\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s fooling themselves saying, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re going to get everybody, all these (suspects),\u201d he told the Star-Telegram. \u201cNo, we\u2019re not, but what we are going to do is get a lot of them, and as we prove this technology to be absolutely useful and viable, funding will increase.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who was Carla Walker?<\/p>\n
Today, Jim Walker owns the same Benbrook home where his family lived at the time of Carla\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last time I saw my sister alive, (she) was standing in front of this fireplace to my left,\u201d Walker recalls.<\/p>\n
![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_02-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\" "\\"FTW_02-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\\"")
Jim Walker, brother of Fort Worth cold case victim Carla Walker, advocates for the Carla Walker Act, which would establish funding for the use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy DNA analysis for unsolved crimes and to identify human remains, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Carla Walker’s 1974 murder remained a cold case until 2020, when DNA evidence recovered from her clothing was tested using the technology. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
It was Feb. 16, 1974. The Western Hills High School cheerleader was preparing to attend the school\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day dance with her boyfriend, football team quarterback Rodney McCoy. Hours later, as the couple sat in a car outside a west Fort Worth bowling alley, an unknown man yanked open the passenger door. He pistol-whipped McCoy and dragged 17-year-old Carla away.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 20, the teen\u2019s body was found in a culvert near Benbrook Lake. Police said she\u2019d been raped and strangled.<\/p>\n
Jim Walker was 12 at the time. His parents hardly ever talked about what happened to Carla, but Walker still remembers the pain it caused his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you lose a loved one to a murder, like my sister\u2019s, it\u2019s absolutely a feeling of total loss,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have no control over what had happened. There\u2019s no good resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_04-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\" "\\"FTW_04-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\\"")
A photo of Carla Walker honors her memory at the home of her brother, Jim Walker, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Jim Walker is advocating for the Carla Walker Act, which establishes funding for the use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy DNA analysis to solve crimes and identify human remains. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
Walker carried his anger for decades. He prepared for a career in law enforcement, hoping for a chance to investigate Carla\u2019s case. But failing eyesight due to a genetic disorder forced him into another line of work.<\/p>\n
By 2017, he had reached a crisis. His eyesight was almost gone, his parents and two older brothers had died, and there was no movement on his sister\u2019s case. He said everything changed when he got into fellowship with God and started to realize how much unforgiveness he had in his heart.<\/p>\n
He still remembers the day he told God he didn\u2019t want \u201can eye for an eye\u201d anymore. According to Walker, it felt like a ton of weight had just come off his back and shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that started happening in my life in 2017, everything started moving,\u201d Walker said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s no way it\u2019s just a coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
In July 2017, Carla\u2019s story was the first episode<\/a> on Vincent Strange\u2019s \u201cGone Cold \u2014 Texas True Crime\u201d podcast. The coverage brought the case back into the public eye, and in 2019, Fort Worth police revisited the investigation.<\/p>\n A major breakthrough occurred when Paul Holes, a retired investigator who helped identify the Golden State Killer<\/a>, featured Carla\u2019s case on his show, \u201cThe DNA of Murder.\u201d<\/a> Holes reviewed the case files, talked to Fort Worth homicide detectives and interviewed McCoy. The show also agreed to pay for DNA testing.<\/p>\n A forensic laboratory in California identified two potential DNA sources on Carla\u2019s clothing. One of the spots yielded a full DNA profile, but there was no match in CODIS, law enforcement\u2019s national database of offenders. The rest of the sample was sent to a lab that had the technology to create a genealogical profile of the suspect.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the lab consumed the entire sample<\/a> but wasn\u2019t able to get a genetic profile of the killer, Holes recounted in 2025 on the true-crime podcast \u201cSmall Town Dicks.\u201d That\u2019s when he recommended that Fort Worth police send the second, inferior sample to Texas-based forensic laboratory Othram.