.

Namus says believed to be a victim of a serial killer in 1973? Wow. So how many serial killers of young boys were there in 1973 but Dean Corll?

I can understand your concerns and confusion, this is alarming. Great find. Who were the exclusions, I can’t find any listed?

Thank you for responding! This had been bothering me since I posted the first time and figured I must have been missing something, so I researched Corll. Something I hadn’t intended to do; cases with children, especially such as these, are not something I like to delve into. I’m certain the serial murders referred to in the 1973 case are those of Corll and his cohorts.

The other boy mentioned in the article with Joseph Lyle, I believe is Mark Scott. If I remember correctly (and sadly I just read all this today), Henley insisted that the remains found in the boat shed which were identified as Mark Scott were not those of Mark; he was sure they’d buried him on High Island Beach. That somehow prompted additional testing and it was determined that Henley was correct, the remains found in the shed turned out to be Steven Sickman. Steven would never have been discovered to be a victim of Corll if it hadn’t been for Henley’s insistence that they’d misidentified Mark, whom AFAIK has still not been found. And apparently Lyle was found in August 1983 but not identified until 2009.

I saw where I had I missed, on this thread, the mention of the UID found in Jefferson County in 1973. Apparently, as CarlK stated, it was only the sacrum of an adolescent male. So, there was that one. However, I had to create a spreadsheet of victims (found, identified, and thought to still be buried some place) in order to follow along.

I am still confused about the 1973 vs. 1983 remains. The varying dates were not just mentioned once, which makes me think there is another case. Maybe not publicly accessible via NamUs? I’m not sure. But the remains confirmed by DNA to be those of Joseph Lyle were, by all accounts including this one, found in 1983. “The Jefferson County remains were found scattered near an eroding sandbank in 1983. Before the DNA match, investigators did not suspect the Jefferson County skeleton was linked to the Corll murders.” (This refers to remains, not just a sacrum.)

I’m basing this all mostly from the Wikipedia, Murderpedia, and a few various other sources. There are so many broken links on this thread, I had a hard time finding information especially on the victims prior to them being identified - in order to compare to the remaining UID. As far as I can tell, the remains found in 1973 are connected to Corll. And the ones I most recently posted found in 1971, as far as I’m concerned, should be looked into as being connected also! I’ve just seen nothing other than a few articles mention remains found in 1983.

It’s confusing just trying to explain it. I can’t wrap my head around the magnitude of this man’s crimes! And I’m positive they reach further than South Texas and long before the early 70s. I created this spreadsheet within the last 24 hours. It’s likely confusing to anyone other than myself, but feel free to look at the info I’ve collected today, maybe you can make heads or tails of what I can’t seem to. It’s incomplete and disorganized, so I apologize in advance.

The only exclusions listed for the 1973 NamUs case are Norman Prater and a less than one year old, A.J. Campbell missing since 1958! The 1971 case has 0 missing person exclusions. No head was found there, but body hair was determined to be light brown/blond; that should be helpful if this is another victim of the trio! IMO

 

[Snoods]

@MadMcGoo about the other IUD you posted.The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The fact he was found in 1971 in a Clear Lake drainage ditch wearing a Jericho Surf Shop shirt is interesting to me.

Have you heard of The Texas Killing Fields? If not, I recommend the book Deliver Us from Evil by Kathryn Casey. Two girls, Rhonda Renee Johnson and Sharon Lynn Shaw were last seen at the Jericho Surf Shop in Galveston Island in August of 1971. Our NAMUS victim above was found in September of 1971. At least 30 victims are believed to be the victims of one or multiple serial killers active at the time in that area. There is more than one connection to the Jericho Surf Shop. So complicated.

Could he have been a victim of the The Fields murderer by being in the wrong place at the wrong time? This serial killer’s MO was definitely young girls, not boys.

 

[Snoods]

Thank you for responding! This had been bothering me since I posted the first time and figured I must have been missing something, so I researched Corll. Something I hadn’t intended to do; cases with children, especially such as these, are not something I like to delve into. I’m certain the serial murders referred to in the 1973 case are those of Corll and his cohorts.

The other boy mentioned in the article with Joseph Lyle, I believe is Mark Scott. If I remember correctly (and sadly I just read all this today), Henley insisted that the remains found in the boat shed which were identified as Mark Scott were not those of Mark; he was sure they’d buried him on High Island Beach. That somehow prompted additional testing and it was determined that Henley was correct, the remains found in the shed turned out to be Steven Sickman. Steven would never have been discovered to be a victim of Corll if it hadn’t been for Henley’s insistence that they’d misidentified Mark, whom AFAIK has still not been found. And apparently Lyle was found in August 1983 but not identified until 2009.

