The police tried hard to incriminate Abel with his home being searched for evidence and him being interviewed by the detectives on the case multiple times only for it all to go in vain. The young cocktail waitress was found murdered in the same location as three other females. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. William Reece: Who Were His Victims? Every day since 1986every single dayI had been waking up thinking about the last moments of Lauras life. Abel, however, remained wary: He told me he still worried that Miller would drink too much one night and try to kill him. With such a high-profile case, Texas law enforcement was desperate to find. His name was Robert Abel, and he was so eager to assist the police the day the fourth body was found that he helped them clear brush in the area and let them use fourteen of his horses and his backhoe free of charge. And, indeed, one former girlfriend did tell me that Paula had contacted her, asking that she, too, go to the police and talk about Abels behavior when she had dated him. The actors in "Texas Killing Fields' hoped somehow, the film . Wikimedia Commons/formulanone. A 2022 Netflix docuseries examined some of the deaths referenced in this piece. Hedrick was released into an unknown halfway house from prison, just eight years into his 20-year sentence. Others push their daughters out of sight so that he cant get a look at them. . Nows Your Chance. Grant sensed he was being given a hint and conducted a search. He was hit by a train while traveling on his golf cart. Abel allegedly. Paula also said that she had seen several photos of nude women in his desk drawer at the house, and that Abel not only owned handguns but also carried one with him during the later months of 1991. On November 12, 1993, with a search warrant in hand, Bittner and five other League City police officers showed up unannounced at Abels home and conducted a twelve-hour search. Police say the original investigations into these. More than 30 bodies have been found in the area between 1971 to 2006 leading to its very unceremonious moniker. Tim Miller visited Abel, shortly before the suspect's death, to ask for his forgiveness, and today the father of murdered Laura believes Clyde Hedrick is the man responsible for his daughter's killing. I couldnt have overpowered her and gotten her into my car. Since the early 1970s, 33 bodies of murder victims have been found along the I-45 area. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. They greet you at the door, lead you inside, and pull out scrapbooks filled with photos: their girl posing in a soccer uniform, pushing dolls in a stroller, laughing at Showbiz Pizza. The 25-year-old cocktail waitress disappeared after she left her parents' home to hitch a ride to Houston to visit her boyfriend. In the mini-documentary series, Netflix brings light to the Calder Road killings. By conducting lengthy interviews with many such killers already behind bars, the agents have come up with a list of common denominators seen in the killers childhood, in their behavior as adults, and in the way they carry out their crimes. eventAction: 'click_ads' Well, who knows what happened out here? he said. On Monday, members of the House Judiciary Committee met in New York for a hearing on violent crime in the city. A slightly built sixty-year-old with thinning brown hair and a mustache, Abel walks stiffly because of a bad back, wears reading glasses, and takes pills for his high blood pressure. The medical examiner thought she had been beaten to death with a club. Waco: American Apocalypse Doesnt Even Try. Some law enforcement officials said the beta-blockers he took for his high blood pressure could have affected the results of those tests. "Shy" NASA employee The modest and calm Abel was at NASA right after the university - he helped create the Saturn series of rockets that delivered Apollo teams to the moon. eventAction: 'click_adunit' The police soon ascertained the incident as death by suicide, and even the general consensus believes that he chose death as he did not want to go on leading such a lonely life. One of the best films from 2016 and nobody saw it. Heides father, who had worked as an automobile tire salesman, hunted for her himself, walking the fields around League City almost every day. The whole thing seemed fruitless but understandablea way for a father to deal with his grief. Such comments might have sounded incredible to Bittner and his fellow officers. Between 1984 and 1991, the remains of four young women were found on the same patch of land near Calder Road in League City. In 1997, Laura Smith was a 12-year-old girl living in Friendswood, Texas. } He went so far as to consider the possibility that the killer was Henry Lee Lucas, who was said to have wandered through this part of Texas. The series sheds light on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of women. I wanted kids and families to have the chance to be around horses like I did when I was a kid, he says. Since all of the Killing Fields victims were killed by the same unknown killer, his confession may have only been a way to improve his prison rep with other inmates. Just because no hard evidence was found during the search of his home doesnt mean hes exonerated., Not everyone working on the case is convinced that Abel is guilty. In 1997 one police department ran a computer search of registered sex offenders living between Houston and Galveston, and more than 2,100 names popped up. Netflix Netflix's new docuseries, Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields, explores the mysterious disappearances and deaths of many young women and girls in southern Texas, dating back to. Why would she still be paying money to a private investigator unless she wanted the reward? Abel asked. Whenever any of them stopped in a certain place and alerted (that is, barked to signify that they smelled something), Miller would head over there and dig. "Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields" is about the victims and the suspects of the famous killings that happened in Texas, mainly around a stretch of I-45 in the late 80s. With the passing of the years, its harder to deny the probability that a serial killer has been at work since as far back