Beneath the Surface: Houston Serial Killer Part Two

Over the last few years, dozens of bodies have been pulled from Houston's bayous.

And when numbers like that start circulating, something else always follows — fear, speculation, and the same question whispered over and over: Are these deaths connected?

Tonight, we're not here to sensationalize tragedy or point fingers. We're here to do something far less dramatic — and far more important.

We're going to slow down, take the actual cases that overlap, and look at them the way journalists and investigators do: by location, age, lifestyle, and opportunity.

Not to prove a theory - but to understand what the data can honestly tell us... and just as importantly, what it can't.

Because when real people are involved, curiosity has to come with responsibility.

This is about patterns versus coincidence — and where that line actually lives.

All stories can be emailed to Letsgetweirdishpod@gmail.com

Transcript

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Houston's Bayou don't make noise. When they take something, they just keep moving. Over the last few years, bodies have surfaced in those waterways, some identified some not most quietly ruled, accident or undetermined, but when the same places keep reappearing on the map. When the same age ranges repeat, when the same stretches of water are involved again and again. People start to wonder tonight, we're not chasing a monster or feeding a rumor. We're doing something colder than that. We're taking only the cases that overlap. The ones that share location, age, and opportunity, and we're laying them out side by side, not to accuse but to ask the question that water never answers. If these deaths were connected, what would that actually look like? I'm your host, Amanda, and welcome back to Let's Get Weirdish. Nearly 200 bodies have been found since 2017 in the Bause of Houston. 91 of those in the last three years, and I don't know if you've heard yet, a new body was found on January 6th in the Buffalo Bayou of this year. That's our first 2026 Bayou body. The majority are being found in Buffalo Bayou, and the most recent body recoveries are concentrated around downtown in the second ward neighborhoods of Houston. The reason so many are found in these spots is because the locations act as a collection point due to the bayou flow and where it comes together in those bodies of water. Looking at the last five years. In 20 21, 16 bodies were found. 20, 22, 20 bodies, 20 23, 22 bodies, 20, 24, 35 bodies. And the final count as of late December for 2025 was 34 bodies. Authorities say that there is no forensic evidence of a single linked predator. And Mayor John Whitmore is completely dismissing the idea that there is a serial killer altogether. And yeah, bodies turn up in values. People die all the time. And if you listen to my first episode on this, you know my feelings about Houston's mayor and if you're from Houston, I'm curious to know what you think about him. Do we know that there is a serial killer? No, but the math's not math. In and at the rate that this is escalating, it should be looked at. Some people even consider the cartel, and while that could be possible, I don't see the cartel killing homeless people and throwing'em in the bayou. I, if we were talking about people in maybe a less lower class demographic, then yeah, possibly. And I'm not saying that some of these aren't cartel, they could be, but once you hear about the people that they've been finding, you might think the cartel is less likely to While authorities are saying that most of these are accidental drownings or drug overdoses, yada, yada, yada. They haven't given us many facts, but what they are actually saying is that the leading causes of death are drowning 40%, followed by suicides, homicide, and blunt force trauma. Roughly 40% of these cases have been listed as undetermined because forensic testing is difficult in water. So linkage isn't impossible. The Bayou is doing its job, it's washing away any evidence that there might have been. And if you know anything about the Bayou, you know, if you're gonna get rid of a body, that's the best place to throw it. The decomposition is a lot faster in these Bayou. So if there was evidence, by the time authorities are finding these bodies, it's usually gone. Many of the victims are identified as members of the homeless community, are people suffering from mental health disorders and substance abuse? Men account for 85% of the victims with black men over 35 being the majority of this group officials say about 4% of the total cases since 2017 have been definitively ruled as homicides. Buffalo Bayou has the highest number of bodies followed by White Oak Bayou, braised Bayou, and Greens Bayou as frequent body recovery sites. Houston, if you have a location known as a frequent body recovery site, there is an issue. A major issue and yeah, I know that crime is high in Houston. It's a big city. Crime is going to be higher, especially because you have such a high concentration of people in that area. I, but this has basically become a dumping ground. I wanted to