All open cases
Everything in the index. Search it, filter it, or open any case and start reading.
Tommy Lee Walker
Tommy Lee Walker was an African-American man who was wrongfully convicted and executed by the state of Texas for the 1953 rape and murder of Venice Parker, a 31-year-old white woman from Dallas. Walker's conviction heavily relied upon a dubious confession he made to police under duress, which he later recanted. In January, 2026, nearly 70 years after his execution, Dallas County unanimously passed a resolution…
1999 · TexasOverturned
1999 Tulia drug arrests
A total of 47 individuals, the majority of whom were African American, were arrested in 1999 in Tulia, Texas on charges of cocaine dealing as a result of an undercover operation carried out by agent Tom Coleman. Coleman's testimony was crucial in the convictions of 38 of the 47. Years later, 35 of the 38 incarcerated were pardoned by Texas governor Rick Perry.
2012 · TexasUnidentified
Smurfette Jane Doe
Smurfette Jane Doe is the nickname given to an unidentified teenaged girl who was found dead by a driver in Houston, Texas on October 16, 2012. The decedent derived this nickname from the distinctive shirt she was discovered in, which bore an image of the cartoon character Smurfette. The decedent was found concealed in a black plastic garbage bag on the side of a busy road, beside a gravel road leading to an oil…
2026 · Dallas, TexasMissingEmilie Kanda
Emilie Kanda, 19 at the time, was last known to be in Dallas, Texas on May 22, 2026. NamUs case MP160434.
1974 · TexasMissing
Fort Worth missing trio
The Fort Worth missing trio refers to an unsolved missing persons case in which three girls – Mary Rachel Trlica, Lisa Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley – went missing while shopping at the Seminary South Shopping Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on December 23, 1974. The car the girls were driving was left behind in the parking lot at the mall; the girls have not been seen since. Thousands of leads have been…
1979 · TexasUnsolvedMurder of Debra Jackson
Debra Louise Jackson (September 20, 1956 – October 30 or 31, 1979), informally known as "Orange Socks" when unidentified, was an American murder victim who went unidentified for nearly 40 years before being identified through a DNA match with her surviving sister in 2019. Her murder is believed to have taken place on October 30 or 31, 1979 in Georgetown, Texas. Her body was found naked except for the pair of orange…
1987 · TexasOverturned
Michael Morton
Michael Wayne Morton (born August 12, 1954) is an American who was wrongfully convicted in 1987 in a Williamson County, Texas court of the 1986 murder of his wife Christine Morton. He spent nearly 25 years in prison before he was exonerated by DNA evidence which supported his claim of innocence and pointed to the crime being committed by another individual. Morton was released from prison on October 4, 2011, and…
2013 · TexasOverturnedOak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial
The Oak Hill satanic ritual abuse trial occurred in Oak Hill, Austin, Texas, in 1991 when Fran Keller and her husband Dan, proprietors of a small day care, were accused of repeatedly and sadistically abusing several children. The Kellers were convicted of multiple charges and sentenced to 48 years in prison, but were freed in 2013 based on newly revealed information about misconduct by the prosecution and other…
1985 · TexasOverturnedTim Cole
Timothy Brian Cole (July 1, 1960 – December 2, 1999) was an American military veteran and a Texas Tech University student wrongfully convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985. Cole attended two years of college followed by two years of service in the U.S. Army. After his Army service, he returned to college at Texas Tech in Lubbock.
