BACLIFF — A large law enforcement presence descended on a home in Bacliff early Thursday morning as Galveston County Sheriff’s detectives executed search warrants connected to the long-running Calder Road “Killing Field” investigation.
Authorities confirmed the warrants are tied to James Dolphs Elmore Jr. and Clyde Hedrick, whose names have been central to the decades-old case involving multiple missing and murdered women in Galveston County.
Investigators spent much of Thursday at Elmore’s residence, where heavy equipment, including dump trucks, was brought in as crews prepared to remove soil from the property. According to court documents, detectives are investigating the possibility that human remains could be buried at the site, with records indicating as many as two bodies may be on the property.
The search comes weeks after Hedrick died by suicide. Officials had previously indicated he was expected to face charges in the deaths of Heidi Villarreal-Fye, Laura Miller, Audrey Cook, and Donna Prudhomme.
Elmore is already facing criminal charges related to the case. Prosecutors allege he helped create the drug mixture used in Miller’s killing and assisted Hedrick in burying the bodies of Miller and Cook in the area near Calder Drive in League City.
According to reporting from i45Now, Elmore has also been known as the primary suspect in the 1983 disappearance of 14-year-old Sondra Ramber, who was last seen at her family’s home in Santa Fe.
Court records show the search warrant was signed by 212th District Court Judge Patricia Grady. A separate warrant also authorizes investigators to search the property in connection with a child pornography investigation, according to judicial documents.
Additional court filings related to Elmore have been sealed at the request of the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.
The former oil field near Calder Drive, long known as the “Killing Field,” has become one of the most notorious locations tied to missing persons and homicide cases in the Galveston County area.
