A Southeast Texas man has been charged in connection with two deaths tied to the so-called Texas Killing Fields, more than four decades after the crimes.
James Dolphs Elmore Jr., 61, faces charges of manslaughter and felony tampering with evidence in the 1984 killing of 16-year-old Laura Miller. He also is charged with tampering with evidence in the killing of 30-year-old Audrey Cook.
Miller disappeared in September 1984 after leaving home to use a pay phone at a nearby store. Her body was found in February 1986. She was the daughter of Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, an organization dedicated to finding missing people that was created after her disappearance.
Cook, who lived in Houston, disappeared in December 1985. Her body was found in 1986 but was not positively identified until 2019.
Authorities said Elmore was arrested Tuesday in San Leon during a traffic stop. He appeared before a Galveston County magistrate judge and was denied bond.
Elmore was taken into custody days after Clyde Hedrick, another man believed to be connected to the Texas Killing Fields cases, died while on parole. Authorities have not said what connection, if any, Elmore had to Hedrick.
Read more: Man linked to Texas Killing Fields murders dies while on parole
What are the Texas Killing Fields?
Cars drive on the infamous Interstate-45, July 12, 1999 between Houston and Galveston, Texas. Over the years many bodies have been found near this highway, and the Calder Road area just off the interstate near Houston has been called the “killing fields” by some Texas officials. (Paul S. Howell/Getty Images)
The term “Texas Killing Fields” refers to a stretch of land along the Interstate 45 corridor between Houston and Galveston where multiple bodies have been discovered since the 1970s.
More than 30 victims — most of them young women — have been found in the area, and many of the cases remain unsolved.
No single suspect has been tied to all of the killings. Investigators believe some may have been committed by serial offenders, while others could be unrelated crimes linked to the same dumping grounds.
The area’s isolation, combined with its proximity to major highways and large cities, has long made it a focus of investigations. Other suspects tied to the cases have included Edward Harold Bell, Robert Abel and William Reece.
The cases have drawn renewed attention in recent years, including through the 2022 Netflix documentary series “Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields.”
— Houston Chronicle staff writer John Wayne Ferguson contributed to this report.