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[Music] serial killers can be very difficult to predict they're constantly thinking
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about hunting for human beings police reported another grandm find to hurt and to kill her car was later found
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abandoned on I45 the highways are a particularly good effective hunting ground once you commit your murder
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you're good to hit the road again the 12-year-old disappeared April 3rd while jogging near her
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home she's a beautiful child how soon did you really know that something awful had happened when we
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first went out to search and we didn't find her when there was absolutely no sign of her we knew then that something
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terrible had happened Kelly Cox locked her keys in her car after taking a college field
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trip to the Denton Police Department she was last seen making a call from a pay phone not knowing where your daughter
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was how do you describe that there's really not a way to describe it I had nightmares for years that she was being
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hurt or harmed every day the pain does not go away Tiffany Johnston went missing from
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a Bethany Car Wash Tiffany was abducted in broad daylight she just vanished Tiffany was my baby daughter my shadow
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anywhere I was at Tiffany was with [Music] me been a week since Jessica Kane disappeared her car was found abandoned
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on I45 she would not go somewhere without calling and that's why we know something's wrong we got to find her
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childhood friends came together to hold a vigil praying she would be found until
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she's found and someone proves that she's not alive she is alive to us and we're still
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searching could it happen again was it going to happen again William Reese was on the top of the list very early on
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Reese is the primary suspect in the kidnapping of Laura Smither I think most investigators felt
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like he was responsible for multiple girls but you couldn't couldn't get him on it no the case went on for number of
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years and no one ever forgot the pain from [Music] 97 he had to cooperate or those girls
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were gone forever today's March 1st 2016 if you're comfortable with it I would like to go
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through these four different incidents occurred are you okay with that yes these offenders they love to brag about
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themselves and I took this throw blacket I had and I laid it on top of her so it
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becomes something that's fun for them a little bit of a cat and mouse game Stu you're saying I don't remember that they
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are pathological liars and then you immediately buried her after that yes sir they lie about things they don't
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even have to lie about you can't necessarily trust what he says you have to verify this is the area that he
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brought you to but I mean you were looking and you weren't finding her right some folks thinking that maybe the
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information was not accurate I have no reason to lie to you guys and that he was playing us certainly we were hoping
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it was going to be a little bit faster uh than it was but you can see that truly confirms a needle in a hay
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[Music] stack [Music] [Music] there was a very scary killer who was going up and down I45 that is correct
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killing young women that is correct Interstate 45 runs through the swamps and the derel oil fields between
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galvaston and Houston the highway marks a trail of unsolved murders that stretches back for
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decades and friends with Texas Deputy Chief of Police Josh Rogers says 1997 was a particularly deadly year we
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were living in such a false sense of security it was quite a shock to the system when we got educated and you got
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educated the hard way the worst way absolutely the worst way on April 3rd 199 97 gay smi's 12-year-old daughter
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Laura an aspiring ballerina went out for a run and never returned as days passed
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thousands of volunteers on foot and on Horseback combed the swamps and fields around their home in Friendswood keep
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your eyes open this is what we're looking for the US Marines even flew in to help we just wanted to say thank you
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to everybody we are going to find her what does this say your t-shir this says pray fora I was also there in 1997 with
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the family gay Bob and Laura's younger brother David are you surprised by the outpouring of concern Sympathy uplifted
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by it it's just the only thing that's getting us from one day to the next the beginning of the ballerina exactly yeah
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I was taking in her backyard at the other the house there's no doubt she's coming home I went into denial
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immediately I I would not accept any other scenario other than that somebody had taken her we the strength to endure