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWithin months … the words we hadn\u2019t heard for over 40 plus years, we heard, \u2018Hey, we know who did it,\u2019\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n Glen McCurley was arrested<\/a> in September 2020 and charged with Carla\u2019s murder. The then 77-year-old husband and father had lived in Fort Worth since 1972. Other than stealing a car in his late teens, McCurley had appeared to be an upstanding citizen.<\/p>\n McCurley changed his plea to guilty on the third day of his trial in August 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison and died from natural causes in 2023.<\/p>\n Walker said he was waiting outside the courtroom after learning that McCurley had confessed, and he had a strong sense that God was speaking to him.<\/p>\n \u201cI had such a powerful impression on my spirit that said, \u2018To whom much is given, much is expected,\u2019 and at that very moment I said, \u2018Well, my work\u2019s not done, and I want to help other families,\u2019\u201d Walker remembers.<\/p>\n Thaw The Cold Cases<\/p>\n On a rainy afternoon in mid-April 2026, Walker gathered with friends and family members of cold case victims. Dozens of people lined the bleachers at the Charles H. Haws Athletic Center on Congress Street, right down the road from the Fort Worth Police Department\u2019s Homicide Unit.<\/p>\n Many of the attendees wore T-shirts and carried signs with photos of missing and murdered loved ones. More photos, including those of Fort Worth\u2019s Missing Trio<\/a>, Cheryl Springfield<\/a>, June Ward and Elsha Rivera<\/a> graced the memorial tables and posters by the entrance.<\/p>\n The group had planned to carry their signs from the athletic center to the Tarrant County Courthouse for the Thaw The Cold Cases<\/a> fourth annual walk, but the weather kept everyone indoors. Walker led the group in prayer and offered words of encouragement.<\/p>\n \u201cLean on each other,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t go off into the darkness and feel like nobody cares.\u201d<\/p>\n Thaw The Cold Cases isn\u2019t connected with the Fort Worth Police Department\u2019s Cold Case Unit, but the group aims to raise awareness about the city\u2019s nearly 1,000 unsolved homicides<\/a> and call for more resources to investigate them. The yearly walk also allows families and friends of victims to come together and realize they aren\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n Sheryl Buchanan talked about the search for her brother, 21-year-old Thurlow Buchanan<\/a>, who vanished from Fort Worth on Nov. 9, 1987. His new Nissan truck was later found in Houston, but his family doesn\u2019t think he drove it there.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have no idea what happened to him,\u201d Sheryl Buchanan said. \u201cNo one has heard from him.\u201d<\/p>\n Jana Gibson, a family friend, spoke about 25-year-old Typhenie Johnson,<\/a> who went missing while talking with her ex-boyfriend the night of Oct. 10, 2016. Johnson\u2019s loved ones refuse to stop looking for her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still doing searches,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n Paula Myers Hamilton lost two siblings to murder<\/a> \u2014 brother Robert Myers Jr. on Nov. 13, 1987, and sister Denise Myers Hunt on Dec. 3, 2000.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been taxing on our family for years and years,\u201d Myers Hamilton told the group. \u201cMy sister was the sunshine of our family.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Jacobs, a classmate of Angela Ewert<\/a> at Eastern Hills High School, said she was one of the nicest people he\u2019d ever met. The 21-year-old disappeared on Dec. 10, 1984, shortly after leaving her fianc\u00e9\u2019s house in the Wedgwood area. Her remains were found in 1993.<\/p>\n \u201cKeep bugging these detectives,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cKeep bugging everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The mother of Calvin Camacho<\/a>, a 23-year-old who was fatally shot near Arlington\u2019s Sam Houston High School on March 8, 2016, said she\u2019s praying the people who killed her only son would come forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m dying inside,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The family of Gloria Choice<\/a>, a 57-year-old mother and grandmother who was found beaten to death in a vacant apartment in the Woodhaven area on Dec. 9, 2005, still hopes to see her murderer brought to justice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just really want answers,\u201d Choice\u2019s niece Tomeka Hillery told the Star-Telegram.<\/p>\n Back at the table in his home during the July 7 interview, Walker says these families are in a club none of them wanted to join.