Deputies investigating woman's shooting death in SW Harris County

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Harris County deputies are trying to figure out who killed a woman found dead in a driveway.

This happened at a home on Las Brisas near Paso Real in southwest Harris County this morning. Deputies say they found a woman dead in the driveway. She had been shot to death.

The medical examiner left with the woman's body and the car in the driveway was also taken away for the investigation. They're not releasing the woman's identity or age.

A family member who identified himself as the victim's uncle told Eyewitness News that the victim was at this location because her sister lives at the house.

A man with bags over his hands was led away from the scene, but so far investigators have given out very little information. We'll bring you updates as we get them.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Ambulance joyride ends with woman's arrest

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A joyride in an ambulance ended with a 26-year-old woman behind bars this morning.

Police said the woman stole a Houston Fire Department ambulance just after 10pm and took it for a ride, seconds after paramedics dropped off a patient at St. Joseph's Hospital.

According to investigators, EMS workers transported a patient to St. Joseph's, but when they returned to the ambulance, it was gone.

Another ambulance found the stolen emergency vehicle nearly 45 minutes later on Pierce near Hutchins.

Police believe the woman was under the influence of drugs when she allegedly stole the ambulance. Officials said the vehicle wasn't damaged.

The woman was taken into custody and faces charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Caregiver accused of stealing elderly woman's cash

  Pooja LodhiaHOUSTON (KTRK) -- A caregiver is facing charges, accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from an elderly woman she was caring for on the weekends.

Just off the South Freeway is a quiet neighborhood where many seniors come to retire. But what allegedly happened here is a shock to many.

"Oh, I'm glad you mentioned it. Oh my Lord,"said neighbor Lula Morris.

"That's sad, that's sad. They depend on and trust people to come and take care of them," another neighbor, Baby Dave Felder, said.

The 83-year-old woman who lives there received around-the-clock medical care. But according to a probable cause statement, she's claiming one of her caregivers stole $42,000 from her in July.

Louise Williams told police she kept a large envelope of cash in her pillowcase. She claims a caretaker named Narjis Lee found it while changing her sheets.

Court documents state, "The complainant stated that the defendant specifically grabbed the pillow where the envelope was located and stated, 'Look. Here is your money.'"

The caretaker allegedly went home soon afterward. And according to the report, "When she checked her envelope in the pillowcase, it had been filled with miscellaneous papers and the money was missing."

Police contacted Lee and "the defendant stated she did not know what was in the envelope and she just handed it to the complainant."

Now police say Lee has disappeared. She's charged with felony theft from the elderly.

"I have a provider and I'm careful about who it is I select to come into my home," Felder said.

According to investigators, Lee had been coming to the 83-year-old woman's Houston home for three or four weekends to care for her.

Narjis Lee, 36, is charged with theft. Her bail is set at $10,000.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Judge: Gray hair not reason for woman's firing

  HOUSTON -- A Houston woman who contended she was fired improperly because of her shoulder-length gray hair has lost her federal age discrimination lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller has ruled Sandra Rawline was discharged in 2009 for legitimate reasons from her six-year job as an escrow officer and branch manager at Capital Title of Texas.

In a ruling issued June 6, the judge said evidence was overwhelming that she behaved unprofessionally on numerous occasions and admitted the issue about dying her hair was only her opinion of what a supervisor meant.

Capital Title of Texas lawyer David Margulies said Wednesday she didn't do her job and the firm's biggest client didn't want to work with her. Evidence showed clients had complained about her rudeness, tardiness, temper and use of "choice words."

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Detectives probing woman's death in NW Harris Co.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found inside a northwest Harris County apartment complex.

The incident happened at an apartment complex in the 12700 block of West FM 1960.

Detectives say it's possible that woman had been dead inside this apartment back here for a couple of days. Now they are trying to figure out if they are dealing with a homicide.

Investigators say it was a maintenance man who discovered the woman's body at Carrington Place Apartments. They say that workers entered an apartment in building five for routine maintenance when he spotted the victim's body, just past the front door on the living room floor.

Right now, investigators are searching the apartment and collecting evidence.

Several neighbors say the unit at the center of this investigation has been known to have a lot of questionable outside traffic coming in and out recently.

Neighbors also say they've witnessed the woman who lives in that apartment in several loud fights outside in the past few weeks.

Apartment management is not commenting on the investigation at this time.

"Her daughter had not heard from her in a few days and called to ask for them to check on her and they found a point of entry where they can go in and check and found her deceased," Harris County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Robert Spurgeon said.

Investigators say they are still collecting evidence and will order an autopsy to help better determine exactly what happened.

