Houston citizens are concerned after a record number of bodies have been recovered from local bayous this year. City officials are now dismissing speculations linking the killings to a serial killer.
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, shortly after 9 a.m., a dive crew retrieved a male’s body from the White Oak Bayou at Marie Street, making him at least the 16th victim discovered this year, according to KHOU-11 and Fox News.
There were no clear indicators of foul play, according to Fox 26 Houston. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences will investigate his death to identify the cause.
Mayor John Whitmire discusses the recent discovery of remains in Houston bayous during a news conference in Houston on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
PEOPLE did not receive an instant reaction from the Houston Police Department or the Mayor’s Office.
During a press conference on Sept. 23, Houston Mayor John Whitmire warned “enough is enough with misinformation” and “wild speculation” on social media, as people voiced alarm over the increasing number of bodies pulled from bayous in a short period of time.
Whitmire said five of the dead were discovered within five days last month, conceding the situation was “alarming.”
“We do not have any evidence that there is a serial killer loose in Houston, Texas,” the mayor told the journalists.
He went on to say, “If there was, you would hear it from me first,” and that his police department takes pride in its “total transparency.”
“So, I’m here today to let you know that enough is enough with wild supposition. “It’s very frustrating for me to be at home, watch the news, or use social media, and see people spread false information,” Whitmire said.
Whitmire also pointed out that Houston has 2,500 miles of waterways, or bayous, where a percentage of the homeless population lives. He claimed that when homeless persons die from illnesses, their “friends and associates” “do not take him to a funeral home.”
Later in the news conference, Whitmire stated that there was no evidence “to suggest that any of these incidents are connected.”
Capt. Salam Zia, chief of the Houston Police Department’s homicide branch, stated that the youngest victim was 20 years old. According to Fox News, the victims ranged in age from their twenties to their sixties.
Among the dead was 20-year-old University of Houston student Jade McKissic, whose body was discovered on Sept. 15 after going missing on Sept. 11.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the recent passing of one of our students,” her school wrote in a letter to students, which PEOPLE also obtained. “Jade ‘Sage’ McKissic was a campus resident and student employee, and a friend to many in our community.”
According to Click 2 Houston, additional victims include Douglas Sqearingen in January, Carl Newton in February, Anthony Azua and Juan Garcia Loredo in March, Jesse Steel in April, Kenneth Jones, George Grays, Culcois Racius, Anthony Curry, and Shannon Davis in May, Ernest Armstrong in June, Raymond Halten in July, Latracia Amos and Jamal Alexander in August, and Rodney Chatman and Michael Rice in September.
Several victims had yet to be identified, with a total of 22, according to the TV station.
