Speculation that a serial killer is at large in a major US city has been shut down by a top prosecutor.
Rumours have been running rife in Houston, Texas, over the last few months after dozens of bodies were found in various waterways. In total, 34 people have been found dead in lakes and rivers this year - and a significant number of these were discovered in the last several weeks.
Last Monday (22 December), another three bodies turned up in two local bayous, while seven were found between September and October alone. Both locals and experts have become convinced that a serial killer might be responsible for the amount of bodies piling up.
Retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor Joseph Giacalone suggested it was 'unlikely' that sheer coincidence was to blame.
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"Something is afoot," he said in October. "A careful inspection of each case is warranted, including the 48 hours prior to the discovery of their disappearance."
Residents have raised similar concerns, with Houston-based Erick Cortez previously telling ABC13 that it is 'ridiculous that so many people are dying in the bayou'.
However, Harris County’s top prosecutor has now insisted that the bodies turning up in various bayous are not the work of a shadowy serial killer. District Attorney Sean Teare, who was elected in November last year, believes that there are plenty of other viable explanations for the amount of supposedly suspicious deaths.
"There is nothing, nothing, and I want to be crystal clear, to indicate that there is someone operating here as a serial killer," Teare told local media outlet KPRC 2.
"There are many reasons for these deaths. None of them are a serial killer."
He suspects that Houston's 'massive homeless problem', combined with the city's mental health and drug addiction crisis are 'contributing to a lot of the bodies' that have been discovered.
"It’s kind of a little known fact, but when you get into the bayous, it is very difficult to get out," Teare continued.
"When you combine that with someone that is high on some substance, someone that is intoxicated somehow, it makes it even more difficult.
"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."
Teare claimed that tackling homelessness would lead to a 'drop in the numbers' of how many bodies are being found.
He also noted that the festive period often sees an uptick in crime, adding: "The holidays are always difficult, and it’s not just the tragedies of people dying in the bayou.
"We see murders increase, we see intoxication, manslaughter increase."
Up until last year, the number of bodies found in the bayous was declining heading into 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Olivia Burke