The victim has been described only as a woman in her 40s.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Slain woman's husband makes plea to find killer

PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- Police say they do not have any leads yet in connection with the apparent murder of a Pasadena woman whose body was found Sunday morning. She was found along Vince Bayou on Queens Road near South Shaver.

Edlyn Villegas Munoz, 36, was a mother of seven, the youngest being just two years old. Police say a passer-by found her body under an overpass before 11am. Investigators say she was nude and had been brutally beaten.

We talked to her grieving husband, Camilo Zermeno, Monday morning. He says he and his wife had been at a nearby strip club where he works until about 3 or 4am Sunday morning when they got into an argument.

He tells me he then left and walked home. Zermeno says friends told him his wife followed him on foot a few minutes later. But no one who knows Villegas Munoz can say what happened to her after that.

Her husband is devastated and is hoping someone remembers seeing something that will help catch whoever killed her.

"He doesn't have a heart," said Zermeno. "Whoever, I hope you rot in hell. You took my momma, my babies' momma. She was everything to me. She was my life. Now she's gone."

Zermeno says he's struggled to explain what happened to his children. He says his wife had been a full time student, just graduating from San Jacinto College. She was planning to pursue a career in real estate.

If you have any information that might help police in this case, you can call Crime Stoppers. That number is 713-222-TIPS.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Woman's body found under bridge in Pasadena

PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found Sunday under a bridge on the banks of Vince Bayou in Pasadena.

According to officials, the female body was discovered by a passer-by sometime before 11am at South Shaver and Queens. That civilian then apparently flagged down and alerted a nearby police officer.

Authorities have not released the woman's name, but they say it looks like she may have been murdered.

A spokesperson for the Pasadena Police Department said the woman was nude and was severely beaten, specifically around the face, and she may have ben sexually assaulted. They describe her also as a Latina in her mid-30s.

"It's someone's child, daughter, sister," nearby resident Jaime Almaguer said. "We live in a cruel world right now."

From Almaguer's front door you can see the spot where the body was found, but no one at his home saw or heard anything suspicious.

"Everybody was celebrating New Year's with their gunshots, stuff like that, but nothing that was out of the ususal," he said.

Police say they found identification on the body and have tenatively identified the victim as a Pasadena resident. They have also talked to a man who they say is her husband.

Investigators aren't saying if she was killed at the site or just dumped there.

The scene is immediately adjacent to Pasadena Fire Department Station No. 4. It's a volunteer fire station and no one was there overnight, but police hope one of the surveillance cameras outside the fire station might give them images to help catch the killer.

If you have information that may help investigators, call Pasadena police or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

Please stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com as we continue to follow this developing story.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Missing woman's family struggles during holidays

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The holidays are a time when so many families travel to be with one another, but the gathering this year is not as happy for one Houston family.

They are missing a loved one who disappeared in early October.

This Christmas, the gift they seek is her return.

Outside this southeast Houston house, there are no festive holiday lights. Inside, a family speaks of a loved one in the past tense.

This is Lillian High's home, and three of her children were there Christmas Eve -- Earl High, Amy McClure and Betsy Krevosky.

"She loved her family. She loved her kids. She loved her grandkids. And [there] was nothing she wouldn't do for anybody," High said.

"It's day by day," Krevosky said.

The three siblings still struggle with the loss of their 82-year-old mother who disappeared 82 days ago.

"We have nothing more today than we did on October 3rd," High said.

Lillian was on her way to work at a Chase Bank, driving a rented car, but she never made it. She was in good health, but without her needed medication.

It's as though she vanished.

"People just don't disappear," McClure said. "She's real and she mattered."

"We all have a hole in our heart that we miss her with, and we're looking for closure and to bring her home," High said.

Despite an exhaustive search and a $20,000 reward for information, Lillian's children know nothing more about what happened to their mother than they did nearly three months ago.

It is difficult being in her home this weekend, gathering as they often did for holidays.

Over time, the siblings say they'd drifted from one another. They are again drawn to one another in the wake of this tragedy.

"Mom's disappearance has brought a lot of us back together again. It got a lot of us talking, and a lot of emotion. A lot of love," Krevosky said.

Lillian loved her church and her God. Their faith, they tell us, assures them they will find their mother and they will find closure.

"We'll remember mom," High said. "She won't be forgotten."

Lillian High was last driving a black, four-door Dodge Avenger with license plate number CD6J492.

If you have information, call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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New developments in local woman's disappearance case

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There are new developments in the case of a young Houston woman who disappeared while going to school in California.

The man who admitted to causing Donna Jou's death was released from jail. John Burgess served half of a five-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter. Police say Jou met Burgess in 2007 after he answered her Craigslist post advertising her services as a math tutor.