I saw where I had I missed, on this thread, the mention of the UID found in Jefferson County in 1973. Apparently, as CarlK stated, it was only the sacrum of an adolescent male. So, there was that one. However, I had to create a spreadsheet of victims (found, identified, and thought to still be buried some place) in order to follow along.

I am still confused about the 1973 vs. 1983 remains. The varying dates were not just mentioned once, which makes me think there is another case. Maybe not publicly accessible via NamUs? I’m not sure. But the remains confirmed by DNA to be those of Joseph Lyle were, by all accounts including this one, found in 1983. “The Jefferson County remains were found scattered near an eroding sandbank in 1983. Before the DNA match, investigators did not suspect the Jefferson County skeleton was linked to the Corll murders.” (This refers to remains, not just a sacrum.)

I’m basing this all mostly from the Wikipedia, Murderpedia, and a few various other sources. There are so many broken links on this thread, I had a hard time finding information especially on the victims prior to them being identified - in order to compare to the remaining UID. As far as I can tell, the remains found in 1973 are connected to Corll. And the ones I most recently posted found in 1971, as far as I’m concerned, should be looked into as being connected also! I’ve just seen nothing other than a few articles mention remains found in 1983.

It’s confusing just trying to explain it. I can’t wrap my head around the magnitude of this man’s crimes! And I’m positive they reach further than South Texas and long before the early 70s. I created this spreadsheet within the last 24 hours. It’s likely confusing to anyone other than myself, but feel free to look at the info I’ve collected today, maybe you can make heads or tails of what I can’t seem to. It’s incomplete and disorganized, so I apologize in advance.

The only exclusions listed for the 1973 NamUs case are Norman Prater and a less than one year old, A.J. Campbell missing since 1958! The 1971 case has 0 missing person exclusions. No head was found there, but body hair was determined to be light brown/blond; that should be helpful if this is another victim of the trio! IMO

Yes you are correct about Elmer’s insistence over the years that it was not Mark Scott’s remains. Elmer even described the position MS was buried in and where they could find him. When he was proven correct Elmer said “ I told you!”

My brain is fried right now over all of this, but I have no doubt the unidentified bones of your IUD is another victim of Dean Corll.

I am looking forward to reading your spreadsheet but I must go to bed now. I will read everything tomorrow with a fresh mind.

The Man with the Candy by Jack Olsen is a very good book about the Dean Corll murders.

 

[MadMcGoo]

@MadMcGoo about the other IUD you posted.The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The fact he was found in 1971 in a Clear Lake drainage ditch wearing a Jericho Surf Shop shirt is interesting to me.

Have you heard of The Texas Killing Fields? If not, I recommend the book Deliver Us from Evil by Kathryn Casey. Two girls, Rhonda Renee Johnson and Sharon Lynn Shaw were last seen at the Jericho Surf Shop in Galveston Island in August of 1971. Our NAMUS victim above was found in September of 1971. At least 30 victims are believed to be the victims of one or multiple serial killers active at the time in that area. There is more than one connection to the Jericho Surf Shop. So complicated.

Could he have been a victim of the The Fields murderer by being in the wrong place at the wrong time? This serial killer’s MO was definitely young girls, not boys.

I’ve definitely heard of the Fields. Another one I’ve never researched in depth. I tend to believe there were more than one killer taking advantage of the area as a “dumping ground”, and the fact that law enforcement agencies were/are under the impression the victims all belonged to one murderer.

That is definitely interesting about the surf shop though. I had heard of some murders (not Corll related) on or around Galveston Island sometime in the 80s? Maybe. I’m not sure, I usually steer clear of young victims and serial killers. Yet, ironically I found these two UID while searching for potential young victims of one or two serial killers!

You’re right, the Texas Killing Field victims, to my knowledge, have all been female and Corll preyed upon young boys, so the ‘71 Jericho Surf Shop victim probably isn’t a ‘fields’ victim. But you could be right, he may have been collateral damage so to speak. And I guess on that same notion, some of the women in the fields could have been Corll’s. That would be a massive undertaking, exploring that theory!

