I-45 Killer

Serial Killer

The I-45 Killer: William Lewis Reece

Who Was the I-45 Killer?

William Lewis Reece is an American serial killer and convicted kidnapper whose crimes were connected to Interstate 45 and communities around Houston, Texas. The highway runs through an area associated with numerous disappearances and murders, sometimes called the Texas Killing Fields. Reece was not responsible for every crime linked to that region, but he admitted killing four young women and girls during a violent crime spree in 1997. Reece often traveled in a white pickup truck and approached victims who were alone or experiencing car trouble. His crimes occurred shortly after he was released from an Oklahoma prison, where he had served time for earlier sexual assaults. The confirmed murder cases stretched from the Houston area to northern Texas and central Oklahoma.

Confirmed Victims

• Laura Kate Smither April 3, 1997 Friendswood and Pasadena, Texas: Laura was 12 years old when she left her family's Friendswood home for a morning jog on April 3, 1997. When she did not return, her disappearance triggered a massive search involving law-enforcement officers and thousands of volunteers. Her body was discovered on April 20 in a retention pond in Pasadena, approximately 12 miles from her home. Reece later admitted that he abducted and strangled Laura. Her death date is considered April 3, the day she disappeared and was killed.
• Kelli Ann Cox July 15, 1997 Denton and Brazoria County, Texas: Kelli was a 20-year-old University of North Texas student and the mother of a young child. On July 15, 1997, she accidentally locked herself out of her vehicle near the Denton Police Department and walked to a nearby gas station to use a pay telephone. She disappeared after making a call for assistance. Reece later confessed that he encountered Kelli in Denton, abducted her and strangled her. He transported her body more than 250 miles south and buried it in a wooded area of Brazoria County. Acting on information supplied by Reece, investigators recovered her remains on March 18, 2016. Her death date is recorded as July 15, 1997.
• Tiffany Dawn Johnston July 26, 1997 Bethany and Canadian County, Oklahoma: Tiffany was 19 years old and recently married when she stopped at the Sunshine Car Wash in Bethany on July 26, 1997. Reece abducted her from the car wash and sexually assaulted, beat and strangled her. He left her body beside a rural dirt road in Canadian County, near Interstate 40. Her body was found on July 27, one day after the murder. DNA evidence later connected Reece to the crime. He was convicted of Tiffany's murder in 2021 and received a death sentence in Oklahoma.
• Jessica Lee Cain August 17, 1997 Clear Lake and Houston, Texas: Jessica was 17 years old when she disappeared after leaving a Bennigan's restaurant near Baybrook Mall during the early morning of August 17, 1997. Her pickup truck was found abandoned along Interstate 45, but there was no sign of her. Reece eventually admitted following and killing Jessica before concealing her body in a field near East Orem Road in southeast Houston. Investigators recovered her remains in March 2016 after Reece identified the burial area. Her death date is considered August 17, 1997.

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Confirmed Victims: (28)

Brenda Jones Age: (14), Date of Death: July 1, 1971

Texas Killing Fields - Wikipedia