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if I prayed hard enough she'd be released to come home to us that's how I coped then came the devastating news 17
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days later when Laura's decomposing body was found in a retention Pond 12 miles from her home by a father and son
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walking their dogs we thought it was you know like a dead animal in the water or
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something like that son Jason he says no said animals don't have socks I screamed into the phone that's
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not Laura that's not Laura that's I couldn't accept it I can still hear my screams in my
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nightmares and then of course we had to tell David for something things there are no words how old was David at the
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time nine he not only lost his sister in a way he lost his parents we were physically there
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but we were emotionally absent part of us was gone part of us was ripped out after weeks in the water Laura's
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exact cause of death could not be determined investigators also couldn't be sure if she had been sexually
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assaulted in spite of the unknowns a suspect emerged pretty quickly a man named William ree it was the third day
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that Laura was missing that he was on the the police radar that quickly yes the third day and why because he was a a
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sex offender ree had been released 6 months before Laura's murder after spending 10 years in prison for two
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rapes in his native Oklahoma he was now working in Friendswood Texas he was building a residential subdivision and
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was a bulldozer operator and on the day Laura went missing because of rain police Learned reys was let off work at
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9: am which would have taken him right in the direct path of Laura Smither investigators searched Reese's truck and
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found fibers from replacement floor mats that were consistent with Trace fibers found on Laura's socks these weren't
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Factory floor mats these weren't common fibers while police continued to investigate Laura's case Reese remained
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free and was traveling back and forth between Houston where he worked and Oklahoma where his mother lived then in
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July of 1997 in Denton Texas a university town along the stretch of Interstate connecting them 20-year-old
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Kelly Cox disappeared to describe it it's like martians picked her up she just vanished Kelly's mother Jan bam
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says Kelly had gotten locked out of her car after a class trip to the Denton police station she had gone to a nearby
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gas station parking lot to use a pay phone very busy area with police officers everywhere Jan knew something
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was wrong when Kelly failed to pick up her then toddler Alexis from daycare that afternoon she would never have left
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her daughter she was only 19 when Alexis was born she took such responsibility and she embraced being a
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mom m oh my gosh she embraced it and I know she absolutely adored this one over here in addition to raising
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Alexis now 27 years old Kelly was taking a full load of courses at UNT the University of North Texas in Denton she
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was maintaining straight A in college all a on her f a week after having yeah week after she had Alexa she took her
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final exams and pulled all eyes on the I mean she was very very driven Alexa says
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she remembers little about her mother except the anguish of her being gone I remember looking for her you do looking
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underneath the bed mhm I remember looking all around the house look in closets she would look under the bed and
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say Mommy Mommy the days of searching turned into weeks than then months we can get this SP out there Jam
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was on local TV pleading for help finding her daughter I don't want it on a back burner I want her face out there
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but unlike Laura Smither Kelly was a young woman not a child and as the case dragged on Jan says she didn't feel that
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finding Kelly remained a priority for police Jan still remembers a conversation she had with one member of
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the department 3 months after Kelly went missing and he said you should just consider yourself lucky we're even
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working on this case most police departments would have just turned her picture in to the missing person's
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Clearing House and been done with it that was heartbreaking Jim was certain that someone had abducted Kelly but was
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at a loss police had no body and no strong leads and the case soon grew cold I don't don't think did I ever
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completely not think when the phone would ring that maybe it was something about Kelly just 11 days after Kelly
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went missing up in Oklahoma and not far from William Reese's Hometown another young woman was about to
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vanish She'll always be my baby She'll always be a granddaughter and she'll be a
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wife Kathy Do's daughter Tiffany Johnson 19 years old and newly married was just