I’m not sure what to make of it all. Do you happen to know of any place where I can find information about Corll’s victims prior to identification? I’m interested for one, in learning more about the boys, and two, I always like to study photos of the identified with recons and such; I feel like helps in searching for potential matches for those UID. If that makes sense.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Yes you are correct about Elmer’s insistence over the years that it was not Mark Scott’s remains. Elmer even described the position MS was buried in and where they could find him. When he was proven correct Elmer said “ I told you!”

My brain is fried right now over all of this, but I have no doubt the unidentified bones of your IUD is another victim of Dean Corll.

I am looking forward to reading your spreadsheet but I must go to bed now. I will read everything tomorrow with a fresh mind.

The Man with the Candy by Jack Olsen is a very good book about the Dean Corll murders.

Yes, I may need a fresh mind for this one too! Have a good night and we’ll chat later!

(that book is next up on my to-read list!)

 

[Snoods]

[URL="https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-houston-mass-murders-what-really-happened/"]The Houston Mass Murders: What Really Happened[/URL]

The Lost Boys

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEVEDA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I can also direct you to some comments from Rhonda, the girl on the torture board, and family members of the victims under an article. If you PM me I can tell you some information that will blow your mind about this case.

 

[SaguaroSpirit]

The Houston Mass Murders: What Really Happened

The Lost Boys

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEVEDA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I can also direct you to some comments from Rhonda, the girl on the torture board, and family members of the victims under an article. If you PM me I can tell you some information that will blow your mind about this case.

I believe Rhonda has passed, recently?

 

[Snoods]

I believe Rhonda has passed, recently?

Is that true? Do you have a link?

 

[SaguaroSpirit]

Is that true? Do you have a link?

All I can find when I search for her name is a link to a fundraiser site asking for donations for a memorial for her. I searched for obits and come to a dead end...idk.

 

[Snoods]

All I can find when I search for her name is a link to a fundraiser site asking for donations for a memorial for her. I searched for obits and come to a dead end...idk.

Oh my gosh, this is a shock! I found the fundraiser, thank you. I hate that she is being touted by friends as “the girl on the torture board” to raise monies. I don’t think she would have liked that AT ALL.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Okay, this is SO the unidentified arm bone and pelvis found in the mass grave that LE chose to ignore. This would be the little talked about 30th victim of Dean Corll and Co.! High Island is in Jefferson County.

NAMUS
Inventory of Remains:
Head not recovered.
One or more limbs not recovered.
One or both hands not recovered.

Why isn’t this more publicized?! This is %100 the 30th Dean Corll victim, @MadMcGoo!

It just occurred to me what you said... High Island Beach is in Galveston County, right? On Bolivar Peninsula. Or am I at the wrong HIB? Jefferson County is more east/northeast, towards Beaumont/Port Arthur. ETA: Lake Sam Rayburn is to the north of Beaumont (Jefferson County), and covers parts of Angelina, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Jasper, and Sabine counties.

 

[Snoods]

You’re correct about the county.

Your spreadsheet is great! Let’s work from that. I know you said you created it quickly, but I noticed several boys have date of discovery year as 1978, not 1973.

There are a few references online to the unidentified arm bone and pelvic bone, which say were found mingled with the 26th and 27th bodies found on High Island beach.

However, Namus says these partial remains were found in Jefferson County???

BUT...Namus victim UP9782 was found on August 9, 1973, the same day as many of the Corll victims were found, which LE also happen to believe are a victim of a serial killer active in 1973. This is no doubt an unidentified Corll victim who is not Swimsuit Boy. Could the listed county of Jefferson on NAMUS be a mistake? There is a clickable link to a map with coordinates, can you figure out where this is? I’m too stupid, lol.

I could be mistaken, but I couldn’t find where it says specifically “sacrum only,” I could only find this:

Head not recovered
One or more limbs not recovered
One or both hands not recovered
Condition of Remains:
Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
(Carl may have inside information I don’t know about, but since a pelvic bone is a sacrum, it most likely is the same UID.)

So this would be the 30th victim.

David Waggoner and Norman Prater definitely need to be ruled out if possible. David’s motorcycle and helmet were found 70 miles away off Hwy 59 in Cold Springs, Texas. His family believes he may have been a victim of Sheriff James C. “Humpy” Parker.

Sheriff James “Humpy” Parker terrorized and abducted victims on US 59
David Wayne Waggoner – The Charley Project
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[MadMcGoo]

You’re correct about the county.