take a hard look at this and do a gender breakdown. Since 2017, men account for 171 of these deaths. Women account for 27 deaths in an analysis in early December of the 22 bodies that had been discovered at that time, 19 were men and three were women. Did you catch that? They're missing some of the numbers, so they haven't released the information of all these bodies. I actually made a post on TikTok yesterday on the Let's Get Weirdish podcast account. Pretty much just saying that we were doing a part two. And I had someone comment something pretty interesting to me. Username, miss Lis. I think we have more than one actually. I've seen so many not reported on the news. My husband parks his truck near the Bayou and it's been three different times when he was blocked in from a scene and he would tell me about it only once I had seen the report. Part of me feels law is involved. Then others have told me stories and I've seen no reports. I think the count is higher as well. I commented back and said, I 100% agree with this. I worked at a hospital around 10 years ago and things that never made the news always blew my mind. She commented back, she replied Crazy. You say that he had to park his truck near the Bayou and he literally saw a woman face down, naked in the water and a crew all around. Then a man the next day I kept looking for an update on it and nothing. This is deep. It is deep. Is law enforcement involved? I'm not sure. And while I don't think that they would actually be involved in what's happening, I do think they're involved in covering it up. And why are they trying to cover it up? Because they don't want people to panic or because they actually have no idea what's happening. Governor John Whitmore has said several times that he thinks that the homeless people are killing other homeless people and throwing them into the bayou. And that could be possible in some of these cases, But at the same time, the areas that some of these people are going missing from their bodies would have to be transported to the bayou. Somebody is going to notice someone pulling a body. They just will with men accounting for 85% of the victims black men over 35 are the majority of this group to break it down even further data for the total 24 bodies in 2025 that they've released shows 15 black victims, six white and three Hispanic. Could this be the work of a serial killer? When authorities are trying to answer that question, they look at several factors, consistent cause of death. Same method, so think strangulation, blunt force trauma, ligature marks, similar injury patterns, defensive wounds that repeat across cases. Accidental drownings and suicides don't usually repeat in the same specific way. Victimology patterns, similar age range, similar gender, similar lifestyle patterns, routine nightlife, work schedules. Ethnicity alone is not a reliable factor, and while some serial killers do cross ethnic boundaries, not a lot of them do. Geographic clustering bodies found in very specific locations, not just any bayou, but the same sets of bayou recovered near same bridge, same access points, same neighborhoods. So a offender. Comfort zones, Temporal patterns, same days of the week. Similar times in the morning or late at night in cycles. So for example, like let's say every few weeks, forensic similarities, same type of ligature marks, similar toxicology findings, evidence of restraint or incapacitation, DNA, or trace evidence repeating body disposal behavior. Bodies placed in similar positions, same type of concealment, similar distances from access points. Dump sites are more often telling than their deaths, and that's a fact when looking at how they classify serial killings. What makes our checklist. Number one, similar age range. Number two, similar lifestyle. Number three, location of bodies. Four. Possibly. Ethnicity, even though we're not supposed to count that. Five. Neighborhood areas, Why is he not releasing the data and why is he brushing this off? Let's take a subjective but real look at all of the linkage sets for 2025. They haven't released all of the case lists and records for 2023 and 2024, and when they do, we'll do this again. But this is what we have to work with for now. And of course, I'm not a professional. I'll never claim to be. what I am is a nosy woman in her thirties. So here we go. These are our linkable clusters for 2025. Please note that these are not all of the bodies that they found in the Houston Bay, but these are ones that we can link together by area timeframe and similar people. This is Cluster A Buffalo Bayou, zip code 7 7 0 0 3 East and Second Ward area. April 15th, 2025. Jesse Steele, male, 34 cause of death, undetermined, multiple blunt force injuries found in a grassy area near Buffalo Bayou, specifically near the bridge at I 69 I 10, and Ronald Street in downtown Houston. He was originally from Pasadena, Texas. He grew up in Cyprus And attended Cy-Fair High School. He lived in a group home for people with autism where he was a beloved member of his community and a fan of soccer. May 7th, 2025. Kenneth Jones, male 34. Undetermined. His body was