Law&Crime Sidebar - More Bodies Pulled from Texas Bayou as Serial Killer Fears Ignite

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Just when Houston seems to move past the fear, it resurfaces again. With three more bodies recovered from bayous last week — bringing this year’s total to 34 — social media is once again asking the same terrifying question: is there a serial killer in Houston? Police and prosecutors insist there’s no evidence of a serial predator, pointing instead to homelessness, addiction, and the city’s dangerous waterways. But with nearly 40% of bayou deaths ruled “undetermined,” the rumors refuse to fade. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber breaks down the data, the official pushback, and why this fear keeps returning — with former FBI and CIA agent Tracy Walder.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Three more bodies have been pulled from one of Houston's bayous, reigniting online fears once again of the so-called infamous Bayou killer. Police insist there is no serial offender at large, but with bodies continuing to pile up and social media buzzing, the questions are just getting louder. We are going to dig into what's really happening.

in Houston's waterways, all with a former FBI and CIA agent. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. So we've been on this story, by the way, since I think the beginning. We've been trying to cover every single development that we can, and the reason that we can do that is because of the amazing support

that we get from our sponsor Morgan and Morgan, America's largest personal injury law firm, a firm with over 1,000 attorneys who have recovered 25,000, billion for more than 500,000 clients. In fact, in the past few months alone, a client in Florida received $12 million when insurance offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, another client was awarded $26 million. That is 40 times the insurers offered. Morgan and Morgan, they make it easy to fight for what you deserve. You can even start a claim from your phone. So if you're injured, you can start a claim

at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. You can click the link below or you can scan the QR code on screen. Is a serial killer dumping bodies in Houston? That is the terrifying question, the theory, that has exploded all over social media for quite some time. Now, we have talked about it before. Given what has just happened, what we're going to talk about, this conversation naturally is continuing. Why? Because three more bodies have been pulled from areas near the bayous just last week. So it's bringing this year's total to 34.

The rumors of a bayou killer, they are just getting louder than ever before. TikTok, Instagram, from users and commenters who are just posting things and trying to connect the dots, convince that something sinister, is stalking the city's waterways. And now you have a DA, arguably Houston's top prosecutor who's shutting it all down. Maybe I should say trying to shut it down. Pretty hard. In an exclusive interview with NBC affiliate KPRC, Harris County District Attorney Sean Tier made his position brutally clear, saying, quote, there is nothing, nothing, and I want to be crystal clear to

indicate that there is someone operating here as a serial killer. It is the official on the record denial. So if it's not a predator, right, if it's not a series of predators, not a serial killer, several people acting in concert, what is causing this grim pattern of bodies just washing ashore? Authorities point to what they say is a heartbreaking combination. of Houston's homelessness crisis, mental health struggles, the danger of this environment. You're talking about over 2,500 miles of waterways. But here's a fact that just keeps the rumor mill churning. It is spurning a lot of questions.

It's what can leave families without answers. According to data that was obtained by KPRC2 from the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, nearly 40% of the roughly 200 bodies that have been recovered from Houston area of bayous since 2017 have at one point in time an officially undetermined cause of death. So that means that after autopsies and investigations, forensic experts seemingly can't conclusively say whether it was an accident or a homicide or a case of self-harm. So is this a tragic series of unrelated incidents or is the truth hiding in that large stack of undetermined cases. We are looking at the data behind the drama, the official pushback against

the panic, trying to make sense of it once again. Now, if you're unfamiliar with Houston, by the way, it is a massive city that's crisscrossed by these slow-moving, often murky waterways called bayous. They're part of the landscape. For years, bodies have unfortunately been found in them, but something changed in the public's mind recently. The real spark for the current fear and all the online rumors seemingly happened back in September of last year, because in just one week. So from September 15th to the 20th, 2025, five bodies were pulled from different bayous around the city and a sixth was found on September 26th. We're talking about Buffalo Bayou, Braes Bayou, Greens Bayou, so different individuals, different locations, all within days.