Your spreadsheet is great! Let’s work from that. I know you said you created it quickly, but I noticed several boys have date of discovery year as 1978, not 1973.

There are a few references online to the unidentified arm bone and pelvic bone, which say were found mingled with the 26th and 27th bodies found on High Island beach.

However, Namus says these partial remains were found in Jefferson County???

BUT...Namus victim UP9782 was found on August 9, 1973, the same day as many of the Corll victims were found, which LE also happen to believe are a victim of a serial killer active in 1973. This is no doubt an unidentified Corll victim who is not Swimsuit Boy. Could the listed county of Jefferson on NAMUS be a mistake? There is a clickable link to a map with coordinates, can you figure out where this is? I’m too stupid, lol.

I could be mistaken, but I couldn’t find where it says specifically “sacrum only,” I could only find this:

Head not recovered
One or more limbs not recovered
One or both hands not recovered
Condition of Remains:
Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
(Carl may have inside information I don’t know about, but since a pelvic bone is a sacrum, it most likely is the same UID.)

So this would be the 30th victim.

David Waggoner and Norman Prater definitely need to be ruled out if possible. David’s motorcycle and helmet were found 70 miles away off Hwy 59 in Cold Springs, Texas. His family believes he may have been a victim of Sheriff James C. “Humpy” Parker.

Sheriff James “Humpy” Parker terrorized and abducted victims on US 59
David Wayne Waggoner – The Charley Project
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Thanks for pointing out the 1978 error! Looks like I copied and pasted the wrong date. oops.

Page 6, Post #104

They added another UID Corll victim to NamUs

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

it looks like all they have is a sacrum (i.e., the portion of the pelvis that connects to the spine). It was found on High Island.

Perhaps this sacrum belongs to Mark Scott.

Regarding Mark Scott, Henley said he was buried at ...

I had missed this when I first posted on this thread, but went back and read everything again and caught it. I'm guessing at one point NamUs listed exactly what portion of remains were found? I'm not sure about that.

The maps on NamUs are rarely accurate, so I'd say that points to a location in the general area, or a center point of Jefferson County.

I don't think it's a mistake. There are references to remains being found on a beach in Jefferson County that was confirmed by DNA to be those of Joseph Lyle. However, the references speak of scattered remains, not just one bone. And most sources state the remains (Joseph's) were found in 1983 and not 1973. So I don't know why the date of the Jefferson remains correlates with the discovery of the others.

So, now we have at least 3 bones (the two found in the grave with the other boys on High Island beach, and now the one in Jefferson County) that do not belong to any of the identified victims or Sammy Swimsuit! Which, IMO, means there is at least one other unidentified victim of Corll's that's been located; if the sacrum, arm, and pelvis all belong to one person, which I doubt.

From the Wikipedia page:
"...After finding the 26th and 27th bodies, tied together, at High Island Beach on August 13, the search for any further victims was terminated, despite Henley's insistence that two further bodies had been buried on the beach in 1972. A curious feature about this final discovery was the presence of two extra bones (an arm bone and a pelvis) in the grave, indicating at least one additional, undiscovered victim.

The two bodies that Henley had insisted were still buried on the beach may have been those of Mark Scott and Joseph Lyles. In light of developments relating to the identifications of victims, the body of Scott still lies undiscovered at High Island, while Lyles' remains were only found by chance in 1983. Had the search for bodies continued, both victims would have likely been discovered..."

UP9782 was modified recently remember, so surely it's an active, unsolved case. I notice there are no investigating agencies listed under 'contacts' and the ME/C Case Number is peculiar to me: PA-29-30-31 #2 ... none of the other cases I've seen have case numbers formatted like this one. But yes, I think this is #30...or it belongs to one of the identified victims and just hasn't been verified or confirmed.

 

[MadMcGoo]

actually, wouldn't it be #29 considering Mark Scott?

 

[MadMcGoo]

I spent the better part of yesterday evening trying to figure out these counties and the beaches the remains were found on. ALL of them. I tracked down every death certificate I could find for all the boys, and I think I've figured out why we (and any agency for that matter) are getting confused.

So, High Island Beach is on Bolivar Peninsula which is in Galveston County. The remains found on "High Island", in these cases, were actually found in Chambers County. That's what all the death certificates indicate anyway. And they are semi-detailed when it comes to where each boy was found. I tried labeling a map the best way I could in order to hopefully make sense of this...


