Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / ‘Texas Killing Fields’- Clyde Hedrick’s Friend Shares Details in Cold Case

Transcript

‘Texas Killing Fields’- Clyde Hedrick’s Friend Shares Details in Cold Case · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, so get ready because this deep dive is
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  going to take us straight into well nightmare territory. We're
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  talking about the Texas killing fields, specifically the case of
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  Laura Miller. You know the fact that you're here with
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  us means you're into this stuff, the true crime, the
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  mysteries that never seem to get solved, and this one,
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  this one's a doozy.
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  Speaker 2: It really makes you think about, you know, how long
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  people wait for justice. Sometimes it never comes, and sometimes
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  that weight goes on for decades.
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  Speaker 1: It's true, and in Laura's case, that's exactly what happened.
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  Is nineteen eighty four, League City, Texas. It's September, just
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  an ordinary evening, right, Yeah, Laura, she's sixteen, and she
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  heads out to make a quick call at a payphone.
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  That's the last anyone ever sees her gone, just like that.
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  Speaker 2: Can you imagine? I mean, it's every parent's worst nightmare. Vanishing,
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  no trace, no answers.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely terrifying, and for Laura's family, that nightmare dragged on
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  for over a year. Then finally there's a discovery, but
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  it wasn't the news they were praying for. They found
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  her body along inter State forty five, This desolate stretch
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  of land they call the Texas Killing Fields, And.
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  Speaker 2: This is where the story just gets even more disturbing.
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  Laura wasn't the first, not by a long shot, to
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  be found out there. Since the seventies, they've been finding
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  bodies in those fields, mostly young women, dozens of them.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we're talking about a pattern here. This isn't
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  just some random thing. But it gets worse. Laura's body,
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  it wasn't alone. Right next to her, they found another
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  young woman, heighty five. She'd gone missing just a year
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  before Laura. What are the chances?
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  Speaker 2: Right? It's that connection that's haunted investigators all these years.
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  When you look at how many victims all in this
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  one small area, you have to wonder, is this the
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  work of one killer or more than one? Are they
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  hunting these women specifically in this place? It's terrifying.
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  Speaker 1: So the question is why there? What is it about
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  this place, the Texas Killing Fields, that seems to attract
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  this kind of darkness.
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  Speaker 2: It's the isolation, for one thing, remote, heavily wooded, easy on,
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  easy off the highway, perfect if you're trying to make
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  a body disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Like something out of a horror movie exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And with that isolation, there's this sense of lawlessness, like
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  out there, anything goes. History's full of places like that.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've got this horrifying backdrop of the Killing
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  Fields and then Laura's case. But hold on because it
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  gets even wilder. Remember I mentioned Laura's father, Tim Miller.
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  He was convinced he knew exactly who killed his daughter,
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  a man named Clyde Hedrick.
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  Speaker 2: And get this, Hedrick was Tim Miller's neighbor, lived right nearby.
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  Imagine finding that out.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I would freak O talk about your skin crawing, right,
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  But hold on because this Hedrick guy, he's got a past,
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  not a pretty one. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty four, same year Laura disappears, Hedrick's connected to
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  the death of another young woman, Ellen Beeson. And guess
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  where they found her body?
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  Speaker 1: No way, don't tell me the killing Fields.
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  Speaker 2: You got it right there, same area as Laura.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so that's got to be a huge clue. So
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  they arrest him, right, case closed, Not so fast.
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  Speaker 2: This is where the legal stuff gets messy. Hedrick he
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  was convicted in Beeson's case, But get this, involuntary manslaughter
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  and abuse of a corpse.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, what involuntary you mean they're saying it wasn't intentional.
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  How does that even work?
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  Speaker 2: That's the million dollar question, and it might point to
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  some serious issues with how they handled the investigation back
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  then in the eighties. Involuntary manslaughter means they didn't have
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  enough to say he meant to kill her. Maybe some
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  evidence was missing, or maybe they just couldn't use it
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  back then. Either way, it's a tough break for the families.
