A woman walking along White Oak Bayou fought for her life Monday evening after she told investigators a man attacked her, sexually assaulted her and tried to drown her, authorities said.
The attack happened around 6:30 p.m., according to the office of Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen. Investigators said the suspect—described as a man in his early-to-mid 20s—approached the woman while riding a bicycle and carrying a black backpack. The suspect is believed to have suffered an injury to one eye during the struggle, officials said.
The incident was one of two troubling scenes along Houston’s bayou system Monday. Earlier in the day, Houston Fire Department crews recovered a body from Greens Bayou in East Houston after a citizen reported seeing a person in the water. The recovery was turned over to the Houston Police Department for investigation.
The Houston Fire Department responded to a call late Monday morning when a citizen reported seeing a body in Greens Bayou in East Houston. A rescue boat mission identified and recovered the “deceased individual,” and turned to Houston Police for its investigation. Houston PD was then called Monday night again.
A report from the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office last December said more than 200 bodies have been found along Houston’s bayous since 2017. The death toll has risen to record levels in recent years, and investigators documented more than 31 bodies recovered from the Bayou in 2025. There were just 16 bodies found in Houston bayous in 2021.
A majority of the bodies found still had an “undetermined” designation for cause of death. There was just one homicide reported in 2025, when 44-year-old John Morgan died of blunt trauma injuries and internal bleeding. A suspect has yet to be arrested in the case.
Data collected by the Houston Chronicle reported four homicides per year in Houston bayous from 2018 to 2024.