You can see that if you were to walk the beach, down the coastline, you'd pass-through Galveston, Chambers, and Jefferson Counties within a short distance; about 1-2 miles. Those counties are represented by the #1, 2, and 3 red "X"s. That "boot" of Chambers County extends down to the water and basically dissects Galveston County (Bolivar Peninsula) and Jefferson County. According to Brooks' and Henley's confessions, bodies were buried up and down the coast near High Island Beach. Old Highway 87 (which is now closed IIRC) runs the entire length of Bolivar Peninsula but ends, or intersects with Hwy 124, at around High Island Beach (marked by the arrow). So, from what I gather, the men drove from the locations they killed the boys, exited at Hwy 87 at High Island Beach with the boys' bodies in wooden boxes and then picked a spot on the beach and buried them. In essence, you can be standing on High Island Beach in Galveston County and walk 5 paces to the east and be in Chambers County. Then continue to walk a very short distance and be in Jefferson County. Hopefully, this is making more sense.

I haven't gotten as far as marking the EXACT locations where each boy was found (according to their death certificates), but this is the general location. All of them who were found on, as we see and have been referencing, High Island Beach, were actually found in Chambers County. IF the death certificates are relatively accurate. I think they are. Depending on where they were digging on the beach and where each was buried, one of the boys' could have literally been found in two counties; their upper body in one county and the lower portion in another county.

Therefore, the Jefferson County remains still listed in NamUs could technically be said to have been found on "High Island Beach"...in this case. I think High Island was just a general point of reference for the graves. This is all just speculatory on my part after reading through all the death certificates and looking at the maps. I'm sure jurisdiction debates were numerous!

 

[MadMcGoo]

I found all but one (Richard Kepner) of the death certificates for the boys found on "High Island Beach". All of them have Chambers County listed and some have "Precinct #1" and some have "Precinct #3", which I haven't figured out just yet. I will post them exactly as they are written on the certificate and then how I interpreted them. Their names, dates of discovery, and "location found" are as follows:

(1) Jeffery Alan Konen: August 10, 1973
"Beach (found)"
[found on the beach in Chambers, Precinct #1]

(2) Richard Alan Kepner: August 10, 1973
[no death certificate]

(3) Frank Anthony Aguirre: August 13, 1973
"Found County line in Chambers Cty.
Beach, off Hwy. 87, 1 Mi. W. of
Jefferson/"
[Found at the county line in Chambers County (Precinct #1/#3; both are listed in separate locations of certificate), Beach, off of Highway 87, one mile west of Jefferson County, Texas]

(4) Billy Gene Baulch: August 13, 1973
"(Found) approx. 1917 ft. E. of the W.
123 ft. S. of Hwy. 87
County line of Chambers Co./approx./"
[Found approximately 1,917 feet east of the west county line of Chambers County, approximately 123 feet south of Highway 87]

(5) Johnny Ray Delome: August 13, 1973
"(found) Approx. 1917 ft. E. of the West
123 ft. S. of Hwy. 87
County line of Chambers County,
approx/"
[Found approximately 1,917 feet east of the west county line of Chambers County, approximately 123 feet south of Highway 87]

(6) John "Johnny" Manning Sellars: August 13, 1973
"Found County Line in Chambers county
Beach off Hwy. 87 - 2 Mi. West of
Jefferson County, Texas"
[Found at county line in Chambers County, Beach, off of Highway 87, two miles west of Jefferson County, Texas, Precinct #3]

 

[MadMcGoo]

FWIW, some history of State Highway 87 in that general area...
Jefferson County, Texas - State Highway 87

Recent news
TXDOT will raise Highway 87 between High Island and Rollover Pass

 

[tiffcats]

I'm new to this forum, but I'm wondering if anyone else sees a resemblance with Darren Hillis and the "Polaroid Boy", also Norman Prater and the "Swimsuit Boy"?

 

[MadMcGoo]

I'm new to this forum, but I'm wondering if anyone else sees a resemblance with Darren Hillis and the "Polaroid Boy", also Norman Prater and the "Swimsuit Boy"?

Welcome! I don’t think you’re the only one. If you read through all of this thread and Swimsuit Boy’s (there may even be more, I forget), you’ll see those two names mentioned often. Especially Norman. Unfortunately I don’t know that either of them are either of the UID boys. But to be honest my focus has been on other areas of the case so I couldn’t tell you much about those two in particular. If you are interested in the case(s) it’s worth reading through each forum and thread. There is quite a bit of discussion over several years.