Kathy Ann Smith, a 22-year-old white woman, was found dead June 21, 1979, near Highway 290 and FM 696 in Elgin, Texas. Her identity remained unknown for more than four decades and she was buried unidentified. In 1984 Henry Lee Lucas confessed to her murder, but investigators could not definitively link him to the case at that time because concrete evidence was lacking.

The case was reopened in 2019 and Smith’s remains were exhumed for DNA testing; early results were inconclusive. A second exhumation in 2022 used forensic genealogy and work with a Texas lab, Othram, to reconstruct a genetic profile and confirm her identity. The death was ruled a homicide; the autopsy noted trauma consistent with a car accident, and investigators observed that Lucas had a pattern of striking people walking along highways before attacking them. Lucas is described as the primary suspect, but he died in prison and no other suspects have been identified.

Does anyone have information about Kathy Ann Smith’s life, where she might have lived, or contacts who knew her before 1979?