HOUSTON – A man accused — but never convicted — of having ties to the Texas “Killing Fields” murders is dead.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says 72-year-old Clyde Edwin Hedrick died at a Houston-area hospital over the weekend.

Forty-two years since the disappearance and death of 16-year-old Laura Miller and still no real closure for her father, Tim Miller, the founder of Texas EquuSearch, which helps families and law enforcement search for and recover missing persons.

But this weekend, some small sense of peace for Miller and other families whose loved ones’ bodies were found in what was dubbed the killing fields following the death of Hedrick, a man believed to be the suspect but never charged with their deaths.

“There’s a saying that, that I often attribute to cases like this, and it’s grief is intensified when justice is lacking, and sadly, justice has been lacking for Tim and at least three or four other young women of the so-called Killing Field murders, and they’ve been living with this for over four decades,” said Andy Kahan/Victim Advocate.

Miller said he and other families will never get their day in court and may never know what truly happened to their loved ones.

“It’s been a long journey for Tim, and today, one part of that journey is over, and we’re still waiting for the other part of that journey to see fruition,” said Kahan.

Hedrick was convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of another woman, Ellen Beason, whose body was found in 1984. Hedrick was sentenced to 20 years in 2018 but then released on parole three years later under an intensive supervision program.

“Our purpose was to basically make sure he was under the highest level of supervision, which was basically house arrest, curfew and an ankle monitor, said Kahan.

Now even after Hedrick’s death, Kahan says the investigation continues, and he believes families could still get some form of closure.

“You can still posthumously make sure he is legally attributed to the murders even though he is now deceased,” said Kahan. “That’s not going to let him off the hook, so that’s what we’re hoping for.”

The Hitchcock Police chief says investigators spoke with Hedrick before his death.

The details of what he said or didn’t say are not available to the public.