![\"Laura](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Laura-3-ea9356.jpg\")
Laura Pippin DankaJohn Pippin Jr.<\/p>\n
John, who lived in another state, told Dateline he remembers hearing Laura was missing. \u201cWe kept praying that, you know, she\u2019d be found and everything,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Three days later, she was found. Laura\u2019s body was located about 11miles from the store\u2019sparking lot. In 2024, the Nueces County Sheriff\u2019s Office told Dateline Laura\u2019sdeath was ruled a homicide and that she had been stabbed nine times.<\/p>\n
Laura\u2019s case quickly became cold \u2014 and stayed cold. In 2024, the Nueces County Sheriff\u2019s Office said they had no information or leads to follow up on in the case, but if new evidence came to light or someone came forward with information, they\u2019d look into it. <\/p>\n
In October 2024, a few months after Dateline published the story about Laura, Sergeant James Rackley with the Nueces County Sheriff\u2019s Office reachedout to Dateline, stating that he had been assigned to review all the cold cases the agency had.<\/p>\n
More than a year later, the sheriff\u2019s officehas now officially closed Laura\u2019s case, stating they have identified her killer. In December 2025, Sgt. Rackley told Dateline that person is now deceased. <\/p>\n
Natalie Williams, the public liaison for the Nueces County Sheriff\u2019s Office, told Dateline that, \u201cUnfortunately, due to the fact that the suspect is deceased, the DA\u2019s office will not be indicting. Although the Nueces County Sheriff\u2019s Office believes we have the perpetrator identified, we will not be releasing the name since no further legal action is being taken.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Laura](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Laura-Pippin-2-cropped-880368.jpg\")
Laura Pippin DankaJohn Pippin Jr.<\/p>\n
Williams said the office has discussed their findings with Laura\u2019s family and that \u201cthey have acknowledged that they are content with the case being closed.\u201d <\/p>\n
Laura\u2019s brother, John, sent Dateline a statement via email on behalf of his family. \u201cI would like to say a big thank you to Sgt. Rackley and the Sheriff\u2019s [Office] for the hard and dedicated work they have done with their Cold Case Unit over the last several years in solving my sister\u2019s murder,\u201d he wrote.\u201cI am sorry that the murderer passed and I will not be able to tell him that he took the life of a beautiful human being that only wanted to help people.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cOur family now has peace that the case is solved and we have closure,\u201d John stated. <\/p>\n