The stories were tragic. You had a university student last scene leaving a bar, a man who was reportedly afraid of water, another scene apparently jumping in. The rapid fire pace of these discoveries one after another. It was chilling. It didn't feel like a coincidence to a lot of people watching the news or scrolling online. And it arguably started on the morning of September 15th in Braves Bayou, with a woman identified as 20-year-old Jade McKizick, a University of Houston student who had gone missing after leaving a bar. Now, we're going off of the reporting from the Houston Chronicle when it comes to their ages. But investigators said that preliminarily, there was no obvious signs of foul play. Then, just what, a few hours later, that said.

same day, another body was recovered from Greens Bayou, identified as 43-year-old Rodney Chapman. The very next day, September 16th, a third person, 24-year-old Seth Hanson was found in White Oak Bayou. The very next day, September 16th, a third person, 24-year-old Seth Hansen was found in White Oak Bayou. Two days after that, September 18th, a fourth body was discovered in Buffalo Bayou. He was 63-year-old Arnufo Alvarado, and though his cause of death was later determined to be from methamphetamine toxicity and drowning, the manner of death was ruled accidental. But you go to September 20th, okay? Fifth body was pulled from Buffalo Bayou. That victim was 67-year-old Michael Rice. And then finally on September 26, as I mentioned,

a six body was found in Buffalo Bayou downtown. The victim was initially a Jane Doe described as a young woman with a distinctive 888 tattoo on her wrist, was later identified as Michaela Miller. So you have five bodies in five days, a six just days later. It was that terrifying rapid cluster, right? Different people, different waterways, all within a brutally short time frame. That's what broke the pattern of these being seen as isolated tragedies. That's what made the city's nerve snap. That's what launched this Bayou Killer Theory into the mainstream.

In direct response, you had Houston Mayor John Whitmire and police chief No Diaz who held a press. conference, they were adamant. The mayor looked into the cameras and stated this. Let me say that again. There is no evidence that there is a serial killer loose on the streets of Houston. If there was, you would hear it from me first. Now officially, the explanation has consistently pointed to broader heartbreaking social issues. Houston's significant homeless population, mental health problems, substance abuse issues, the simple dangerous geography of the bayous themselves, and that is the tense backdrop that has been building for months. You have public fear of a pattern versus official insistence that they are unrelated, if alarmingly,

frequent tragedies. And that was the uneasy status quo until just last week, when there were three more bodies that were found. So this is renewing this conversation, this debate all over again, and this is why you're seeing a new response from authorities. So to help break all this down. I want to bring on a special guest. We got former FBI special agent, CIA special operations officer, news nation legal contributor, author of the unexpected spy. What a resume. Tracy Walder, thank you so much for coming on. Always appreciate it. You and I have been talking about this for, I mean, I think since September when we got into all of these bodies piling up. And before even get into the new bodies that have been discovered, I just have to start with this, okay?

the official stance versus public perception, right? So police, the mayor, they have repeatedly said essentially there's no evidence of a serial killer, that these are tragic but isolated incidents that are driven by a variety of social issues. Now, from your investigative perspective, from your lens, when you hear a phrase, there's no evidence, what does that actually mean in a situation like this? What would investigators need to see to even begin considering? a serial predator theory? I think one of the biggest things that they would need to see, Jesse, is the same manner of death,

the same way in which an individual was killed sort of across the board. Typically, serial killers tend to murder individuals in the same manner or leave calling cards, those kinds of things or take things. I think that would probably be the biggest thing that law enforcement would need to see. Because people will look at this and say, oh, well, well, then how do you characterize Gilgo, right? The suspected killer there. That was a killing that was categorized and identified by the area in which the bodies were found. I think the thing with the Gilgo Beach is that they ultimately were able to tie obviously Hoerman's DNA to these individuals. And so if they can find

that, which I have to be completely honest, I don't think is going to happen in a situation like this in the case of Gilgo Beach, the women were not submerged. I think in a case where you've got water, individuals found in bodies of water, a lot of evidence, forensic evidence, it goes to the wayside as a result of that, and it's contaminated. So I think for them, especially when you've got multiple bodies in water, it's going to be about how they were killed and less about the DNA that could potentially tie them all together.

