BRAZORIA COUNTY – A serial killer who preyed on Houston-area girls in the 1990’s has been indicted in connection with the death of a University of North Texas student from Denton.
The body of Kelli Cox was found in Brazoria County last year, nearly two decades after she vanished. Authorities said at the time that William Reece told them where to look off Highway 288 South.
Three weeks before Cox’s remains were found, authorities found Jessica Cain at a separate dig site on West Orem in Houston. The La Marque teen also disappeared in 1997 after having dinner with friends. Her car was found abandoned on I-45 in Galveston County.
Reece is also charged in the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood. She was jogging in her neighborhood when she was abducted. Smither's body was later found in Pasadena.
Reece is now in Oklahoma where he will be tried for the 1997 murder of Tiffany Johnson. DNA linked him to that murder. If convicted, Reece could get the death penalty.
Before being moved to Oklahoma, Reece had been serving a life sentence in Texas for aggravated kidnapping.
He has spent half his life locked up for sexual assaults and kidnapping.
The Oklahoma native moved to Houston in 1996 after being released from prison for rape. A few months later, local girls began to disappear.