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  Speaker 1: I'll say, But something tells me Laura's dad, Tim Miller,
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  he wasn't gonna let it go that easily.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, you're right about that. He was sure Hedrick was
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  involved with Laura's case. Two, and get this, in twenty fourteen,
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  they take another look at Beeson's case and guess what.
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  They decide it was a homicide after all.
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  Speaker 1: Whoa, They actually changed their minds after all those years. Yep.
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  Speaker 2: And here's the kicker. They'd already punished Hedrick for the
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  first conviction, but with this new ruling, he gets hit
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  with a twenty year sentence still for involuntary manslaughter in
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  Beeson's death. So now you've got a situation where they're
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  basically trying him for the same crime twice.
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  Speaker 1: Well, how is that even possible? Can you be convicted
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  twice like that? And what does that say about the
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  original investigation that they could just come back years later
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  and get a totally different result.
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  Speaker 2: It's one of the big questions hanging over this case,
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  and it shows you how complicated these legal battles can be.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've got Headrick right there next door. When
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  Laura disappears, and he's already linked to another death in
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  the same area, It's like, where do they even begin?
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  And this whole time, Tim Miller's convinced this guy is
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  hiding something about what happened to Laura.
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  Speaker 2: And this is where Tim Miller's story, well it takes
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  another turn. I mean, he could have just you know, retreated,
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  given up, but that's not Tim Miller. He took all
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  that pain, all that grief, and he channeled it.
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  Speaker 1: You're talking about Texas Equal Search, right, They're incredible help
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  find missing people all over exactly.
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  Speaker 2: See, after Laura died, Tim he was just hit by
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  how little progress they were making. He saw this huge
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  need for more i don't know, better search and rescue,
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  more organized, and he just went for it.
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  Speaker 1: So this awful tragedy. It actually led to something amazing.
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  Speaker 2: It really did Texas Ecosearch. He started it in ninety
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  nine and it's become like the go to for famils
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  in these horrible situations missing a loved one, and it's
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  all volunteers. Can you believe that?
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  Speaker 1: Wow? Turning pain into purpose that's incredible. And they've been
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  involved in thousands of cases, with.
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  Speaker 2: Well over two thousand.
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  Speaker 1: Talk about an impact that's unbelievable. It makes you wonder, though,
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  with all that work with equi Search, did Tim Miller
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  did he ever find out what happened to his own daughter?
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  Speaker 2: And that's where this story throws you for a loop,
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  because just when you think Laura's case is going to
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  be one of those that's never solved, something crazy happens
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  out of the blue.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm on the edge of my seat. What happened?
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  Speaker 2: This is years we're talking years after Laura vanished. Someone
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  reaches out an associate of Clyde Hendricks and drops a bomb.
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  Speaker 1: No way, someone a new Hendrick. What did they say?
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  Speaker 2: This associate? They claim that he and Hendrick they got
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  rid of something and at this in the exact same
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  spot where they found Laura's body.
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  Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? Okay? So what was it? Did
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  they I mean, did they say?
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  Speaker 2: They never said exactly what the something was, but come on,
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  given everything else, it's chilling, right, and it gets creepier.
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  This associate, they said, Hendrick, he used to watch Laura
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  spy on her from his house.
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  Speaker 1: That sends chills down my spine. And remember they were
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  practically neighbors. Okay, but why after all this time, why
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  would this guy suddenly decide to talk?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, what's the angle? Was it guilt, maybe trying to
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  clear his conscience or something else? Entirely investigators they had
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  to consider all of.
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  Speaker 1: It, oh, for sure. And I bet Tim Miller he
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  was like, this is it. This is the break we've
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  been waiting for.
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  Speaker 2: You would think so, right, finally some answers, But sadly,
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  these cold cases, they're rarely that simple.
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  Speaker 1: So what was the catch this time? What went wrong?
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  Speaker 2: The associate, the one with the information, Well, it turned
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  out he had his own issues, history of drug use,
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  some health problems.
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  Speaker 1: Ah, so they could be sure if he was telling
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  the truth, if his memory was even accurate exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's a common problem in these cases. Witnesses aren't always reliable.
