Thelma Ruth McCarty, a 51-year-old white female, was abducted and stabbed to death on June 26, 1977, in McKinney, Texas. At the time, investigators struggled to develop substantial leads and her disappearance remained unresolved for years.

Thelma’s killing is described as the first in a series by Battenfield, whose later crimes followed a similar pattern of stabbing victims and disposing of bodies in wells.