The scientist and the serial killer : the search for Houston's lost boys / Lise Olsen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Olsen, Lise, 1964- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Serial murder investigation--Texas--Houston--Case studies.

Serial murder investigation.

Murder victims--Identification--Case studies.

Murder victims.

Forensic anthropology--Case studies.

Forensic anthropology.

Corll, Dean, 1939-1973.

Corll, Dean.

Derrick, Sharon McCormick, 1957-.

Derrick, Sharon McCormick.

Genre:

True crime stories.

Physical Description:

xvii, 438 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Random House, [2025]

Summary:

"Houston, Texas, in the early 1970s was an exciting place to grow up. It was the home of NASA, the city of the future. But a string of missing teenage boys, all from the same neighborhood, spoke to a dark undercurrent that would go ignored for too long. While their siblings and friends wondered where they'd gone, the Houston Police Department dismissed them as runaways, fleeing the Vietnam draft or conservative parents, looking to get high or join the counterculture. It was only after their killer, Dean Corll, was murdered by an accomplice that the boys' bodies were discovered in several mass graves around Houston. Also known as the "Candy Man," Corll was a local sweet shop owner who had enlisted two teenage boys to lure their friends to parties where they would be tortured and killed, their bodies then dumped in mass graves around Houston. But many of Corll's victims, known collectively as the Lost Boys, had never been identified. Forty years later, when forensic anthropologist Sharon Derrick discovered a box of remains marked "1973 Murders" in the Harris County Morgue, she knew she had to bring these boys home. It would take prison interviews with Corll's accomplices, advanced scientific techniques, and years of tireless effort to identify the young men whose lives had been taken. But one by one, their names were returned to them. Veteran investigative journalist Lise Olsen immerses readers in this astonishing story, simultaneously bringing to life a suburban community hunted by a silent killer and the extraordinary woman who, decades later, would finally give his victims back their dignity"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Map

List of illustrations

Author's note

Part I: Disappearances and discoveries. The death of a killer ; A roomful of mysteries ; The bodies in the boatshed ; The boy on the bike ; The chief strikes back ; The parade of bodies ; The boy and his boots ; Clues from the accomplice ; The search

Part II: Sex, drugs, and other pieces of the puzzle. The candy man ; The hunt ; Who knew? ; Mapping the murders ; The uncounted murder victim ; The bodies on the beach ; An unexpected breakthrough

Part III: Mistaken identities. The lost brothers

Michael and Billy Baulch ; Graves in the woods ; "Bones that's all they were" ; A motion to suppress ; The boy in the silver casket ; The missing missing ; A devastating DNA mistake ; Party time

Part IV: Patterns and contradictions. A killer's revelations ; The edge of the knife ; Who is Swimsuit Boy? ; An unexpected offer ; Too many missing persons ; A forgotten call for help on 9/11 ; An anonymous tip

Part V: Players in a porn ring. The accomplices in the shadows ; An attempted escape ; The police officer's son

Part VI: The last unsolved mysteries. Letting go ; A frustrating search

and a breakthrough ; Swimsuit Boy revealed? ; The family plot ; The prisoner's story ; The house falls

Sharon Derrick's 2023 case list

A note to readers from Sharon Derrick

Acknowledgments

Notes

Selected bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 413-438).

Other Format:

Online version: Olsen, Lise, 1964- Scientist and the serial killer

ISBN:

9780593595688

0593595688

OCLC:

1461743858

Publisher Number:

90101688657