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no closure,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThe … seat at the table is always empty: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, birthdays \u2014 it\u2019s always empty. But at least you know you didn\u2019t go into the dark without a fight, and you know, that\u2019s what I encourage people: fight, be the voice for your loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Forensic genetic genealogy success<\/p>\n Walker said a lot of things are coming together right now that he\u2019s optimistic will lead to \u201can explosion of activity\u201d in cold cases being solved. A major factor is the forensic genetic genealogy testing that the Carla Walker Act will fund.<\/p>\n Traditional DNA testing works if the suspect\u2019s DNA is already in CODIS, but DNA from first-time perpetrators wouldn\u2019t show a match in the system. But thanks to the advent of consumer genetic testing, more than 20%<\/a> of the general population has submitted DNA samples to private companies. When DNA collected from crime scenes is compared to these samples, investigators can build a family tree of the perpetrator.<\/p>\n From there, experts say it\u2019s not difficult to determine who in that family would\u2019ve known the victim or had access to the murder weapon. Once investigators narrow down the options, they obtain a DNA warrant, collect the suspect\u2019s DNA and compare it to what was found at the crime scene to see if it\u2019s a match.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, FGG testing led to the arrest of Larry Brown<\/a>, a suspect in a 1981 cold case killing out of Grapevine. On June 29, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted Brown on a murder charge in the killing of flight attendant Beverly Bruneau.<\/p>\n FGG is also used to identify human remains. In July, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office announced it had identified the remains of a homicide victim<\/a> who was found in a Fort Worth park in 1986.<\/p>\n Walker described the technology as \u201ca double-edged sword.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to catch these bad guys, men and women,\u201d Walker said. \u201cBut also, too, it can be used to exonerate people who have been wrongly incarcerated, which is justice cuts both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n The Carla Walker Act passed the U.S. Senate<\/a> in June and has been introduced in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell people often, the train has left the … railroad station, it\u2019s almost starting to go downhill, and once that train gets going downhill, there\u2019s nothing\u2019s going to stop it,\u201d Walker said. \u201cWe\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_03-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\" "\\"FTW_03-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\\"")
A photo of Carla Walker honors her memory at the home of her brother, Jim Walker, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Jim Walker is advocating for the Carla Walker Act, which would establish funding for the use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy DNA analysis to solve crimes and identify human remains. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_06-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\" "\\"FTW_06-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\\"")
Jim Walker, brother of Fort Worth cold case victim Carla Walker, holds a copy of the Carla Walker Act on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. The legislation would establish funding for the use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy DNA analysis to solve crimes and identify human remains. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n![\"Photos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260418_15225_fitted.jpeg\" "\\"20260418_15225_fitted.jpeg\\"")
Photos of murdered and missing cold case victims are displayed at the fourth annual Thaw The Cold Cases awareness event on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Friends and family members gathered at the Charles H. Haws Athletic Center near downtown Fort Worth to share about their loved ones. Cristina Ramos FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260418_125546.jpg\" "\\"20260418_125546.jpg\\"")
The family of Calvin Camacho says they are still hoping and praying that the person who fatally shot the 23-year-old in Arlington on March 8, 2016, will come forward. Photos of Camacho and other missing and murdered cold case victims are displayed at the fourth annual Thaw The Cold Cases awareness event on April 18, 2026, at the Charles H. Haws Athletic Center near downtown Fort Worth. Cristina Ramos FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_01-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\" "\\"FTW_01-AED_TarrantCountyColdCase.JPG\\"")
Jim Walker, brother of Fort Worth cold case victim Carla Walker, advocates for the Carla Walker Act, which would establish funding for the use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy DNA analysis to solve crimes and identify human remains, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 in Fort Worth. Carla Walker’s 1974 murder remained a cold case until 2020, when DNA evidence recovered from her clothing was tested using the technology. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788868456_596_Headshot.png\")