1975 · TexasOverturnedRobert Elmer Kleason
Robert Elmer Kleasen (September 20, 1934 – April 21, 2003) was an American who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder of two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, near Austin, Texas. The murders have popularly, albeit inaccurately, been cited as an inspiration for the horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Kleasen's conviction was later overturned and Kleasen…
2010 · TexasOverturned
Tom DeLay campaign finance trial
Tom DeLay, a Republican U.S. Representative from Texas from 1979–83, and from 1985–2006 and the House Majority Leader from 2003–05, was convicted in 2010 of money laundering and conspiracy charges related to illegal campaign finance activities aimed at helping Republican candidates for Texas state office in the 2002 elections. In 2013, a Texas Court of Appeals panel acquitted DeLay when it overturned his conviction.…
1977 · TexasOverturnedKerry Max Cook
Kerry Max Cook (born 1956) is an American former death row inmate who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Linda Jo Edwards in 1977. On June 19, 2024, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals determined that he was actually innocent, citing a litany of prosecutorial misconduct and errors.
1987 · TexasOverturnedErnest Willis
Ernest Ray Willis (August 17, 1945 – January 7, 2021) was an American man who spent 17 years on death row for an alleged double murder by arson before being exonerated in 2004. Convicted of murder after two women died in a fire in the West Texas home where he was living at the time, Willis was sentenced to death in 1987. In 1991, another death row inmate, David Martin Long, confessed to starting the fire.
1981 · TexasOverturnedClarence Brandley
Clarence Lee Brandley (September 24, 1951 – September 2, 2018) was an American man who was wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of Cheryl Dee Fergeson in 1981 and sentenced to death. Brandley was working as a janitor supervisor at Conroe High School in Conroe, Texas when the 16-year-old student Fergeson was a visiting athlete from Bellville, Texas. Brandley was held for nine years on death row.
2024 · Dallas, TexasMissingKaren Densmore
Karen Densmore, 42 at the time, was last known to be in Dallas, Texas on August 5, 2024. NamUs case MP131012.
1991 · Houston, TexasUnidentifiedUnidentified man, Houston, Texas (1991)
An unidentified man was found in Houston, Texas on July 18, 1991. No name has been established. NamUs case UP12728.
2018 · Houston, TexasMissingJared Chavis
Jared Chavis, 19 at the time, was last known to be in Houston, Texas on January 12, 2018. NamUs case MP50216.
2023 · Houston, TexasUnidentifiedUnidentified man, Houston, Texas (2023)
An unidentified man was found in Houston, Texas on October 30, 2023. No name has been established. NamUs case UP111260.
2023 · Houston, TexasMissingDelonte Taylor
Delonte Taylor, 13 at the time, was last known to be in Houston, Texas on August 28, 2023. NamUs case MP112587.
2025 · Universal City, TexasMissingArissa Arrambide
Arissa Arrambide, 17 at the time, was last known to be in Universal City, Texas on July 23, 2025. NamUs case MP148271.
2016 · TexasUnsolvedKilling of Missy Bevers
On April 18, 2016, the body of Terri Leann "Missy" Bevers (née Strickland) was found at Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas. Bevers' murder garnered media attention after Midlothian police released surveillance footage from inside the church, which shows an unknown person dressed in armor and a SWAT uniform walking around the church's hallways while occasionally breaking glass and opening doors. The case…
1979 · TexasOverturnedAnthony Massingill
Anthony Massingill is an American who was convicted in a Dallas, Texas court of a 1979 rape and robbery for which recent DNA test results support his claim of innocence. He was jointly convicted in the case along with Cornelius Dupree who was on January 4, 2011, fully exonerated of the charges. Massingill is being represented by the Texas Wesleyan Innocence Project and is likely to be cleared at a later hearing.
1884 · TexasUnsolved
Servant Girl Annihilator
The Servant Girl Annihilator, also known as the Midnight Assassin, was an unidentified American serial killer who preyed upon the city of Austin, Texas, in 1884 and 1885. The moniker "Servant Girl Annihilator" originated with the writer O. Henry. The series of eight axe murders were referred to by contemporary sources as the Servant Girl Murders.
2021 · TexasMissing
Disappearance of Lina Khil
Lina Sardar Khil, born February 20, 2018, disappeared on December 20, 2021, from the playground of the Villas Del Cabo apartments in San Antonio, Texas. At the time, she was three years old, last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress, and black shoes. Her family reported her missing that day.