Investigators searched the Galveston County home of suspect James Elmore as part of an ongoing probe into the decades-old Texas Killing Fields case, focusing on alleged manslaughter and evidence tampering tied to two victims.
Galveston County police searched James Elmore's house on Thursday. Elmore is a jailed suspect in the long-running Texas Killing Fields murders investigation, and prosecutors are still looking for charges related to two victims involved in the case.
Search warrants were executed at Elmore's home in Bacliff, on the rural Gulf Coast, about 40 miles southeast of Houston. The operation was part of an ongoing probe. Kenneth Cusick, the district attorney for Galveston County, stated that the search adds to the charges made weeks ago.
"This is a continuation," Cusick told reporters, refusing to give more information.
Elmore is still being held at the Galveston County Jail on one count of murder and two counts of tampering with evidence. Prosecutors say he helped his friend Clyde Hedrick get rid of the bodies of Laura Miller and Audrey Cook, two victims who are connected to the Killing Fields case. According to the police, Hedrick killed himself and died on March 21 at a hospital in Houston.
Court papers say that Elmore's indictment says he "did recklessly cause the death" of Laura Miller in 1984 by making a cocaine vial that Hedrick gave to her. Investigators also say that Elmore helped hide the bodies of both Miller and Cook.
Between the 1970s and early 1990s, investigators discovered the bodies of more than two dozen women in a 25-acre area near League City. This place is known as the Texas Killing Fields. Authorities suspect a connection between the spot and several other women reported missing in the area.
A probable cause document related to Thursday's search says Elmore called Texas EquuSearch after hearing about Hedrick's death and told founder Tim Miller that he was I was freaking out and afraid of getting police attention. Elmore is said to have said that Hedrick buried a body on the property, probably under the rubble of a burned-down building.
Investigators were allowed to look at the site for physical evidence, such as buried bodies and things that were connected to the claimed crimes. The warrant also allowed recording gear and media to be taken away for further review.
As of Thursday, the police had not announced any new charges. Officials say the probe is still ongoing.
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