as 1971, when seven young women were murdered over a four-county region in twelve months time. Upon the ensuing investigation by officials, a whole set of near skeletal remains came to light, identified as that of Heide, who was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. . eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), After a long search, police officers discovered the rest of the body and identified the remains as those of Heide Villareal Fye, a 23-year-old cocktail waitress who had been reported missing six months earlier. Everyone who knew him was certain he had taken his own life. Yet according to Gottlieb, Abel was successful with women. }); . Soon after, he purchased the eleven-acre property for sale next to the oil field and made preparations to open Stardust Trailrides. Within a mere decade, the bodies of four women were recovered from a 25-acre marshland along Calder Road in League City, Texas. Between the early 1970s and as recently as 2016, the bodies of 33 murder victims have been discovered in the area. Was Abel innocent, or wasnt he? Suppose youre such a confident killer that you think youre smarter than the police, he says. One suspect was Robert Abel, a former NASA engineer, who owned property next to the Calder Road fields. Two years ago, FBI statistics showed Texas leading the nation in unsolved serial highway homicides. Since 1984, the remains of four young women have been found hereeach one nude, on her back, under a tree, with her arms folded. But nothing turned up, which Abel says should have been no surprise, because what the hell did they think they were going to find after all those years? The chilling discoveries have sparked fears that a serial killer or killers may be on the loose.. Four women were found dead between 1983-1991 and ex-Nasa engineer Robert Abel was among the . Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Netflix. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ Law enforcement officials insist that many of the killingssometimes referred to as the I-45 killings because most of them have taken place within a few miles of Interstate 45could have been committed by any number of men, from transients to sex offenders paroled from one of the areas prisons. For a brief period of time, there was another person of interest named Robert Abel. And they think they know his identity: Robert Abel. One time she wrote about sports. This was despite the fact that an affidavit had Abel marked as a serial sexual offender who showed signs of mad behavior that is often seen with serial killers. For several weeks I tried to learn the truth about a brilliant but sometimes baffling man who, as one FBI agent told me, is not your average social encounter. During that time, I headed down to the killing fields to see if Tim Millerwho had become so frustrated with the polices inaction that he had launched his own investigationwas going to find more bodies, as he had predicted, or whether he was merely chasing ghosts. hitType: 'event', },false) According to CBS News, the isolated nature of the spot makes it the perfect place for taking someone else's life . (Jane told me that the split was amicable, really just caused by us growing in different directions over the years.) Abel started spending his evenings meeting women at the little bars and restaurants around the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake; sometimes hed stop by Elan, Houstons hottest nightclub. 2023 National City and Regional Magazine Awards Finalists Announced, Texas Monthly Receives a Nod From the American Bar Association, HBO Max Releases Official Trailer for Love & Death, Get Out and Celebrate 100 Years of Texas State Parks, Two Assistant Editors Join the Texas Monthly Staff. It's very likely that you're sitting down in front of the TV and are currently searching for something to watch on Netflix. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. In June 1983 Abel moved from Houston into a pleasant middle-class neighborhood in League City. The father of murdered Laura was for a time convinced that Abel was guilty of killing her. Abel was at the now-padlocked Stardust Trailrides waiting for me. ga('ads.send', { For a moment, the only sound was the wind lightly rustling the trees and the low growl of diesel trucks changing gears out on I-45. Theres only one problem: They dont have enough evidence to arrest him. And theres no doubt they would have kept going uphe pauses, shaking his head like a man under siegeif it wasnt for that so-called detective., That so-called detective was Bittner, who soon after the discovery of the fourth body asked Abel to come to the League City police station for a routine interview. (Abel denies this ever happened.) Nows Your Chance. Born November 25, 1955 in Memphis, Tennessee Last seen in December 1985 Believed to be around age 30 at time of death Lived in the Houston/Channelview/Heights areas of Texas in the years leading up to her death Worked as a mechanic for a golf cart company in Houston, Harrison Equipment Company in Houston, and Balloon Affair in Houston. Shed walked down there to use a pay phone on September 10, 1984, just to never be seen or heard from alive again. 1 of 2 Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, says he hopes his lawsuit will lead to developments in his daughter's slaying. But Mr. Abel doesnt want to come down here any more to answer them. Leave them blank to get signed up. At Christmas wed go back to his old family ranch outside of Bellville, and hed put together a scene from a Hallmark cardwed go out and cut down a Christmas tree.. Lets start here. Nearby were a dozen search dogs, including four trained to detect the scent of decomposing human flesh. From 1971 to 2006, over 30 women were . The three-part series explores the unsolved murders of four young women whose remains were found in and around the same location in Texas. Although he has a history of violence and worked for another suspect Robert Abel. Even Ive sat up at nights, wondering if he could have done it., Until this year, despite his pariah status, Abel remained in League City. He said the photographs had been taken by a private investigator hired by his attorney. Laura had been a straight-A student in elementary school in League