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starting to build her [Music] life on July 26th 1997 she V vanish from this Bethany Oklahoma car wash leaving
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her car behind her car mats were hanging on the car wash rack her money her paycheck everything was in her
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car the next day Tiffany's partially clothed body was found in tall grass here just off the interstate 15 mies
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West of that car wash she had been strangled and sexually assaulted she had rope Burns around her
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wrist she had black and blue places on her face no one at the car wash reported seeing anything out of the ordinary so
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whoever took her had to be pretty calculating and thinking about the surroundings oh yeah and Tiffany would
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fight a few days after Tiffany's murder Kathy says she got a phone call from a man she knew from her town of anad Darko
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William ree he called to tell me he was sorry that he had heard Tiffany had gotten killed and how did he sound when
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he called you sincere all he said was I'm sorry to hear about your daughter how did you first meet William
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Reese I met him at the restaurant Kathy was a waitress in town and knew Reese's mother and when reys
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was released from in prison in 1996 and came home Kathy had given him a ride to get a new driver's
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license did you know what he had spent time in prison for no they acted like it was no big deal and would you have even
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guessed that he had been convicted of violent crimes toward women oh heavens no it never occurred to Kathy that reys
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could have anything to do with Tiffany's murder I couldn't see someone that I knew that would kill Tiffany because
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they knew how much she meant to me as for investigators they found the Killer's DNA on Tiffany's body but they
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weren't able to develop a profile at some point Kathy did you give up thinking they're just never going to
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find the person who killed my daughter I never gave up because I made a promise to
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Tiffany when I buried her that I would not give up until we found who did it why was it so important to find who
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killed her cuz I didn't want him killing someone else's child if you have my daughter I pray
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that you would return her we want her back home just 3 weeks after Tiffany's murder back in Lamar Texas it happened
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again we're not going to let her go Jessica Cain was about to graduate high school the 17-year-old was last seen
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leaving a Clear Lake Area restaurant on August 17th 1997 when she didn't come home by curfew Jessica's father CH Kane
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went out looking for her I had been to all the places where I thought she might be and I was on my way
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home it's actually just about 3 or 4 miles from the house on the side of the road he spotted her truck on the
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shoulder of I45 but Jessica was gone and there was no side him struggle once again search parties
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combed the area for yet another missing girl more than a 100 volunteers searched
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on foot along the marshes and through the brush tracking dogs were called in to help we were the most broken people
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at that point gay and Bob Smither still reeling from the loss of their daughter Laura Just 4 months earlier felt
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compelled to join the serve we didn't hesitate we went immediately the search for Jessica kanaine widened
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today across the Salt Grass and scrub that surrounds the marshes in this the search went on for weeks but there was
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no sign of Jessica and no clue who had taken her we wondered could it be the same person who took Laura from us you
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know we just didn't know as gay wondered about William Reese and his involvement
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a story emerged about another case where the victim survived everything happened so
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fast back in May of 1997 3 months before Jessica Caine disappeared a 19-year-old
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mother Sandra seot stopped at a convenience store off of I45 in Webster Texas she noticed a man staring at her
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from the parking lot his truck was out there parked but I wasn't really paying attention
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when Sandra left and went to a waffle house across the street she saw the man again he followed me to the waffle house
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and I parked and he asked me if I needed help and I go get help for what and he goes well your tires
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flat but just moments later The Stranger was forcing her into his white pickup truck at knife point he was just telling
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me to keep him MTH I you know was terrified she says he sexually assaulted her in the truck and then they started
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speeding down the interstate and the only thing I was thinking like he's going to kill
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me I rather jump and kill myself than him doing that to me and that's just what Sandra
