This is episode 2, in our murder at Lake Waco series, a trigger warning for our listeners.

This Lake Waco series contains gruesome depictions of murder, in mentions of sexual assault,

and in this episode, in particular, discusses the autopsies of Kenneth Franks, Joe Montgomery,

and Raylene Rice.

I advise proceeding with caution.

Sergeant Truman Simmons stood silently, staring down at the lifeless body of the young girl.

Her long, dark brown hair was a stark contrast to the still shiny gold necklace, the hung

around her neck, the chain now broken and partially embedded in the wound.

She had been gagged with her own blouse, and her hands were tied behind her back with

a strip of cloth.

The officer could tell that she had been dead for some time, with ants and pill bugs already

crawling over her blood-stained body, and flies having laid their eggs in her nasal cavities.

Years of investigating these homicides, and it never got in the easier.

But he couldn't stand there and mourn these kids, nor could he take his time wandering

about the killer in his motivations.

Right now, calls had to be made, very difficult calls.

It was the morning of July 15th, but Dr. Mary Gilleland was already exhausted, almost

on her way out to get a strong coffee.

She was instantly jolted awake when three bodies were rolled into her lab, in the Dallas

County Medical Examiner's office.

Dr. Gilleland is an unassuming woman, with quick movements and a no-nonsense air about her.

She's just over five feet tall, dressed in practical shoes and glasses, with a blunt

...