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  Time passes, memories fade, things happen. It's really hard to
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  build a solid case on that man.
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  Speaker 1: That's got to be so frustrating, especially for Tim Miller.
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  He'd been through enough already, like a punch to the gut.
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  Speaker 2: No doubt, and just to make matters worse, get this Hedrick.
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  He's released on parole in twenty twenty one.
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  Speaker 1: He's out. Seriously, So what happens to Laura's case then?
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  Speaker 2: Well, officially it's still unsolved. Laura Miller, the other women
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  found out there, their cases are still open.
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  Speaker 1: I can't believe it, after all these twists and turns,
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  no resolution. It's just unbelievable.
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  Speaker 2: It's the hard truth. Decades of investigations, all the work
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  Tom Miller has done, these glimpses of hope, and they're
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  still no closest.
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  Speaker 1: You'd think, with all the technology, they'd have figured it
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  out by now.
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  Speaker 2: You'd think so, right, But cold cases they're their own beast.
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  Evidence can disappear, memories get fuzzy, witnesses, well sometimes they're gone,
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  and back then they didn't have what we have now
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  DNA all that it's a game changer, but it doesn't
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  help these old cases.
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  Speaker 1: So even if they have evidence, even if they have leads,
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  it's still not enough.
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  Speaker 2: It's the worst part about these cases. It's a waiting game,
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  waiting for that one comit of information, the right witness,
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  maybe some new technology that cracks it all open.
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  Speaker 1: What a story. So what now is there any hope
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  for Laura's case? And what about all those other women
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  out there in the killing fields? Will they ever get justice? So?
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  What now? Is there any hope for Laura's case? And
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  what about all those other women out there in the
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  killing fields? Will they ever get justice?
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  Speaker 2: You never know, right, I mean, they reopen cold cases
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  all the time. Sometimes it's new tech, sometimes it's just
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  someone taking a fresh look at the old evidence, and
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  sometimes well sometimes it's just playing luck.
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  Speaker 1: So they never really close the books, even after all this.
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  Speaker 2: Time, not really. The FBI is still poking around out there,
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  still working the Texas killing fields, and they seem to
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  think that one person did it a lot of it anyway, really.
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  Speaker 1: Like a serial killer in the killing field.
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  Speaker 2: That's what they're leaning towards. All those victims. The way
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  it was done, who they were, It points to a pattern.
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  Speaker 1: Man. That's both terrifying and I don't know kind of fascinating,
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  but still a serial killer. Wouldn't it be almost impossible
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  to find enough evidence after all this time?
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  Speaker 2: You'd think, Right, It's definitely not easy, and it takes
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  a toll on everyone, the families, the investigators. It's heavy stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So what about Tim Miller? After everything he's been through,
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  all the work with Texas Equisearch, Where does he stand now?
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  I mean, he can't just give up on Laura.
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  Speaker 2: Right, you got that right, Tim Miller. He's something else.
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  He's dedicated his life to finding answers, and not just
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  for Laura, but for all the families out there who
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  are still waiting, still hoping. He's proof that even when
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  it seems impossible, even after all this time, you never
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  really stop fighting for justice.
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  Speaker 1: That's powerful. So I got to ask, what do you think?
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  Do you think Clyde Hendrick will ever face JEF for
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  Laura Miller's death?
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  Speaker 2: That's a million dollar question, right, Who knows? But if
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  there's even a chance, even the smallest possibility, I don't
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  see Tim Miller giving up ever.
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  Speaker 1: This whole case, this whole story, it's just it's tragic.
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  It makes you think about how complicated justice can be,
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  how dedicated people like Tim Miller are, and how powerful
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  hope can be even in the darkest places.
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  Speaker 2: It reminds us to keep these cases alive no matter
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  how much time goes by. Every victim deserves justice, every
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  family deserves answers.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I said, so here we are. Our deep dive
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  into the Texas killing fields comes to an end. But
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  the questions remain. Will they ever catch Laura's killer? Will
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  they ever solve the mystery of what happened in those fields?
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  We may never know for sure, but one thing's certain.
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  To fight for the truth goes on