http://www.khou.com/home/related/Police-Resume-Hunt-for-Killer-24-Years-Later-92110859.htmlHOUSTON—Hindsight tells us that forensic miscues and misinterpreted evidence led to a 24-year delay in the identification of a murder victim in south Houston.
Now Houston police hope modern techniques, jogged memories and a plea to the public will help them find a killer more than two decades later.
Angela Faye Phillips was 20 years old when she disappeared in September of 1986. She was known to lead a dangerous lifestyle, with a history of drug use. She was last seen on September 18 riding her bicycle on Calhoun on the south side of town. Her family reported her missing.
Just six days later, the nude body of a woman was found in a grassy field at the 5800 block of Foster. The hot, steamy weather of late September left little evidence for investigators. They could not recover fingerprints. DNA was an emerging technology and not available at the time.
Records show that investigators believed the victim might be Angela Phillips, but forensic experts told them otherwise. While pathologists estimated the victim to be between the ages of 25 to 35 years old, a dentist estimated her age at 40 -- a finding investigators now believe may have been influenced by dental damage due to her drug use.
"Initial investigators were told that the dental records were not those of Angela Phillips, therefore the investigators had the job of identifying who this person was," said HPD Sgt. Brian Harris.
But when the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office established its forensic anthropology division in 2006, unidentified case number 86-5825 was reopened. DNA was inconclusive, but a more thorough analysis of X-rays, dental comparisons and family information built a circumstantial case that made investigators confident enough to identify the victim as Angela Phillips. Earlier this month, her family was finally able to lay her to rest.
On Monday, Angela’s younger brother, Darryl Phillips, stepped up to a microphone at the office of Houston Crime Stoppers and pleaded for help with the next phase of this two-decades-old mystery.
"I made a promise to my mother that we was gonna find my sister. We was gonna give her a proper burial. We done that. Now it’s justice time. To the person that done this I promise you we will get justice. We’re not gonna stop until you are prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Phillips said.
Investigators believe the person they are looking for is Robert Eppert Jackson. On the street, he was known as Billy Jackson. Others called him "Slim."
He was a known drug user as well, had a history of mental problems, and witnesses at the time identified him as a man who frequented the field where Angela’s body was found.
In 1986, he was in his 30s.He was about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds. But police say Jackson also disappeared in 1990, and the trail has gone cold.
Another person of interest at the time of Angela’s disappearance was her boyfriend, Kenneth Ray "Crow" Tolder. He died in a construction accident in 1987.
"Angela Phillips led a high-risk lifestyle. She was involved in using drugs and when you are involved in a high-risk lifestyle, the chances of a high-risk death certainly increase. That doesn’t take away the dignity of human life and for anybody to be just left in a field, tossed aside," said Harris.
"The challenge for us as a homicide unit is to go back 24 years and to restart that investigation that the original detectives launched 24 years ago. We want to solve the second portion of this mystery and who did this to her," Harris said.
If you can help police develop leads in this case or have information where they can find Robert Eppert Jackson, call Houston Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
Topic: Angela Faye Phillips | 5800 block of Foster (sept 1986) (Read 626 times)