recovered from Buffalo Bayou. He had a love for art and he had recently gotten a new job. The majority of his background has not been released. May 9th, 2025. George Gray's male, 54 undetermined. Recovered two days after Kenneth Jones. George was A parishioner at Lord of the Streets, an Episcopal church in Midtown Houston that serves the homeless and disadvantaged population. He had a known past of drug use with a prior drug and trespassing charge. May 9th, 2025. I'm probably gonna mispronounce this so to his family, I apologize. Coco Ra cus racist. Not sure. Male. 39 undetermined. His body was found in Buffalo by you in the 800 block of in York and Houston. Second Ward on the same day as George Gray. Prior conviction, felony criminal mischief. And while these people's past crimes don't determine who they were as a person, I still feel like it should be noted. This is another one that I'm probably gonna mispronounce The name, September 18th, 2025 are Nofo Alvarado male 63, Accident Toxic Effects, plus drowning Recovered from Buffalo Bayou near Jensen Drive and Navigation Boulevard. Our Nofo was part of a spurt of six bodies found within a two week span in September of 2025. Cluster B Buffalo Bayou, zip code 7 7 0 0 2. March 30th, 2025. I will probably mispronounce this one too. Anthony Azua. Azua. Male, 33 Undetermined drowning, pulled from Buffalo by you at the intersection of San WTO and Commerce Street, Blocks from Harris County Jail. Harris County Institute of Forensic Science ruled his cause of death as drowning, however. The manner of death was listed as undetermined because examiners could not confirm if it was accidental suicide or homicide. Family, and former partner says Azua was a devoted dad who lived for his twins. He was released from jail on March 24th, 2025, and failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing, obviously on March 31st. The day after his body was discovered, his former partner has went public saying she does not believe he was suicidal and is frustrated with the lack of answers from Houston pd. And I don't blame her, and I'm gonna tell you why in just a minute. June 9th, 2025, Ernest Armstrong. Male 33 undetermined. His body was found in Buffalo Bayou at Allen's Landing where Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou meet in downtown Houston. Medical examiners noted that bodies found in Baus undergo extensive decomposition and submersion, which can interfere with toxicology and autopsy findings. Armstrong was part of Houston's homeless population that gathered at Allen's Landing. He had a criminal history involving felony and misdemeanor theft charges. June 11th, 2025 Slo Garza male, 34 undetermined Salome's body was pulled out of buffalo by you in the 1300 block of Baker Street in downtown Houston. Autopsy reports indicated no signs of physical trauma. Medical examiner noted. That the hot, humid environment of Houston Bayou often causes rapid deterioration, making analysis difficult. SLO was a South Houston native and lived with several conditions, including dyslexia. A DHD. Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. While he managed these conditions with medication, he sometimes struggled with homelessness. His family has publicly questioned the undetermined ruling'cause SLO was a capable swimmer and was found with$130 cash in his pocket, which made a robbery less likely. He was last seen in downtown Houston visiting a friend two days before his body was found. July 16th, 2025. Prentice Benjamin male, 40 undetermined body found in the buffalo by you. No notable information on him. September 26th, 2025. McKayla Miller Female. 23 Undetermined body recovered from Buffalo Bayou during the rapid cluster of six bodies found in a two week span. She was found near the intersection of commerce and Milam Street in downtown Houston. McKayla was initially a Jane Doe. She was later identified because of her distinctive 8 8 8 tattoo on her left wrist. And her black and beautiful t-shirt. She was a tarot reader who hosted live sessions on TikTok and YouTube under the handle Mikayla's Tarot. And if you're looking for that handle, it's M-I-C-H-A-E-L-A-S-T-A-R-O-T. Her last live stream was on September 6th, 2025. The same day she left a motel in Stafford, Texas. Cluster C braised by you, zip code 7 7 0 9 6 May 17th, 2025. Anthony Curry male, 35, accidental drowning with toxic effects of PCP and ethanol. His body was pulled from braised by you In the Meyerland area, those who knew, Anthony described him as laid back and a person who had a joy of life at the time of his death. He was in barber school and worked in construction power washing homes. He was a father, a son, and a brother, despite experiencing bouts of homelessness, he was known for giving back. he volunteered at the Lord of the Streets Church and a local day shelter where he helped distribute food and water to those in need. Curry's sister has publicly challenged the accidental drowning ruling. She said she was shocked at the toxicology results stating they were inconsistent with this typical behavior. May 13th, 2025. John Morgan Male, 44 homicide. Multiple blunt