TX TX - Houston, 'Swimsuit Boy' WhtMale 15-19, UP4547, Dean Corll victim, Aug'73

[MadMcGoo]

These reports blew my mind when I first read them. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that so many things were overlooked or pushed under the rug. Why has no one come forward? That’s an excellent question.

I'm sure Billy Ridinger didn't come forward after he was attacked and released by Dean because of embarrassment or shame. But in his interview with the police, he never once mentioned it. In fact he said he was still saw Dean from time to time and been invited to hang out with him over the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

Yes, embarrassment and shame. But how long (after Dean was dead) would these boys be inclined to “protect” them? This is a unique case in that the killer died. Pretty early on. The other two perpetrators were too... weak?.... to tell the truth.

 

[Hope32]

What is Swimsuit Boy's current exclusion list?

As of June 22:
Exclusions

Alan Bourque
Date of Last Contact March 10, 1970
State LA
County Orleans

Earl Joggerst
Date of Last Contact August 4, 1972
State MO
County Jefferson

Joseph Spears
Date of Last Contact July 31, 1973
State MS
County Harrison

Richard Lamson
Date of Last Contact February 22, 1970
State CA
County San Mateo

Peter Bonick
Date of Last Contact February 22, 1970
State CA
County San Mateo

Mitchel Weiser
Date of Last Contact July 27, 1973
State NY
County Sullivan

Dermot Kelly
Date of Last Contact January 30, 1972
State IL
County LaSalle

First Name Mark
Last Name Bachelder
State TX

First Name David
Last Name Waggoner
State TX
Investigating Agency Pasadena

First Name David
Last Name Hesterlee
State TX
Investigating Agency Galveston

Derran Rogers
Date of Last Contact February 27, 1973
State CA
County Stanislaus

James Egan
Date of Last Contact August 6, 1972
State WI
County Ozaukee

Dermot Kelly
Date of Last Contact January 30, 1972
State IL
County LaSalle

Norman Prater
Date of Last Contact January 14, 1973
State TX
County Dallas

 

[Friday Fan]

I think he must not be from the area, and probably from a surrounding state that didn't see as much media attention about the Dean Corll murders. I wasn't around back then, but it seems to me that Dean Corll was never really well known in the way Dahmer, Bundy, Gacy, etc. were, and is more well known amongst true crime people and Houston natives. But I wonder the same thing about the John Wayne Gacy UID victims and he had what appeared to be significantly more media attention than Corll! So who knows?

Maybe he was hitchhiking from Louisiana or Arkansas?

I did not know about this case until about 12 years ago! I'm the same age as Henley.

Gacy was front page news!

This one just wasn't. Maybe it was Gacy's slab/crawl space...Maybe Houston was embarrassed by this...Maybe the media portrayed the victims as "willing".....

I really admired some of the parents in Gacy's, because it was the parents that eventually led police to Gacy.

 

[Friday Fan]

I do realize Gacy wasn’t caught until well after Dean, but I remember reading Gacy idolized Dean Corll.

Which serial killer was active at approximately the same time? I remember reading in Texas Monthly that HPD didn’t want to be known as the city with the worst serial killers. They f’d up the case so badly in so many ways they just wanted it to go away. This from someone extremely pro police. Don’t get murdered in Houston.

I hear you! "We don't want Texas to get a bad reputation"....

Oh and Henry Lee Lucas 10 years later...good gawd...what an embarrassment....All for show!!

Hubby grew up in San Antonio...I just woke him up from his sleep, "Did you know there was a John Wayne Gacy in Houston?".His response through his CPAP machine: "Yes"...He was asleep, hates to be awoken and is a deep sleeper...so he knew about it at the time. It assume it was a big story here....

 

[onceuponadecember]

I mean our big show from where I’m from is Ted Bundy (I’m from Utah) but he wasn’t very prevalent there. I still think that there are more bodies of Corll victims out there.

 

[MulderYuffie]

If you're as fascinated by this case as I am, y'all should check out this article. Actually it's the comments under the article that I find interesting. Many of them are from the survivor, Rhonda Williams, and the sister of David Brooks, one of the murderers.

http://crime.about.com/b/2013/05/30/flashback-dean-corll-and-the-houston-mass-murders.htm

I know I'm really really late to this post but since the site doesn't work for me we sadly can't see this anymore I was looking through old Corll post on here and when you mentioned Rhonda and David's sister that was very interesting as we know next to nothing about Brooks. Was there any juicy details they had?

Edit: it appears I should read more before posting lol thanks for sharing those archive links guys.

 

[snowgoose]

I noticed a recent comment on the DNA Doe Project pinned Facebook post that may be of interest.

Someone asked:
"Curious why swimsuit boy is on indefinite hold? Is it funding?"

DNA Doe Project replied:
"Funding was not an issue (thanks to all you donors!) All our agencies have the right to take their cases elsewhere at any time. We want to see all our Does identified, regardless of who has the case at the end.
For our part, DDP does not market aggressively, jockey for cases, nor do we take them from others."

Reading between the lines, it sounds like another genetic genealogy organisation convinced LE to give them Swimsuit Boy's case instead of DDP. I think this has been speculated before, but it's interesting to see DDP all but confirm it.

Sounds like the internal politics can get a bit ugly - I wish they would just collaborate instead of taking cases away from one another! - but at least it appears someone is still working to identify Swimsuit Boy.

 

[Ontheriver]

Thanks for posting on swimsuit boy. Since Sharron Derrick retired from the medical examiners office, I have not read anything more on this. I know Sharon worked with another woman named (I believe) Jennifer Love. I had thought of contacting her but it sounds like someone had been working on it. I agree with you totally on collaboration. I don't know know why these samples aren't submitted to every genealogy firm. The more exposure, the higher chance of a hit.

