Details - Unsolved Homicide

Texas Rangers Cold Case Investigation Details

Laura Smither

REFERENCE NUMBER: 178 - Solved
COMPANY: A
RACE: Unknown
SEX: Female
CITY: Friendswood
COUNTY: Galveston
RELATED YEAR: 1997
SUSPECTS: William Reece

Submit a Tip Online

DETAILS:

In August 1997, 12-year-old Laura Smither was jogging near her home in Friendswood, Texas, when she was abducted. Her body was found two weeks later at the edge of a pond, 12 miles away. William Reece was developed as a suspect, but the case went cold.

In 2015, this case was adopted into the Texas Ranger Unsolved Crime (cold case) Investigation Program. The Texas Rangers worked closely with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors involved in this case. The case was solved in 2016, almost 20 years after the murder. Suspected serial killer William Reece has been charged with this crime.

A trial is pending.

Persons arrested for a crime are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $3,000 to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of the person/persons responsible for this crime. To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters MUST call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). All tips are anonymous. Tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.

Information on this case may also be submitted in the following manner:

Submit a Tip Online through the Texas Rangers’ Cold Case website.
Contact us by telephone at 1-800-346-3243. Your information will be forwarded to the Texas Ranger assigned to this case.

Print this page