City, but after she began to have seizures at age twelve, she grew depressed, made a couple of halfhearted suicide attempts, and started hanging out with a crowd of teenagers who used drugs. I wondered if she had the time to call out for me or her mother., After Lauras death, Miller began drinking heavily; six months later, he and Lauras mother, Jan Miller, divorced. Abel took an energetic part in solving the crimes, which only made him more suspicious. Three episodes make up the docuseries. LEAGUE CITY -- A Texas prison inmate has confessed to killing as many as six women in Fort Bend and Galveston counties, including some at the infamous site here known as the "killing . In our conversations Abel always denied every allegation they had made against him. Johnny . Suspects: Robert Abel, the owner of Calder Field, was considered a suspect, along with an employee of his, Mark Stallings. He had no conscience.. hitType: 'event', But she left him 41 days into the marriageAbel never told anyone whyand the two quickly divorced. eventAction: 'render' But he could never shake loose of the past. She said that before their marriage, when he had gotten angry with her, he went out and beat a horse named Lancelot. The first was discovered in April 1984, after a dog owned by a couple living several hundred yards away carried home a human skull and dropped it at the feet of their three-year-old daughter. They hadnt. Want to Buy a West Texas Ghost Town? He was on me like a duck on a June bug, said an FBI agent who was there. His stepdaughter while out riding located another set of skeletal remains. . In fact, Texas Monthly reporter Skip Hollandsworth explained Roberts ordeal by saying, Once his name came out, he was this pariah in south Texas. Then finally, in 1993, nine years after Laura's disappearance, an unlikely suspect emerged: Robert Abel, a retired NASA engineer. You see those high weeds? Miller said. Before leaving, Paula told Bittner he needed to talk to Cindy Jacobs, the woman Abel had been married to for 41 days in 1989. It was on April 4, 1984, when a womans dog suddenly ran off into the wilderness near the field, but the shocking aspect was that he returned with a human skull in his mouth. (Heide Fye and Laura Miller lived less than half a mile away, but Abel told me he never knew them.) At the bottom of the box I saw a small photo album with the words Robert Abel printed on the cover. Robert, though, immediately insisted on his innocence and always maintained he was not involved in the murders in any way, shape, or form. It is known as the killing fields, and it is a lonely, spooky patch of land: In the stillness of the day you can hear the yips of small wild animals and the distant rumble of traffic along Interstate 45 about a mile away. Although Tim later apologized for his behavior, it was already too late as Robert was consumed with fear of unwarranted retaliation. "And there's no doubt they would have kept going up"he pauses,. McCarthy used his speech in NYC to slam President Joe Biden for doing "nothing" to address the nation's financial crisis. }); We had our rounds, our arguments and fights. Youre the killer. And there were other occasions when I felt as if Abel talked a little too much about the allegations against him. Abel told the police he had started keeping those articles because he was interested in their investigation. Investigators have flown over his land in helicopters and brought in cadaver dogs to look for bodies. We get to hear the side of their families and how they coped with the trauma. By all accounts, Stardust Trailrides was an immediate success, drawing people from all over the Houston area, including a few couples who came to have their wedding conducted on horseback. A color aerial photograph of "The Killing Field" in League City Texas: A black and white satellite shot of the area : Want to Buy a West Texas Ghost Town? Still, perhaps because no other legitimate suspect ever emerged in the case, Abel never could erase the suspicions about him. Nearly two years later, in February 1986, four boys riding their dirt bikes past the oil field smelled a putrid odor and came across another decomposed body about fifty yards from the spot where Heide Fye was found. Bittner came up with nothing, however, and he wouldnt for nearly five years, until a new set of decomposing remains were found in the field about one hundred yards from where the other bodies had been discovered. That Seems to Be Changing. There have been few crimes more haunting in Texas than the killings of several young women who lived in towns located along the fifty-mile coastal stretch between Houston and Galveston. Nov. 3, 2001. Abel was a retired NASA engineer, who was linked to the disappearance and deaths of many young women. Law enforcement investigated Robert Abel, a known sex offender, but was not able to link him to the crimes. Because of too much deterioration in the bullet the guns could not be matchedin fact, no gun could. Not exactly the response Id get if Id been beating them, he said. Then he turned, got into his pickup, and headed down the dirt road, away from the killing fields, disappearing behind the dust like a ghost. One afternoon on the phone, he said to me, I dont know if you know this, but I had torn rotator cuffs at the time some of those girls turned up dead. He is the prime suspect in the murders of the four women found in the oil field, which is next to property he owns, and his name quickly surfaces whenever a teenager or a young woman disappears or is found dead in the area. I wondered if the police knew about this person I had read about, and I was going to send the article to them.. The docu-series has three episodes. ga('ads.send', { Black Teenager Shot in Kansas City, Missouri. And although two photos were of a semi-nude woman, she later told the police that she had willingly posed for Abel when they were dating. ' As such behavior from people he believed to be his friends was difficult to bear, he began living a lonely life and ultimately relocated. I had no reason to ask except out of curiosity, Bittner says. There are many days when I think about driving over there, putting a gun to his head, and pulling the trigger, Miller says. 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