 

[Melt71]

I noticed a recent comment on the DNA Doe Project pinned Facebook post that may be of interest.

Someone asked:
"Curious why swimsuit boy is on indefinite hold? Is it funding?"

DNA Doe Project replied:
"Funding was not an issue (thanks to all you donors!) All our agencies have the right to take their cases elsewhere at any time. We want to see all our Does identified, regardless of who has the case at the end.
For our part, DDP does not market aggressively, jockey for cases, nor do we take them from others."

Reading between the lines, it sounds like another genetic genealogy organisation convinced LE to give them Swimsuit Boy's case instead of DDP. I think this has been speculated before, but it's interesting to see DDP all but confirm it.

Sounds like the internal politics can get a bit ugly - I wish they would just collaborate instead of taking cases away from one another! - but at least it appears someone is still working to identify Swimsuit Boy.

Yes, this was discussed extensively back in August 2020 when the FB post and comment was made - scroll back up thread a bit.

 

[Hope32]

I was just going to comment that I saw that post about him being on indefinite hold and see what was going on. Appears that people don't like to cooperate does it really matter who solves it, btu that this person gets their name back.

 

[snowgoose]

Yes, this was discussed extensively back in August 2020 when the FB post and comment was made - scroll back up thread a bit.

Ah, okay! They may have made a similar comment back in 2020, but the one I'm talking about was posted June 15, 2021. It's one of the most recent comments on the pinned DDP Facebook post. It's more specific than what I remember being discussed earlier so I thought I'd share. Sorry if it's rehashing an old discussion.

 

[oldmaid]

Thank you for asking that question, snowgoose. I also was wondering if funding was the issue and I’m glad I came to this website to find out. I’m so glad it’s still moving forward. This poor young man has really touched me and I pray he gets identified soon.

 

[snowgoose]

Just to clarify, it wasn't me who posted the question on Facebook. I agree it's good to see confirmation that it's still moving forward.

 

[oldmaid]

Oh yes, sorry I meant to say thank you for posting the info from Facebook. I was rarely on FB but now I’ll be back on to follow the DDP page. Thanks again!

 

[SurfieTX]

Swimsuit Boy is mentioned in this podcast/documentary. It is on Discovery Plus currently and I think will be airing tonight on Investigation Discovery (ID).
https://www.investigationdiscovery....he-candyman----the-inside-story-of-dean-corll
https://www.investigationdiscovery....he-candyman----the-inside-story-of-dean-corll

Highly recommended. Most thorough doc I have seen on
Corrl. A name was mentioned in relation to swimsuit boy, Bobby French, I think? Something like that. If you stream, its available on Discovery Plus.

PS I missed y'all

 

[MadMcGoo]

Highly recommended. Most thorough doc I have seen on
Corrl. A name was mentioned in relation to swimsuit boy, Bobby French, I think? Something like that. If you stream, its available on Discovery Plus.

PS I missed y'all

Glad to see you back!

And yes. The documentary is well worth the watch!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Good news as far as Corll victims go...

‘Candy Man’ Dean Corll was shot dead 48 years ago. Texas EquuSearch will soon begin searching for the remains of any additional victims

 

[TheHauntedOne]

Glad to see you back!

And yes. The documentary is well worth the watch!

Glad to see you back!

And yes. The documentary is well worth the watch!

I have been working on finding Bobby's (swimsuit boy) identity for a few years now, I believe I have come up with at least 4-5 school's (old yearbooks) to check, several possible leads (including where he was picked up by Corll and Brooks) and took stills of him from the Documentary if anyone would like copies. Also the apartment complex I believe he was killed at; plus breaking down his possible story, in regards to Corll and Brooks, by breaking down several statements Brooks made early on in the investigation. I also have tons of files and pictures from the case, plus some rare shots of Dean and Billy Riddinger. It is a life goal to give him back his identity and bring him home. I'd love to collaborate with anyone, compare notes, maybe find new leads...

 

[MadMcGoo]

I have been working on finding Bobby's (swimsuit boy) identity for a few years now, I believe I have come up with at least 4-5 school's (old yearbooks) to check, several possible leads (including where he was picked up by Corll and Brooks) and took stills of him from the Documentary if anyone would like copies. Also the apartment complex I believe he was killed at; plus breaking down his possible story, in regards to Corll and Brooks, by breaking down several statements Brooks made early on in the investigation. I also have tons of files and pictures from the case, plus some rare shots of Dean and Billy Riddinger. It is a life goal to give him back his identity and bring him home. I'd love to collaborate with anyone, compare notes, maybe find new leads...

I don’t have as much free time as I used to, but I’d love to see what you have and help any way I can! Feel free to private message me.

 

[AkitasAreLovely]

I have been working on finding Bobby's (swimsuit boy) identity for a few years now, I believe I have come up with at least 4-5 school's (old yearbooks) to check, several possible leads (including where he was picked up by Corll and Brooks) and took stills of him from the Documentary if anyone would like copies. Also the apartment complex I believe he was killed at; plus breaking down his possible story, in regards to Corll and Brooks, by breaking down several statements Brooks made early on in the investigation. I also have tons of files and pictures from the case, plus some rare shots of Dean and Billy Riddinger. It is a life goal to give him back his identity and bring him home. I'd love to collaborate with anyone, compare notes, maybe find new leads...

Has Bobby French been unable to be ruled out/identified as Swimsuit Boy because of certain factors?