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did as the truck sped down I4 45 she opened the door jumped out and hit the pavement and then I got up started
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[Music] running Gravely injured Sandra managed to get help and reported the incident 5 months later in October of
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1997 during a meeting with Friendswood Police Webster investigators noticed that Sandra's description of her
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abductor pickup sounded similar to the truck that friends with police had searched in Laura smi's case belonging
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to William Reese okay if y'all would get shoulder shoulder uh with the guy on the on the
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red circle on October 16th 1997 Reese was pulled in for a lineup number four step to the red
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circle want you take quarter turn to the left when he walked out I I knew that was him no no doubt that was
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him a loud voice get the truck get the truck William Reese was immediately arrested and charged with kidnapping he
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pleaded not guilty he was finally behind bars but not for any of the murdered girls did
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you attack Laura face of glass I want you to repeat after me in a loud clear voice do not scream
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do not scream getting the truck be the truck William ree was defiant he denied kidnapping Sandra SAA and slashing her
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tire but after his arrest investigators were determined to tie him to lauris smi's murder too think you're being
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unfairly treated Mr Reese yeah I did I didn't friends with deputy chief Josh Rogers says they thought they found
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another link when they searched Reese's apartment he had a horse blanket that was multicolored most of those colors
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were also found on one of Loris smi's socks so the evidence was was uh strong and they already had those other fibers
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on Laura's socks that match Reese's floor mats still the da at the time did not feel that was enough evidence to
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charge Reese with Laura's murder and was that frustrating very very I got very very angry I felt that
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the system had failed us and failed Laura but Friendswood detectives weren't giving up they pulled records to trace
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Reese's movements during the previous summer summer and discovered that Reese might be connected to the other unsolved
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cases there was a fuel charge from Denton on July 15th the same place and date of Kelly Cox's
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disappearance it was the first time Kelly's mother Jan bham had heard the name William ree he was now also on the
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radar of Denton police that you know caused them to want to check Kelly's fingerprints against
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anything in his truck or car did they find anything fingerprints anything connected to Kelly no they did not
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friends with detectives also found records showing Reese had used a pay phone in the town where Tiffany
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Johnson's body was found less than an hour after she disappeared and the owner of the car wash after seeing his picture
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said says Reese was a frequent customer with that Reese joined a list of possible suspects anyone along that
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route during that time period uh he was looked at investigators were also now eyeing him in Jessica kan's
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disappearance and used bulldozers to look for evidence at the horse ranch where he had
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worked but they came up empty-handed and in April of 1998 as suspicions swirled around William Reese
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in several jurisdictions he went on trial for the kidnapping of Sandra seaw you went to the trial why for
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Laura I had to be there for Laura I got very angry with what I learned at that trial because of course
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it puts everything in your head at what he had done to Laura gay Smither says she was
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especially upset when she heard the testimony of Reese's two rape victims from the
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1980s remember he had been released from prison for those attacks just six months
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before Laura was murdered they came down and testified and I was mortified to hear what he had
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done to those two young women the jury didn't take long they went out and minutes later was
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a guilty verdict William ree was convicted and sentenced to 60 years for kidnapping Sandra
00:24:33
sea I think a lot of people felt like that was probably going to be the best that we were going to be able to do um
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is just to keep William Reese off the streets again but Laura's case remained officially unsolved and the Smithers
00:24:47
wanted to see recharged up in Oklahoma Kathy doy continued to pressure investigators to
00:24:55
solve Tiffany's murder at first I'd call every week it was always the same thing
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they didn't have anything it would take more than a decade before Kathy says her calls were
00:25:09
finally answered all I knew was that I've got a victim who car was at the car wash in
00:25:17
2012 retired police chief Lynn Williams had recently started working on cold cases at the Oklahoma State Bureau of
00:25:26
