Multiple bodies have been pulled from Houston bayous in less than a week- sparking fears a serial killer could be stalking America’s fourth-largest city.
Police have confirmed that the remains of five people were discovered in separate areas of water between September 15 and 20.
‘It’s unusual. Usually you don’t find four bodies in the bayous in a week,’ Constable Alan Rosen of Harris County Precinct One told Fox 26 Houston.
‘When you have bodies showing up in bayous, it’s always a concern because we have to determine how they got there, what was the cause of death. Was it foul play? Was it suicide? Was it an accident? What were the circumstances?’
And those discoveries are only the latest. Authorities say a total of 14 bodies have been pulled from Houston’s waterways so far this year.
‘It’s just kind of scary when there’s that many coincidences. There such a coincidence that happens multiple times,’ a local jogger told Fox 26.
Jade ‘Sage’ McKissic, 20, is among those found dead in recent days.
Jade McKissic, a University of Houston student, 20, went missing September 11, and her remains were found four days later in Brays Bayou
Remains were found in Buffalo Bayou on Saturday. It brings the total number of bodies discovered in the waterways around the city to 14 this year
Last seen on September 11, the remains of the University of Houston student were recovered four days later in Brays Bayou.
Leading up to her disappearance, McKissic had been at a local bar with friends, leaving on her own, the Houston Police Department explained.
She also left her cell phone behind.
However, she was spotted next door at a gas station buying a drink.
Police were then able to track her walking towards Brays Bayou where she was last seen around 1am.
Even though the cops say McKissic’s cause of death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner’s office, they have also ruled out murder.
Investigators say her autopsy ‘revealed no signs of trauma or foul play.’
The same day McKissic’s remains were found, the body of a man surfaced in Green Bayou, the Houston Chronicle reported.
On September 16, a third body was found White Oak Bayou.
A fourth person was reported in Buffalo Bayou near downtown on Sept 18.
Houston is nicknamed the Bayou City, for the many waterways where residents paddle, kayak around the metropolis. They are usually surrounded by trails used by joggers and cyclists
The area is also vulnerable to flooding, with Buffalo Bayou seen after Hurricane Beryl last year
Police made the most recent discovery Saturday, also in Buffalo Bayou.
While police do not suspect foul play at this time, most of the autopsies have yet to be completed, and therefore, homicide cannot be ruled out just yet.
‘Each death is different,’ a Houston Police spokesman told the newspaper. ‘It’s all determined by the cause of death, which is released by the Medical Examiner after an autopsy. It’s unfortunate, but each death is different.’
Many locals aren’t buying it – comparing the city’s response to that of investigators in Austin, Texas.
At least 19 bodies have been found in Lady Bird Lake, the river that runs through the middle of the capital city.
Even though the Austin Police Department has insisted there is no evidence of a serial killer, wild theories of a Rainey Street Ripper have continued to plague the police narrative.
‘Unless you have stab wounds, gunshots, strangulation marks – clear signs of homicide – it’s not a serial killer,’ Krista Gehring, PhD, a criminology professor at the University of Houston, told the outlet.
‘People slip, people fall, people drown. That’s reality.’
