(via khou.com)
HOUSTON – Houston police are looking into a possible link between the strangulation murders of at least three women since June. The FBI has also joined the investigation.
The most recent cases involved homeless women. The body of Carol Flood, 62, was found on Oct. 10 in a stairwell behind the old YMCA building.
On Sept. 30, Retia LaFaye Long, 52, was found dead behind the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 1700 San Jacinto.
Now police believe it’s possible the same killer may have strangled Raquel Mundy last June 17, then dumped her body in a field in the 300 block of St. Charles.
Investigators are still waiting for DNA evidence to provide a concrete link, but they say there are enough similarities to take a closer look. All three women were strangled, all three were downtown and the bodies of Mundy and Flood were found nude from the waist down.
“And that’s why we’re asking the public. Maybe they know something. Maybe they saw something that can help us solve these cases,” said Lt. Humberto Lopez with HPD homicide.
Mundy, 24, was murdered after apparently accepting a ride from a stranger when she was stranded downtown.
She had dropped her mom and two kids off at the Greyhound bus station downtown around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. She then discovered her car had been towed from a McDonald’s parking lot across the street.
Mundy tried to call friends and relatives, but couldn’t find anyone to give her a ride to the tow lot. Police originally reported that witnesses saw Mundy get into a grey car with an unknown man. At a news conference Monday, police backed away from that report.
Mundy’s mother said she received a text message from Raquel saying she thought she was in danger and feared the man she was with was going to hurt her.
Angela Collins was still on the bus to California with her two grandchildren when she got the disturbing message.
By the time the bus arrived in California, there was still no sign of her daughter.
“Next call we got, they had found the body. It was my baby,” Collins said as she choked back tears at a news conference in June. “This man took away my baby.”
Police are asking anyone with information on the three cases to contact HPD Homicide at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. A $5,000 reward is being offered in each case for information leading to the arrest of the killer or killers.