Investigations or the SBI and was assigned to Tiffany's case the car was abandoned the keys were in ignition the
00:25:36
doors were unlocked no witnesses there was that DNA evidence from Tiffany's body so really DNA was
00:25:46
going to be your only hope that was my frame of mind but the DNA had already been tested twice without success we are
00:25:56
worried usually that there's nothing left to test Wendy Duke is the supervising criminologist at the OSBI
00:26:03
Cold Case unit she found two samples from Tiffany's body that had not been totally consumed in earlier testing and
00:26:12
was able to develop a partial male profile from them it's exciting even if it is a partial
00:26:19
profile because it was a partial profile Duke could only compare it to a profile
00:26:24
from a known person and the team slowly eliminated suspects from the file until they got to William Reese and what was
00:26:35
the result and he could not be eliminated from that partial profile on the swab from Tiffany the da in Oklahoma
00:26:42
thought it was enough to charge Reese for Tiffany Johnson's murder and after all those years of waiting Kathy finally
00:26:51
had some news I said oh my God why Tiffany that was my main thing why Tiffany Oklahoma law enforcement also
00:27:02
shared the news with Texas investigators including the Texas Rangers who wondered
00:27:08
if William Reese might be willing to talk to them about their cases they went to visit ree in prison
00:27:17
and to their surprise he agreed to talk further if they could take the death penalty off the table the Smithers
00:27:25
agreed and so did Jan bham as long as reys help police find Kelly that's a huge decision to make
00:27:34
before you even know oh I know and basically I said I wanted answers and I wanted to know what whether my daughter
00:27:42
was alive or dead what would you do with the difficult decision that the binm and
00:27:51
Smither family's faced chat now on Facebook and X je what are you doing what are you doing
00:28:08
what are you doing look look hi when they would find a body anywhere and then they would confirm who it was
00:28:20
and it wasn't Kelly and I'd go oh it's not Kelly and then I'd go but it was somebody
00:28:31
daughter almost 19 years after Kelly Cox's disappearance her mother Jam was finally close to knowing what had
00:28:40
[Music] happened in February 2016 William ree was moved from prison to the Friendswood jail after agreeing
00:28:51
to give investigators information about their three Texas cases he hoped his cooperation might help him in Oklahoma
00:29:00
too he told us that he wasn't going to play games if we weren't going to play games investigators took Reese out to
00:29:06
this remote Field South of friendwood where he said Kelly Cox's remains were located ree hadn't yet told them if he
00:29:15
was responsible for her death he doesn't give any confession no but it's clear that he's got some involvement correct
00:29:24
police spent long days and nights with Reese in the jail and out in the field looking for Kelly's remains and during
00:29:32
that time Reese started telling investigators about his encounter with Kelly Cox and Denton he claimed they got
00:29:40
into a fight in the gas station parking lot after he bumped into her and she spilled her soda on him I started curing
00:29:50
I think I pushed her that's when she hit me with the coke I slapped her then it was
00:29:59
over she was fighting back yes okay what happens next and then I grab her around
00:30:04
the throat I show her Reese had just confessed to murdering Kelly Cox but investigators weren't sure if his story
00:30:14
was true they hadn't found any sign of Kelly in that field but as they kept looking this was not the only major
00:30:22
Revelation to emerge I remember going to work at construction job upside there a
00:30:28
rainy morning soon reys was telling investigators what he said happened to Laura Smither on that rainy morning in
00:30:40
Friendswood our here s Slam against my miror and uh it scared me so I stop I got out and that's when I look in
00:30:53
the ditch and I seen the L Smithers laying in the ditch and uh she wasn't breathing Reese claimed that Laura had
00:31:04
died instantly after he had hit her with his truck by accident but he later changed that story claiming Laura had
00:31:13
survived but when he tried to stop her from crying he accidentally broke her neck psychopaths are in incredibly
00:31:21
callous individuals they are without guilt and they are without remorse marelen o tool is a retired FBI profiler
00:31:30
we asked her to review the case records and Reese's videotape statements to try to understand his
00:31:36
psychology I've not assessed him not met him and I'm just going from my own experience but looking at his cases
00:31:44
looking at his behavior I would say in my opinion that he manifests traits of psychopathy you wanted the truth so I'm
00:31:51
telling you the truth and once police got him talking I had a raptor and a married Raptor Brie didn't seem to want
00:31:58
to stop I jumped Cur right there old tul says that Reese was probably enjoying the attention and the break from his
00:32:08
routine fre what's the worst thing that you can do for someone that has a tendency to love exciting challenging
00:32:15
stimulating things you put them in an environment like prison where they get bored so when you offer them the
00:32:22
opportunity to come out and assist law enforcement they're going to jump at that
00:32:30
after a week of fruitlessly searching for Kelly Cox Reese offered to help them find another victim Jessica Kaine whom
00:32:39
he said he had buried in a different field closer to Friendswood and while Rees didn't have an agreement with the
00:32:46
da in that case I was that being against drinking he started telling that story too claiming he had had an argument with
00:32:54
Jessica outside the restaurant where she was last seen and that she followed him
00:32:59
down I45 for 30 miles I don't know why I just pulled over she pulled up behind me
00:33:07
started yelling and I went off on her again okay then you end up choking her out then yes sir on the on I45 on I 45
00:33:16
but even as Reese admitted murdering Jessica he would not admit to raping her or Kelly or Laura do you believe that
00:33:26
most likely every one of his victims was raped I do I believe that they were because I believe that that was really
00:33:32
the intent of the crime if that's his motivation sexual motivation why doesn't he admit that is that typical in some
00:33:41
cases I would say that's that's typical because in their eyes that makes them look pretty pathetic that you have to
