Officials are working to dispel rumors that a serial killer might be active in Texas, following the recovery of 34 bodies from the same water bodies over the past year.
These rumors gained momentum over the holiday season when police retrieved three additional bodies from Houston bayous within a single week.
On December 22, a body was found in the Buffalo Bayou, followed by another in the Brays Bayou elsewhere in the city. A third body was recovered from the Buffalo Bayou on December 24, just before Christmas.
Amid growing concerns among local residents that a serial killer might be on the loose, both the mayor and police have emphasized that there is no supporting evidence for this notion.
“We do not have any evidence that there is a serial killer loose,” Mayor John Whitmire stated in September when the number of bodies exceeded two dozen. However, each new body found in the city’s waterways fuels further speculation.
This pattern was seen again after the discovery of a third body last week, which was noticed by a pedestrian who saw it floating in the water.
While autopsy results are awaited, local police kept their remarks brief, stating: “The HPD Dive Team responded to the scene and recovered the body from the water.”
Like the previous two cases, this individual was not immediately identified by Houston PD.
An officer mentioned to a Houston Public Media reporter at one of these sites, where a decomposed body was found near the water, that they lacked substantial information at that time.
“Right now, face value, there’s not a lot that we can see or determine from the body,” commented the officer.
After these unsettling finds, a visitor to the city expressed to a local ABC affiliate that the high number of deaths this year defies simple explanation, stating: “The math isn’t mathing, I think there’s a serial killer.”
Resident Erick Cortez commented: “There must be someone out there, no? Because it’s ridiculous that so many people are dying in the bayou, I think it’s unfortunate that they haven’t found the person.”
However, authorities have noted that numerous bodies have historically been discovered in the bayous, with one more death recorded in 2024 than in the current year.
According to an analysis by the Houston Chronicle, 200 bodies have been retrieved from the bayous over the past nine years, with the last two years having the highest totals.
Approximately 40% of these are categorized as drownings, with a similar percentage classified as suicides, homicides, and deaths due to blunt force trauma. Many individuals later identified were part of the city’s homeless population.
In September, Mayor Whitmire attempted to clarify the situation, saying: “What do you think happens when a homeless person dies from an illness, diabetes or cancer? What do you think his friends and associates do? They do not take him to a funeral home.
“Unfortunately, the homeless, when they pass, often end up in the bayou.”
Retired Houston PD captain Greg Fremin advised locals to remain alert but not overly concerned about the rumored serial killer.
He said: “I tell the citizens of Houston, we have a relatively safe city for the most part, but it’s just like any other big city, there is crime, you have to be vigilant, have situational awareness of what’s going on but this is not anything to be concerned about.”