force trauma injuries from the bayou embankment. So basically what they're trying to say is that he had blunt force trauma on his body in several spots, but that they think it was caused from falling down the embankment on the bayou. Um, John's autopsy noted hemo perton. A condition involving internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity cluster. D Sims by you July 7th, 2025. Raymond Halton male, 30 undetermined Raymond was found in sims by you. He had been reported missing after being last seen on foot in the 7,900 block of Wilmer. Dean Street. Raymond was born in New Orleans and studied at Houston Community College. He was known as a writer and a lyricist who enjoyed reciting his lyrics for others. Okay. Family members said he lived with mental health challenges. Like I said, these are not all of the bodies that have been found, but this is a cluster groups based on location, time, age, all of the things our female victim was only put in here because she was found in that six body cluster, in that two week span. But remember when I told you to keep in mind on the autopsy reports. Kenneth Cutting JR was also someone who was pulled from the Bayou during this time. He was a 22-year-old male, and while he didn't fit into our clusters, I want to read you something that happened during his case in October, 2025. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science admitted to several significant errors in the autopsy report For Kenneth Cutting, JR. And obviously this fueled his family's distrust of the official undetermined cause of death, and I'm sure a lot of other families as well. These are the key autopsy discrepancies, and before I tell you this, you need to know that the medical examiner's office described these major screw ups as clerical errors. They claimed he had medical hardware in his neck. Family states Kenneth never had a surgery that would require such a device. H-C-I-F-S later admits this information belonged to a different body. Despite admission of these errors, the Houston Police Department said that it would not reopen the case, citing lack of evidence of foul play. At the same time, H-C-I-F-S maintained that these errors were purely clerical and had no impact on the final pathological findings of the undetermined cause and manner of death. I'm sorry. That's a pretty big screw up. That's not just a clerical error. And yeah, I understand that they're getting dozens of bodies in. But at the same time, this is your job. People make mistakes all of the time, but when you've got bodies turning up like this. Detail is key. That's a pretty big freaking mix up. And when you look at this quote unquote clerical error and all of these bodies that are turning up and all of the dead men and women. The majority are listed as undetermined and autopsy notes from some of these, like we just talked about, are pretty telling, if you ask me, they're saying that they can't determine how these people actually died, if they drowned or if they had drugs in their system. Some they were able to. But the majority, they couldn't. And they said the reason being was because they were in the bayou and their bodies had deteriorated and decomposed so quickly that they couldn't figure out any of this information. So how are we able to write off a serial killer so quickly? The information's not there. It might not be a serial killer. But when the bodies are too decomposed and the DNA is gone and the toxicology reports can't be counted on, you should not be able to rule that out. Have you ever heard of the, did you ever hear about the Atlanta Child Murders case? They never found who was doing that, but in the beginning, most of the bodies. Had evidence on them. and when the news stated this publicly, the body started turning up in water because that serial killer, figured out if I put these bodies in water, all of that evidence is gone. These serial murderers learn from each other. They figure out how others got caught and how to keep themselves hidden and what mistakes not to make. Here's my theory. If there is a serial killer around the Bayou of Houston, what follows is a theoretical profile based only on shared characteristics in the small subset of cases we discussed today. This is not evidence of a real offender. It is an exercise in how profilers would think if they were stress testing a hypothesis. So basically this is my unprofessional profile of who this person might be and why. Here we go. The theoretical offender profile. If these cases are connected, which authorities say are not, the offender would almost certainly be local to Houston, likely male because this person has got to be able to overpower them right and be able to move a body. The offender would be familiar and comfortable with the specific value access points, and highly knowledgeable about the entry and exit routes for these locations. They would feel completely comfortable there. Daytime, nighttime, all of the things they would be able to maneuver in and out of the bayou, whether they're doing that from access points outside of the bayou or from access points inside of the bayou, like a