I mentioned at the top that initially a lot of those deaths were undetermined. that's not the case, you know, for all of them still, there have been some explanations, but is it surprising to you that you would see a number of deaths maybe in this manner that are undetermined? You mentioned the water, you mentioned maybe some of the certain characteristics where you surprised when you were reading about this, and you look at these clusters that a lot of these deaths initially were undetermined or even for a period of time undetermined. For my calculations, just the data that's out there, 19 are undetermined. one is still pending. So if you've got 33 total now, obviously it's pretty heavy, right, in the

undetermined area. But a couple of things about that, I think one of the things that's getting people concerned and they're less likely to believe, you know, the mayor, law enforcement, whoever's making the statement is just the sheer volume. The amount of people that have been pulled out of Bayou since 2019 has tripled. And so I think that's what concerns a lot of individuals. Now, in terms of the undetermined, I think it depends, and I don't want to be too specific about when these individuals went into the bayou, what time of year they went into the bayou, all of those things are going to matter. And honestly, their remains may make it really, really difficult to determine how they were killed, particularly if it wasn't a beating or a gunshot

when anything that's going to leave anything on the bones. If it was an overdose kind of situation, that may be degraded and they may not be able to tell. And when you look at that September cluster, right? So you have people of different ages, genders from different social circles. They're found in different waterways across this sprawling city. On its face, right, that lacks a classic serial killer signature. But is it possible? Is it possible, Tracy, right? That you have an offender who is creating this deliberate variation to deliberately throw investigators off? In my opinion, 100%. I mean, Buffalo Bayou is encompasses about 500 miles, just in general, right?

Like not in Houston proper. Buffalo Bayou and Braves Bayo, those are the two that I would say the majority have probably been founding, of course, there's other ones, but raised by is about 31 miles, right? And so when you're looking at something like that, that is a huge span, right? So putting a body in at a different location would obviously be very easy, but obviously there's currents that move bodies as well. So yes, I think anything is possible. You don't want to ever discount something.

completely, but that may account just the sheer size for why we are seeing so many, but it's hard to tell us it's a little different than Austin and Lady Bird Lake, which is only 10 miles. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I want to get into this new development that's reignited this conversation, okay? Because just last week, as we moved into the new year, you had three more bodies that were recovered from Houston bayous in a matter of days. December 22nd.

One body was pulled from the Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston. another was recovered from the Braves Bayou in the Pine Valley neighborhood. Christmas Eve, December 24th, a third body was found in the Buffalo Bayou near the Rice Military neighborhood. Now, at last check, the autopsy results remain pending. That's not necessarily unsurprising, given how recent this is. But my calculations are correct. That brings the total number of bodies recovered from Houston area bayous in 2025 alone to 34. So nearly matching last year's entire count, right? So the year before's entire count. Now, Tracy, this is a pattern, right, that keeps people up. You're talking about sudden, clustered spike in discoveries. We don't know exactly when one body was deposited in that location or if you're dealing with a issue where somebody did something to themselves, when they did something to themselves in that area. But three new bodies in just a matter of days as an investigator, what does that tell you? I think, you know, what that tells me is that, you know, I don't want to say there's a full cause of concern, but at the same time, as I mentioned before, when you have the amount of bodies increasing three times what it was in 2019, to me, I would be concerned if I was a resident only because I'd be concerned are these being patrolled properly? Now, I get it. There's hundreds and hundreds of swaths, right, of miles of land. I understand that.

but are these being patrolled properly? Is there a nefarious individual at hand? That raises all those questions in terms of public safety as a whole, not even just a serial killer being on the loose. So I can understand from a public safety perspective, people being concerned, especially when you've got three bodies, essentially almost three days in a row, right, being pulled out. And honestly, when you look at who these individuals are,

