Prosecutors in Galveston County, Texas, charged a man in connection with the killings of a teenager and a woman in the 1980s whose deaths were part of a cold case known as the Texas Killing Fields, for a desolate area south of Houston where about 30 women’s bodies were found.
The man, James Dolphs Elmore, 61, was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of Laura Miller in 1984 and two counts of tampering with evidence, one in Ms. Miller’s case and the other in the case of Audrey Cook, whose body was found in 1986. Prosecutors said Mr. Elmore had helped conceal the remains of Ms. Miller, who was 16 when she was killed, and Ms. Cook, who was 30 years old when her family last heard from her.
Mr. Elmore was taken into custody after a grand jury indicted him on Tuesday, and prosecutors said he would remain in jail pending trial. It is not clear whether Mr. Elmore has a lawyer.
During a news conference on Wednesday, the Galveston County district attorney, Kenneth Cusick, thanked law enforcement agencies, including the F.B.I. and several local police departments, for redoubling their efforts to try to solve the decades-old case.
“Due to the concerted efforts of the law enforcement agents in this county, this 40-year cycle of violence by these defendants against women,” Mr. Cusick said, “we are trying to make headway on it. I think we made significant headway on it.”
Mr. Cusisk said that last December, Tim Miller, Laura’s father, had approached him, frustrated by the lack of progress toward prosecuting anyone. Mr. Cusick said he had pledged to take another look at the evidence and try to bring charges against people involved in the killings.
Prosecutors were preparing to bring charges against another man, Clyde Hedrick, but he died last week before they could be brought, Mr. Cusick said. He added that law enforcement officials were pursuing other active leads related to the Texas Killing Fields.
The F.B.I.’s Houston field office said in a statement that it had been working for more than 40 years on these cases. “We hope Elmore’s arrest brings the long-awaited closure they all have been waiting for,” the statement said.
The Texas Killing Fields case has become notorious and is subject of several television and movie adaptations and numerous news reports. Starting in the early 1970s, more than 30 women’s bodies were found on a 25-acre stretch of land in League City, between Houston and Galveston.
After his daughter’s death, Mr. Miller founded a nonprofit organization, Texas EquuSearch, that helps look for missing people.
Most of the deaths remain unsolved.
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
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