First Published: 2:37 PM PDT, May 25, 2021
A self-proclaimed serial killer had once insisted that he was responsible for killing Purchase. But now police say they have found a 75-year-old man with a DNA match.
A 75-year-old Texas man was arrested in connection with a cold case involving a woman who was found strangled and set ablaze in a wooded area nearly 40 years ago, marking a twist in a drawn-out case after a notorious serial killer already confessed to the crime, authorities announced.
Henry Lee Lucas, also famously known as the Highway Stalker, falsely confessed to killing Laura Marie Purchase and was convicted of the crime in 1986, according to authorities.
Teen missing from Spring, Texas for over a year
Kristen Galvan 15, has been missing from Spring, Texas since January 2, 2020. She was lat her grandmother’s house in The Woodlands in Montgomery County for winter break when she went missing. Kristen’s mother, Robyn Bennett, said that Kristen took off from her grandmother’s house.
People have reported that they’ve seen Kristen’s photo on websites known for prostitution. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation believe her life is in imminent danger.
“Because Kristen is a possible victim of human trafficking, this means her life could be in danger,” said FBI Special Agent Bethany Morris. “Kristen will be 17 years old on April 23, 2021. Kristen’s family and friends miss her terribly. If you have any information related to her whereabouts, please contact NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST and help bring Kristen home.”
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas announced that 75-year-old Thomas Elvin Darnell of Kansas City was arrested Thursday in connection to it.
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200 block of Abbeyfeale Road - A woman sleeping in a vehicle was holding a crack pipe. A felony warrant was prepared for the 43-year-old woman. Drug paraphernalia and suspected crack cocaine was found in the vehicle. Alprazolam was found in her purse at the jail. She also had an active warrant out of the Richland County Sheriff s Office.
Florence Avenue - A man reported hearing shots fired.
1000 block of Walker Street - A woman said her boyfriend woke her up he and began to yell at her about relationship issues. He then fled the area taking her father s cell phone. She said he has threatened physical harm multiple times over the past month to her if they are separated. She refused to sign a domestic violence affidavit.
Updated: 1:56 PM EDT May 21, 2021
VIDALIA, Ga. A Jacksonville man is facing murder charges in Georgia linked to the death of a Toombs County man earlier this week.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says 35-year-old Willie James Rogers has been charged with murdering 20-year-old Zacheriah Douglas Wright in rural Montgomery County on Monday. Wright was found on RT Lane with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was taken to Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia, where he died.
Rogers was arrested on unrelated charges by the Vidalia Police Department on Monday and is currently in jail at the Toombs County Detention Center, according to GBI. He is now facing charges of malic murder, felony murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.