Burgess says he gave Jou drugs and alcohol and threw her body in the ocean after she overdosed. Her body was never found which is why Burgess was only charged with manslaughter.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Woman's body found burning in SE Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman's burned body was recovered from a field in southeast Houston overnight. As police search for leads, we are hearing from neighbors who are afraid.

The woman's remains were found behind a business on Scranton and Easthaven at around midnight. Neighbors say the field where the body was found was cleared recently and they were excited about what was to come. But now they say they were scared by what they are calling a cruel and heinous crime.

Emma Hernandez was scouring her usual spot near the dead end of Scranton Street looking for cans and scrap metal Wednesday, but her routine was interrupted by a police investigation.

"A body over there," she said in shock.

HPD homicide investigators say the partially burned body of the unidentified woman was found in a vacant field Thursday night. Workers at a nearby business say it was a small fire captured on surveillance cameras that first caught the eye of an outside security company. A guard there called 911. But it wasn't until firefighters arrived that authorities realized it was a woman's body on fire.

One neighbor says she didn't see anything but won't forget the smell.

"I couldn't figure out what the smell was. I've never smelled that before," she said.

"This is a dead end street so no one comes up and down this street," said nearby resident Albert Reyna.

Right now, police say they don't have much to go on but they do believe someone may have dumped the woman's body then set it on fire. For neighbors on this dead end street, it is unimaginable.

"I pray to God to get it out of my head because I am hurting for her," said one neighbor.

"I am scared," said Hernandez.

Investigators say they believe the woman was clothed and they also believe she was not homeless. So far, they say they do not know who she is or how she died. They are asking anyone with any information to give authorities a call.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Woman's body found in business parking lot

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston police are awaiting autopsy results in the death of a woman found in northwest Harris County.

The Houston Police Department says patrol officers responded to a deceased person call about 7:30pm Thursday in the parking lot of a business at 2216 Pech Road after workers found a woman unresponsive. Houston Fire Department emergency personnel arrived and pronounced Louann Harris, 56, dead of unknown causes. A preliminary investigation indicated there are no signs of foul play in this incident. The investigation is pending Harris' cause of death to be determined by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Extra crews search landfill for woman's body

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The search continues for a missing Conroe woman who is feared dead. Authorities are back out at a Montgomery County landfill searching for her remains.

The woman was reported missing more than a week ago. Her husband is now sitting in jail. He used to work at the landfill which is located between the towns of Security and Cut and Shoot.

More search crews and equipment have been brought in as police narrowed the search field at the landfill. We're told they're going nearly piece by piece through the trash as they search for the remains of Martha Jimenez, 44. Police believe she may have been dumped there by her husband.

Conroe police and crews from Texas Equusearch combing through the Security Landfill, where, according to Texas Equusearch, Martha's husband worked as a bulldozer operator.

Police say the mother was reported missing 11 days ago after leaving her job at a convenience store in Conroe and never returning home. Officers have been searching the landfill since Monday.

Police say Martha's husband, Luis Jimenez, 54, has been arrested. Authorities say information led them to believe there may have been foul play. Police add there was an unauthorized entry into the landfill Sunday morning and they believe it could have been Luis.

"We're wanting to move at a little faster pace today," explained Tim Miller with Texas Equusearch. "That's why we brought in more manpower and equipment. We know that time isn't on our side, so the quicker that she's found, the quicker they'll be able to determine the cause of death, hopefully, and move the investigation forward."

Luis Jimenez remains in the Montgomery County Jail. He's charged with tampering with evidence.

Texas Equusearch told us crews hope to recover Martha's body and give the family closure before the Easter holiday.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Smart Woman's Breakup Book

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Suspects snag woman's cards while dining next to her

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Detectives need help identifying two men who stole a restaurant patron's credit cards and driver's license information while she was dining next to them. They're also seeking the identity of a woman who used that stolen information to cash a check from the woman's bank account.

The woman was eating a restaurant on February 17 when two men entered the eatery and sat at the table next to her, according to a Crime Stoppers statement. The men took the woman's driver's license and credit cards from her purse and left the restaurant. The suspects tried to use her cards at a store but they were declined. However, on the same day, an unidentified woman entered a bank posing as the victim and used her driver's license number and other personal information to get a temporary check with the victim's account number on it. The suspect cashed the check for $8,000. Anyone with information regarding the identities of any of the suspects involved is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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Woman's body found murdered in a barrel identified

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The body of a woman found murdered in a barrel in a northwest Harris County backyard has been identified.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences has identified the woman's body as Stacie Lutz, of Houston. The cause of death is listed as homicidal violence. Lutz's body was found bound and stuffed inside a barrel in October 2010. The property owner who was wanted for questioning in the crime, 64-year-old Dennis Anderson, fled and was found dead in a motel room in Florida a couple weeks later. He was reportedly hanged. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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