LEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE RE-OPENS COLD CASE

  

After lying dormant for nearly 50 years, a cold case is being re-opened in Lee County to see if modern technology can help solve it.

On September 7, 1975 a family was having a picnic at the roadside park located on Highway 77 South of Giddings near the Fayette County line. The father crossed the fenceline and located a green trash bag near a tree. After moving the bag, he discovered the contents were that of human remains of what later turned out to be a four-year old boy.

The Texas Rangers aided the Sheriff’s Office in the investigation, but no leads ever developed and the case remained inactive for nearly 50 years.

In April of this year, former Lee County Sheriff Rodney Meyer met with current Sheriff Garrett Durrenberger and discussed the 1975 case that had never been solved. Meyer was a Deputy at the time the remains were discovered.

Durrenberger was able to locate the old case file at the Sheriff’s Office, and reviewed it with Meyer.

Earlier this month, Durrenberger assigned the cold case to Sergeant Investigator Jeffrey Gogolewski with the Criminal Investigations Division. After reviewing old documents, the unidentified remains were located at the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner’s Office.

The remains were returned to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office where they were received and logged as evidence. Sergeant Gogolewski made arrangements for the remains to be sent to the University of North Texas Anthropology Research Laboratory for analysis.

Investigators are hopeful that a DNA profile can be obtained to be used for geneology research to locate a family member. UNT has advised that the case will be made a priority due to the remains being an unidentified child.

Yesterday (Monday) Sheriff Durrenberger, former Sheriff Meyer, and Investigators Gogolewski and John Young went to the site of the 1975 crime scene.

The roadside park no longer exists, however Investigators relied upon a hand-drawn diagram from the case file that was made by Meyer, along with mapping from Bluebonnet Electric that documented a power pole that was referenced in Meyer’s 1975 diagram.

Investigators were able to locate the same tree where the remains were originally found. The scene was further documented by Sergeant Young utilizing the sheriff’s office drone.

With the science and technology that exists now, Durrenberger said they are confident that the child can be identified.

He added that when and if further leads or information is developed, they will pursue those in hopes of bringing closure to the case.