I understand their ages kind of are across the spectrum, but really only three of them are women. The rest are men. And so I think people are seeing patterns, and that does concern them. And to be clear, if somebody's not familiar with the geography there, if you're listening to this and saying, well, if law enforcement and the mayor, right, are having to address this, and there's such an outpouring of interest on social media and speculation, why not just dedicate resources to surrounding the bayous to make sure that,

that no one goes near them or to make sure to have a careful eye on what's going on or to install a plethora of surveillance cameras. It's not so simple, even if that was authorized, right? 100% you hit the nail on head. I'm a Texan. Obviously, I live here. The bios are very, very different. Yes, they do patrol them on horseback. They have squads and units who are dedicated to doing that. They patrol them on horseback. They patrol them on bike. These are not areas that you can patrol, you know, via car, those kinds of things. Certainly they can use, drones if they want to be a little bit more effective in terms of the amount of land that they are covering. But this is different, again, than what we see in maybe Chicago, around the lakes,

or in Austin, right, where it's a contained body. So it's a lot easier to put security cameras and those kinds of things. These are really, really difficult to patrol and have an insane amount of manpower that's needed to do that. And now I want to ask about this response. Okay. So in direct response to these three new discoveries, you had Harris County District Attorney Chantier who gave an exclusive interview this week to NBC affiliate KPRC. And his message was a forceful echo of what we heard back in September. Now, I want to be clear about what he said because he stated, quote, there is nothing, nothing. And I want to be crystal clear to indicate that there is someone operating here as a serial killer.

There are many reasons for these deaths. None of them are a serial killer. And he directly attributed the tragedies to what he called Houston's, quote, massive homeless problem combined with widespread mental health and substance abuse issues. He gave a specific physical explanation, noting, quote, it's kind of a little known fact, but when you get into the bayous, it is very difficult to get out. When you combine that with someone that is high on some substance, someone that is intoxicated somehow, it makes it even more difficult. And he did acknowledge that, yes, there are times where we recover bodies that were placed in the bayou. criminally, no question, but that is not something that is a regular occurrence. Now, Tracy, what do you make of that explanation and how does he know that?

I think that's, to answer the latter part first, Jesse, I think that's the problem. And I think that might be why so much speculation is running rampant on social media and just amongst Houstonians and Texans as well, because I think the issue is, is when you have 19, 20 of these that are attributed to either being undetermined and then on top of that, about three or four, being homicide, you only know really what happened to maybe seven of these individuals, right, per autopsies and those kinds of things. And so I feel for him to sort of make this blanket statement that we know how all of these individuals died, all of those things when you, they are undetermined, the two thirds of them are undetermined, is somewhat irresponsible

to do. But again, clearly they're not observing, you know, the similar patterns and how these people died. And I do think that some of them are absolutely attributed to a horrible homeless problem, mental health, and drug addiction issues. However, the ones that are undetermined, you don't know why, because you're not able to get toxicology and those kinds of things on them. And so I think how do you kind of caveat it that way? I think it may have landed a bit better. Okay. I have to be clear about something. Okay. I'm going to be very clear. This could all be very true what he just said. 100% could be very true.

But, and I'm not saying he's lying, I'm not saying he's misrepresenting. But I have to ask this question. Is it possible that during the course of an investigation, law enforcement or, you know, the DA or authorities may not be so transparent about what they know or what really is happening? and because there's a fear of inciting the public. There's a fear of what this information would do. Maybe it would taint an investigation. They don't want to alert anybody that they have. Maybe they have somebody in mind.

Is it possible in your career, have you ever seen it before, where there is a statement, a conclusion that's said to the public, and yet what is happening behind the scenes is a complete 180? I've definitely seen that before, obviously, because if you're getting close to capture. I mean, we most recently saw this actually in the Brown University shooting, right? They knew, figured out who the suspect was and then wouldn't release anything until obviously he was already deceased.