00:33:49
attack someone strangle someone beat someone up in order to be sexually gratified go ahead with the next one
00:33:55
that's the war no clone SA okay finally even though he could again be facing the death penalty
00:34:02
investigators were able to get ree to talk about the last case they thought he was linked to from
00:34:09
1997 Tiffany Johnston who reset he had encountered at that car wash in Oklahoma I was spraying clean up underneath my TR
00:34:20
that's when I girl y hey I sprayed her know sorry I thought she said something I said I started cussing at
00:34:30
her and me and her got into it he knew police had his DNA and admitted having sexual contact with Tiffany after
00:34:39
forcing her into his horse trailer was fighting you un snpp her overalls I don't know why once again reys made a
00:34:49
point to blame his victim for the violence that followed she hit me in the back of the head with her horseshoe
00:34:55
pissed me off started squeezing her around the throat and I grabbed that lead rope grabed
00:35:03
around her pulled it tight four victims and four confessions but with no sign of
00:35:10
Kelly Cox or Jessica Kaine not everyone believed Rees was telling the truth there was some folks thinking that maybe
00:35:17
the information was not accurate and that he was playing us go inside the case and see more of
00:35:24
the evidence at 48 hours.com as we dug and we continued to not locate anything there certainly wasn't as many
00:35:40
investigators helping at the end of it as they were at the beginning of it in March of
00:35:46
2016 after 25 days of digging and with William Reese's guidance there was finally some news they found Jessica K's
00:35:58
Remains What was that day like very emotional we were sad but also we were joyful as well to have located uh the
00:36:06
remains Jessica's parents asked for privacy as they processed the news and buried their daughter for investigators
00:36:14
finding Jessica corroborated William Reese's stories and re-energized the search for Kelly Cox and after another
00:36:23
two weeks of painstaking work they found her I had nightmares for the first time
00:36:30
where she had to wake me up screaming never had nightmares like that before her nightm Mayors were being down in a
00:36:36
hole it was just after Kelly and Jessica were found Oklahoma County Prosecutors Jimmy Harmon
00:36:45
and Ryan Stevenson have William Reese transported back to their state to face a capital murder trial for Tiffany
00:36:54
Johnston we typically only see the death penalty on the worst of the worst murderers and Mr Reese certainly fit
00:37:00
that bill Reese pleaded not guilty even though prosecutors had the DNA evidence and his chilling words from his tape
00:37:09
confession that's when I grabbed your around the throat choked when the trial began in May of 2021 Reese's defense
00:37:17
fought to keep that video out but the judge decided that the jury would watch it and hear all his statements where he
00:37:25
admitted killing Loris Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica Kaine all relevant says Stevenson for showing that Reese had a
00:37:35
pattern all of that being in such a short time period we wanted to be able to show the jury that this guy wasn't
00:37:42
stopping he was stopped Sandra SAA and two women who say re sexually assaulted them in 1997 all
00:37:51
testified at the trial prosecutors say this testimony was crucial to to correct the self-serving stories that Reese told
00:37:59
on those tapes you never quite get the full story uh out of William Reese he always tells it in the way that makes
00:38:08
him look best prosecutors think the true story is that Reese would set traps for
00:38:13
his victims he would sometimes create the situation in the case of Sandra Sea by slashing her Tire presented himself
00:38:21
as the Good Samaritan and he would then attack them after nine days in that Oklahoma courtroom the casee went to the
00:38:29
jury it took them less than 2 hours to decide finding William ree guilty of murdering Tiffany Johnson Rees was
00:38:39
sentenced to death I'll never forgive him for killing Tiffany he should die but instead of being sent right away to
00:38:48
death row reys first made one final trip back down the interstate to Texas where
00:38:54
he agreed to plead guilty to murdering Laura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica Kain it took almost 25 years but you finally
00:39:04
got Justice for Laura didn't you yeah and for Jessica and Kelly and that was very important to Bob and I in exchange
00:39:14
for his guilty pleas Reese received three life sentences in the Texas cases gay Smither made a statement at one of
00:39:24
those hearings I spoke about Laura and how we had an empty seat at our table for the rest of our lives and then I
00:39:31
told him that I I forgave him for what he did you forgive him for ruining your lives you lost Laura who had her whole
00:39:41
life ahead of her forgiveness does not mean I condone what he did nor does it mean I will ever forget what he did
00:39:49
forgiveness was for me to not live in a in a cage of Rage that's what for foress is with
00:39:57
Laura's case now resolved gay and Bob could devote more time with their son David now 34 and his children gay also
00:40:07
travels the country training law enforcement on handling missing persons cases I'm here to tell you what happened
00:40:16
with the prayer that you will be inspired by Laura's Story to never give up the bams wanted a way to share their
00:40:25
memories of Kell and created this statue in her Honor on the UN campus where Kelly had once been
00:40:33
a student hoping to remind people to be aware of their surroundings you've got to live but you can do that in a smart
00:40:42
way and be safe Jan says like every family touched by William ree she's having to learn how to live with grief I
00:40:52
cry every day I used to say to people if you don't want to see me cry then you can walk away cuz I am going to cry what
00:41:00
are you doing how do you want people to remember your mother just the way she was she was a ball of
00:41:07
fun she was a beautiful young woman who had a lot going for her she was driven and she was doing it for
00:41:17
[Music] me [Music] two gruesome murders unsolved same area same Amo ambushed stabbed multiple times
00:41:34
can a man known as the zombie hunter help police find a killer and then he's defending the world against zombies it
00:41:40
was like he was hiding in playing sight 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on Paramount
00:41:46
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