Man Indicted in Connection with 'Texas Killing Fields' Deaths

Dozens of bodies turned up in a 25 acre area along Interstate 45 in the 1970s

NEED TO KNOW

• James Dolphs Elmore Jr. has been indicted in connection with two deaths linked to the “Texas Killing Fields”
• Elmore is charged with manslaughter and two counts of felony tampering with evidence in the deaths of Laura Miller and Audrey Cook
• Since the 1970s, dozens of murder victims have been found in a 25-acre area near Interstate 45, between Galveston and Houston, known as the “Texas Killing Fields”

A Texas man was indicted in connection with two deaths linked to the "Texas Killing Fields."

James Dolphs Elmore Jr. is charged with manslaughter and felony tampering with evidence in the 1984 killing of 16-year-old Laura Miller, the Galveston County District Attorney announced on Tuesday, March 31. He is also charged with tampering with evidence in the murder of Audrey Cook.

The indictments by a Galveston grand jury followed a renewed push by local law enforcement to “bring to justice the murderers responsible for the deaths of approximately 30 women whose bodies were found in an area commonly referred to as the “Texas Killing Fields,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Since 1971, dozens of alleged victims were found in a 25-acre area near Interstate 45, between Galveston and Houston, known as the "Texas Killing Fields." In one area, centered near the intersection of Calder Road and Ervin Street in League City, four bodies, including the remains of Miller and Cook, were discovered between 1984 and 1991.

The remains of Miller, a Clear Creek High School sophomore, were discovered on Feb. 2, 1986, by two boys riding their dirt bikes along Calder Road in League City. She was last seen at a pay phone nearly two years earlier.

Cook, a 30-year-old mechanic, was last seen by her family in 1985. She was found the following year, naked and with a gunshot wound to the back.

In 2024, the Galveston County DA's Office began re-examining evidence in the Killings Fields cases related to Clyde Hedrick, who has been the “prime suspect for the murders of several women in the Calder Road Field,” according to the news release. 

At a press conference on Wednesday, April 1, District Attorney Kenneth Cusick said he believed Hedrick was responsible for the deaths of Cook and Miller, and that Elmore supplied help, per the Houston Chronicle.

“Due to the concerted efforts of the law enforcement agencies in this county, this 40-year cycle of violence by these defendants against women; we’re trying to make headway on it,” Cusick said, per the Chronicle. “I think we made significant headway on it.”

According to prosecutors, Hedrick was convicted of abuse of a corpse related to the death of Ellen Beason, another woman who went missing around the same time as Miller. In 2014, Hedrick was convicted of manslaughter in Beason’s death. He was sentenced to the maximum term of 20 years in prison, but was paroled after only serving eight years, per prosecutors.

The district attorney's office sought grand jury indictments against Hedrick in connection with the deaths of Miller and Cook as well as two other victims, Heidi Fye-Villareal and Donna Prudhomme.

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However, Hedrick died earlier this month before a grand jury was convened, the prosecutor’s office said.

“Though Hedrick died shortly before the scheduled grand jury presentation, evidence of his involvement in the deaths was still presented to the grand jury in an effort to maintain transparency and to provide closure to the victims’ families,” prosecutors said.

At the press conference, Cusick said Hedrick died by suicide, per the Chronicle.

It's unclear if Elmore has entered a plea.

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