And so, listen, it's absolutely something that happens. But I think in a case like this where you have a bit more of a volume of individuals over these large swaths of land, it would probably be very irresponsible for public safety and public safety purposes to not put out all of the cards that you have, right? Because the mayor, the police sheep, they do have a responsibility to keep Houstonians and members of Harris County safe, right? That's their number one job. And so if there is a public safety issue, if there is a serial killer on the loose or they have any kind of inkling, that is something that they have to say and that they have to let residents prepare themselves for. But also because

the public can help in something like this, right? 100%. Well, I mean, the public has helped, in my opinion, in so many crimes recently. And I think they are a very critical and effective tool in terms of catching perpetrators. I think they're very helpful in solving crimes. You know, another key to really understanding this is we have to ask this underlying question, right? Why does Houston keep finding bodies in its bayous at such an alarming rate? Well, there was this major investigative analysis by the Houston Chronicle that recently dug into

nearly a decade of data, and it paints a stark, complex picture that goes way beyond any single theory, because first, you talk about the sheer scale. Houston is built on a network of over 2,500 miles of these waterways. They're everywhere. They're often without barriers. And as the DA noted, they're notoriously difficult to get out of once you're in it. But the Chronicles data reveals some very important patterns here, that the victims are overwhelmingly adult men. They are disproportionately black men over the age of 35. Geographically, the deaths are heavily concentrated in just a few zip codes in downtown Houston and the second ward areas where notably, you know, black residents are not the majority of the

population. So this points to a tragedy that is deeply tied to his essentially most vulnerable. And this is an important issue. Now, I will say this. When causes can be determined, the data shows a mix. So drowning is the most common known cause, but the records also show self-harm, homicides, drug overdoses, deaths that are linked to heart issues or traffic accidents where bodies ended up in the water. And this brings us to the factor that officials emphasize the most. Profound social vulnerability.

The data underscores that these deaths are heavily linked to the city's homelessness crisis, mental health struggles, substance abuse issues. You have victims that maybe are on the outskirts, so you have these bayous, these banks that are part of their environment. You have a combination, potentially of intoxication, despair, maybe a simple misstep, an accident can turn something fatal. Tracy, when you look at that data and you're trying to understand it and trying to make sense of it and thinking about, we're talking about these groups of individuals, what stands out to you? I think just that it's incredibly sad. And I think part of what might be contributing, excuse me, to not knowing a cause of death or these individuals not being reported missing in the first place and family members not stepping forward is the fact that many of them, as you pointed out, are homeless, are transient. And I do think it does speak to sort of this broader picture because throughout Houston, I mean, bayous are truly everywhere. And I do think what is happening is members of these populations are not able to get the assistance that they need.

And as a result, because of intoxication, whatever, those kinds of things, they are falling into these bios and not able to get out. And I think it does speak to a bigger social issue at hand. I know you have to get going, but I have to ask you this final part about this. So there's just one more crucial piece of context that we can't ignore. And it's the sheer increase in these deaths over time because this isn't just a sudden panic. The numbers show a disturbing upward trend. According to reports from Houston Public Media, which reviewed data from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, more than 200 bodies have been pulled from local bayous since 2017. Here is what's critical.

The last two years, they account for the highest number on record. 2024, 35 bodies were recovered. And with last week's discoveries, 2025 has nearly reached 34, so nearly matching that grim record with the year that just ended. Now, to put that in perspective, in 2017, there were 20 such deaths. That number fluctuated in the intervening years, but it began a significant climb around 2020. The trend is clear. Bayou deaths have risen sharply during the past decade, or at least Bayou-connected deaths in some way. Recent years were hitting peak levels, and this isn't just a spike in social media attention.

It is a spike seemingly in the actual data, this rising baseline of tragedy. It is obviously the fuel that is turning every new discovery into what is a citywide attention, a response theories. Tracy, before I let you go, why are we seeing something like this? I think that's my biggest issue, right? And I think, again, that's why the public is scared. It's this sheer volume. I think part of it is that perhaps patrols have been stepped up and so more people are being found. I think it depends on rainfall that year as well, how many people.

they ultimately find that that is definitely a contributing factor. But then I would also be interested in knowing how homeless rates increased within Houston. I actually don't know the answer to that, but I think that that's something that is worth looking at. And so I also think in the kind of shadow of the pandemic has left a lot of people disenfranchised as well. And so I think that's sort of this perfect storm of seeing this tripling essentially of individuals. Tracy Walder, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, Jesse.

And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.