boat. Why these clusters are literally micrographic, micro geographic, not random, repeated use of the same zip level areas isn't coincidence. They probably know these bayou, like the back of their hand they don't seem to be hate crimes. It seems to be based on vulnerability. they would not be a compulsive high frequency offender. It's more consistent with opportunistic events, long cooling off periods, probably unrelated to emotional crisis, so they're not getting angry and going on rage killings. These are methodical. They're waiting for the right person and the right time. Why? These events span multiple years. They're not tight in temporal clustering, even though we've seen small clusters. No high escalation pattern. It's a slow build, so we're not talking one week there's five. Then the next week there's 10. Then the next week there's 20. Even though we are getting higher numbers in some weeks and months. There's no true major escalation. They're clusters. low effort, and low signature. If violence occurred, it would likely be quick situational, minimal physical struggle if there was a signature. The Bayou is doing its job by taking care of it. This person would likely blend in, well, knows the people in the community May be close with the homeless. And or be a volunteer of some sort, they won't look suspicious, and they fall into the organized category. Disposing of the bodies in the waterway shows a level of planning to destroy forensic evidence, DNA, fingerprints and delay discovery. The disposal sites are spread across various values, implying the offender has a reliable vehicle and the physical ability to transport remains without being seen in public. Organized killers typically have an average to above average intelligence and are socially adept, allowing them to blend in the community unnoticed. This type of killer gets their gratification from the complete life or death control they exert over their victims. This isn't sexual. They would have traits of psychopathy, a disregard for human life and lack of remorse. If caught. May have a history of minor criminal offense. If it is a single offender, they're targeting the highly vulnerable, less visible population. They're likely an individual who targets men over 35, particularly those who struggle with homelessness, substance abuse, and other various issues. and their deaths would easily be dismissed as accidental drownings or overdoses by authorities. Thereby extending the killer's Career experts doubt everything I just said. Why? Because it lacks intimacy. No confirmed strangulation. No stabbings. They say drowning is exceptionally rare and confirmed serial murder cases rare should not mean impossible to me. Drowning someone seems very intimate, a top tier form of control. And even though black men are the highest number of cases, it may not be that they're singling them out. It could be that that is who they had access to at that moment, because there are white men too and there are females. But like I said, out of these almost 200 bodies since 2017. Some of them are likely suicides, some of them are likely random homicides, and some could be accidental drownings. We can't clump all of them together, this is only the data from 2025 and with the medical examiner's office not being able to distinctly say how they died and what their toxicology reports are. I think dismissing a serial killer so quickly shouldn't happen. And I know what you're thinking. Amanda. You are a 30-year-old white lady sending it home. Doing this, taking notes, all of the things, because somebody's gotta do it, and you should too. These families do not believe that most of their family members have died in the manner that the coroner's office is suggesting. Even factoring in how close the Bayou are to downtown Houston and Second Ward and all of the locations we mentioned today. Why all of a sudden are tons of homeless people walking into the bayou and drowning? This doesn't make sense. It can happen sometimes. But not this many times. It really does get me worked up, I think it's disgrace to the communities in Houston that they had to sit there and panic because they know that their authorities are not doing them. Any favors by writing this off. And honestly, if this is a serial killer, they may even be inserting themselves in the investigation, volunteering to help patrolling the streets. But I can guarantee you if this. Is a serial killer. They are in this community, whether they are homeless themself, which as methodical as this is, I doubt, but they have weaved themselves into this community. They know these homeless people. They are volunteering at these shelters. They may not know all of their victims, but I can almost guarantee you that they're comfortable with them. Even with the clustering, the data doesn't strongly support a single offender, but if investigators were forced to stress test that idea, this is the kind of profile that they would end up with, and it's far less dramatic than people would expect. At least that's what I'm supposed to tell you. Houston, may the odds be ever in your favor, and until next time, keep it weird.