The Evidence Room, Episode 37 – The Texas Killing Fields, “Who Killed Our Girls?”

HOUSTON – Some mysteries are as frightening and unsolved as the Texas Killing Fields. An abandoned field on Calder Road in League City, Texas became the burial site for four women between 1984 and 1991. Audrey Cook, Donna Prudhomme, Laura Miller and Hiede Villareal Fye were all found in an abandoned oil field on Calder Road in League City, Texas.

In the second part of four, the nationally rated KPRC 2 Investigates show “The Evidence Room” takes you inside the “Texas Killing Fields.” Forty years later, the pain and struggle for answers lives on in the voices of the victims' families.

“10. “September 1984,” begins Laura’s father, Tim Miller, his voice heavy from dealing with decades of grief. “I will never forget this day.”

“I did everything I could to keep her alive, but someone else was determined to take her life,” Miller said.

For years, Miller returned to the cross that marked Laura's final resting place.

“I used to go to this cross, look at Laura's picture and say: 'Laura, please don't hate your father', I can't get out of here.” “I have to get my life back together.” But every time I heard I heard a little voice saying, “Dad, don't give up.” It was like, “Damn, Laura, what are you talking about?”

Miller's ordeal didn't end with the discovery of Laura's body. Instead, the situation worsened when Laura's remains were finally recovered on February 2, 1986. The family was told they could not bury her immediately. The coroner needed more time to determine the cause of death.

“60 days came and went. Six months. A year. Two years. Three years and nine months later, we were finally able to obtain Laura's remains. “Three years and nine months,” Miller said bitterly.

A search for answers and lost trust in the system

The pain of the delay was compounded by the shocking discoveries about how Laura's remains were treated.

“I have lost trust in the police,” Miller said as anger welled up inside him. “I thought at the time if they would listen to me. If they had come here and searched, they would have found her body. She would have been dead, but maybe there was damning evidence.”

In March 1992 there was another grim discovery. Laura's remains were sent in a FedEx box to a college for research, although she was buried in 1989.

“Remember that the human body has 212 bones. Guess how many there were, 28 bones,” Miller said.

When Laura's remains were returned, Miller learned that some of Audrey Cook's remains had been mixed with his daughter's remains.

Audrey was found the same day they found Laura. They were not found in the same place. They were found 60 feet apart.

“The fingernails were cut off. They cannot be found. “It's frustrating because of the DNA we can have now,” said Audrey Lee Cooke's sister-in-law, Shirley Love.

The suspects

Robert Abel, a former NASA engineer, owned property near the Texas Killing Fields and was one of the main suspects. A League City police warrant, based in part on an FBI profile, names Abel as a suspect. However, after extensive searches of his property and years of questioning, Abel was never charged with a single crime. Miller, fueled by anger and grief, confronted Abel.

“I put a gun to this man’s head,” Miller admits.

Nevertheless, Miller later asked Abel for forgiveness, saying he realized he was not responsible for the murders.

In July 2005, Robert Abel drove his golf cart onto a railroad track in Bellville, Texas, and was struck by a train. According to Justice of the Peace Richard Yancey, Abel's death was ruled an accident. Miller believes Abel committed suicide.

Another suspect in Laura's case is Clyde Edwin Hedrick.

“I just have to call to let you know that Galveston County is bringing SWAT to my house this morning and I'm sitting here in the Galveston County Jail because of this Calder Road stuff and all the dead girls,” was recorded as Hedrick told someone on his phone after he was brought in for questioning about the death of Ellen Rae Beason.

Don't miss Part 2 of KPRC 2's “Investigation into the Texas Killing Fields,” airing Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on KPRC 2+.