BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) held a press conference Thursday afternoon to provide an update on a 1979 cold case that involved convicted killer Henry Lee Lucas.
According to the sheriff's office, the victim – a young woman who was found in Elgin and buried on June 21, 1979 – has been identified as Kathy Ann Smith. Deputies say Smith was 22 years old at the time of her death.
Deputies found Smith on the side of Highway 290, near FM 696, and spent several years trying to solve the mystery of her identity. Throughout the '80s, deputies didn't have any leads – until 1984, when Henry Lee Lucas confessed to the murder.
Decades later, in May 2019, deputies exhumed Smith's body and sent a DNA sample over to the University of North Texas in Denton. Lab techs worked to identify her but couldn't come up with a match.
Deputies tried again in September 2022, when they worked with a private lab called Orthram, Texas State University and the website DNASovlves.com, according to Sgt. James Miller. Miller said forensic genealogy also helped lead them to a family tree, which led them to discover that Smith had been adopted.
“We were able to do our diligence. We were able to go ahead and identify the body. The problem was she was adopted. So that really played with us on our DNA because we had, you know, an adopted family involved in this. But eventually, we did get the person identified," BCSO Sheriff Maurice Cook said.
"This is a fascinating case study. You're talking about a victim that was unidentified for all these many years and through the joint efforts of law enforcement and the civilian population and private and nonprofit agencies ... There's a family that can rest in peace, and there's an individual who's not an indigent person in a grave," District Attorney Bryan Goertz said. "That's a beautiful thing."
Goertz stated that Smith's families – both adopted and biological – were notified of her death. Goertz also said Smith had a daughter who was also notified. The families told law enforcement they would like to remain anonymous.
Sheriff Cook talked more about Henry Lee Lucas and how during Cook's time as chief of the Texas Rangers, Lucas recanted many of his confessions. Lucas was accused of roughly 200 crimes and was convicted in the Orange Socks case and 10 other murders during that time period.
"We're considering Henry Lee Lucas our primary suspect, and I doubt seriously anything else will happen, but you never know. Stranger things have happened and ya'll's coverage of this might produce something. Somebody might want to come in and confess. They're getting in their older age and feeling sorry or whatever," Cook said.
Miller stated during Thursday's press conference that identifying Smith was a way to bring closure to the family and "that was our primary purpose."
Locals like Donnie Cannon from Elgin, Texas, also said something like this is unheard of in a town like Elgin – then and now.
“Very strange, unheard of almost," Cannon said. "You know, everybody's eyebrows would have went up on that."
The full press conference from the sheriff's office can be viewed below: