Six further our bodies recovered from Houston’s bayous in current months have now been dominated “undetermined” in reason behind dying, including to the uncertainty and group concern surrounding a yearlong spike in bayou deaths throughout the town.
In accordance with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, the deaths of Salome Garza, Jamal Alexander, Rodney Chatman, Seth Hansen, Michael Rice, and Michaela Miller have all been up to date to “undetermined.” The people had been discovered between June and September.
Their causes of dying had beforehand been listed as pending. With these updates, 15 of not less than 28 bayou deaths this yr now fall underneath the undetermined class, offering few solutions about what occurred earlier than their our bodies had been discovered.
Health workers say that in Houston’s sizzling, humid local weather — and in water environments — our bodies typically deteriorate quickly, complicating autopsies.
“We’re mainly a swamp,” mentioned Dr. Jay Coons, assistant professor at Sam Houston State College’s Division of Felony Justice and Criminology. “It doesn’t take lengthy earlier than pretty routine evaluation turns into very tough.”
The rising variety of inconclusive findings has fueled worry and hypothesis throughout Houston, particularly amid final fall’s wave of on-line rumors a few serial killer concentrating on the bayous — a declare repeatedly rejected by legislation enforcement as a result of a scarcity of proof.
What we all know
The one new conclusive ruling got here within the dying of 63-year-old Arnulfo Alvarado, whose dying was attributed to methamphetamine toxicity and drowning. His method of dying was dominated unintended.
**Since 2017
Of the recognized causes of dying this yr:
7 had been drownings
2 had been suicides
1 sudden cardiac dying
2 blunt-force trauma instances — one dominated a murder
1 case stays pending: an unidentified man present in White Oak Bayou final month
The cluster of September discoveries — together with Chatman, Hansen, Rice, Miller, and Alvarado — intensified public concern as their our bodies surfaced over simply a number of days.
“It’s very alarming once we hear don’t be alarmed. One physique is just too many.”
Travis McGee
Garza was present in June, and Alexander was present in late August.
The opposite people with “undetermined” causes of dying embrace: Juan Garcia Loredo, Kenneth Jones, Culcois Racius, George Grays, Ernest Armstrong, Brent Brown, Raymond Hatten, Latrecia Amos, and Jade McKissic.
McKissic’s dying — involving a College of Houston scholar — drew widespread consideration this summer time, particularly after her case additionally acquired an “undetermined” ruling.
A yr of our bodies within the bayou
A Defender evaluate of Houston Police Division reviews, spanning from September 13, 2024, to September 20, 2025, reveals simply how continuously these discoveries have occurred.
In that one yr:
39 our bodies had been recovered from Houston-area bayous
15 instances had been pending reason behind dying on the time of the request
11 had been already categorized as undetermined
Just one was dominated a murder
4 had been suicides
Two-thirds of all bayou-related deaths lacked a conclusive trigger
Buffalo Bayou had the very best variety of recoveries (16), adopted by Brays Bayou (9), White Oak Bayou (5), Searching Bayou (4), Halls and Sims bayous (2 every), and Horse Pen Bayou (1).
In almost each case, police famous no indicators of apparent trauma or foul play, although a number of incidents concerned complicated circumstances:
A person who drowned after fleeing police into Brays Bayou following an alleged bike theft from the College of Houston.
An 81-year-old man with dementia was discovered with a gunshot wound after his spouse’s dying.
A development employee fell by way of a niche underneath Loop 610 whereas laying wood planks.
Different instances had been found by joggers, passing motorists, or — in a single incident — a Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace worker understanding close to Buffalo Bayou.
Restricted solutions, rising concern
The “undetermined” designation isn’t unusual in water-related deaths, consultants say. Our bodies that stay submerged for hours or days typically lose key proof wanted to find out whether or not a dying was unintended, intentional, or the results of foul play.
Nonetheless, for households ready for closure — and for residents shaken by a yr of grim headlines — the lack of understanding has turn into a supply of its personal trauma.
Group activists have renewed requires:
quicker case updates
extra clear communication
a centralized HPD dashboard monitoring bayou-related deaths
improved lighting, boundaries, and signage close to high-risk entry factors
“It’s very regarding to have 15 our bodies this yr, 24 our bodies in 2024, and 26 bodes in 2023. That’s a complete of 65 our bodies within the final three years,” mentioned group activist Travis McGee. “So it’s exhausting to not be alarmed about that. We simply need some transparency. We simply need the essential issues that we discovered in elementary. Who, what, when, the place, how. We don’t need any assumptions. We need to know who they had been, how they died. We would like everybody to be handled with dignity and respect. We don’t need to simply hear they had been homeless…we wish the whole lot to be investigated.”
A number of households of the deceased have additionally pushed for unbiased critiques of their family members’ instances, saying the “undetermined” rulings provide little consolation or readability.
Bayous, city design, and vulnerability
Specialists word that Houston’s bayous, whereas essential for flood management, run by way of densely populated neighborhoods and are simply accessible — creating a mixture of danger elements that may result in unintended falls, overdoses, suicides, disorientation in unhoused populations, and psychological well being crises.
These social situations, paired with Houston’s excessive summer time warmth and harmful water currents, type the backdrop of many of those instances.
HPD and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences proceed to research the remaining pending instances and monitor traits. Officers emphasize they haven’t any proof of a serial killer or coordinated foul play — however acknowledge that many unanswered questions stay.
“It’s very alarming once we hear don’t be alarmed. One physique is just too many,” McGee added.
The Defender will proceed monitoring case updates, group responses, and investigative developments as extra info turns into obtainable.
