Ridge Cole, Delano Burkes and Alejandro Torres: Social media user wonders if deaths of Houston men are connected to 'Lady Bird killer'
HOUSTON, TEXAS: At least three men reported missing last year were discovered in the waterways and bays near Houston, and at least one volunteer who is helping with the hunt for the men has stated the situation is suspicious. Delano Burkes and Ridge Cole are two of three Houston men who went missing and were discovered in waterways around the city. Now, social media users are wondering if the deaths of the Houston men are connected to the "Lady Bird killer."
According to Houston authorities, Ridge Cole was last seen at a Ronald McDonald House, and a body allegedly belonging to him was discovered in the Brays Bayou on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Delano Burkes' body was discovered floating in the Houston Ship Channel on Friday, November 25, by tugboat crews in the 9600 block of High-Level Road. Alejandro Torres, 29, was the most recently discovered person, and his body was found in Buffalo Bayou on Saturday, December 3 by Houston PD investigators.
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Are the deaths of Houston men connected to the 'Lady Bird killer'?
Austin residents are horrified after an eighth body was recovered from Lady Bird Lake in the city in just ten months. Similar deaths have been reported and bodies recovered from the lake in recent years. Police denied that the fatalities were the work of a serial killer, saying that while each occurrence took place near the lake, "the circumstances, exact locations, and demographics surrounding these cases vary." However, some residents and many of the victims' family members do not trust these stories and suspect foul play. A person on Reddit questioned if the killings of the two Houston men are linked to the "Lady Bird killer."
How did Ridge Cole die?
Texas EquuSearch staff located Ridge Cole's body in MacGregor Park on November 15 while coordinating with homicide detectives for a joint search. After discovering some of Cole's things, EquuSearch members and volunteers discovered his body 3.5 miles from where investigators assumed he collapsed while walking along Brays Bayou.
"He somehow slipped into the bayou. It's a terrible vertical ledge, and we found personal effects on the bank where he had been sitting, and it really pointed to that he had entered the water," Mark Edwards, with Texas EquuSearch, said in a previous report. Initially, detectives did not confirm that the body discovered belonged to Cole, but on November 18, the medical examiner determined that it did. Cole's death was ruled an accidental drowning by the medical examiner on Monday, February 6, 2023, as per ABC 13 Houston.
How did Delano Burkes die?
Six months after Delano Burkes was discovered dead at the Port of Houston, his cause of death is still unknown. Investigators are unable to determine if Burkes' death was the result of a homicide, suicide, or an accident. Last November, the 26-year-old went missing from McIntyre's Bar on West 20th Street, as per ABC 13 Houston.
How did Alejandro Torres die?
According to the Houston Police Department, investigators discovered Torres' body around 1.45 pm on December 3 in Buffalo Bayou, near 11 Pinehill Lane. His body was found by a dive team and transported to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. Torres' body showed no visible evidence of trauma, but the reason for his death was unknown, as per Houston Chronicle.
'Haven’t found enough on them yet'
Authorities were having difficulty determining the cause of death at the time. Cole's death was ruled accidental in February 2023, according to sources. A Redditor with the user ID 'KhanAbyss710' posted the news about the three men and wrote in the caption, "I wonder if these could be related." A commentator replied, "I have been wondering that as well I wanna say yea but haven’t found enough on them yet."
