Gail Delaughter/Houston Public Media
When the physique of College of Houston pupil Jade McKissic was discovered within the Brays Bayou on Sept. 16, police weren’t instantly certain who she was. She had been reported lacking 5 days earlier.
Days after they recognized her, Houston police mentioned they didn’t suspect foul play in her loss of life. They mentioned McKissic, 20, “had spent the night with buddies at native bars.”
New particulars obtained by Houston Public Media point out that surveillance video confirmed McKissic was “in an intoxicated state” when she walked out of a close-by gasoline station and “in direction of the bayou.”
“She seems to be alone and nobody seems to be following her earlier than she goes out of view,” police data state.
Houston Public Media obtained a 12 months’s price of police documentation relating to lifeless our bodies present in bayous throughout the town, between Sept. 13, 2024, and Sept. 20, 2025. On the time of the open data request, 5 our bodies had been found in bayous over a span a six days, with a sixth physique recovered by police a couple of days later.
The data present a snapshot of how legislation enforcement investigates these incidents —and the uncertainties surrounding them.
“A water setting and a high-temperature, high-humidity setting — I imply, we’re principally a swamp, for lack of a greater time period — these are terribly damaging to tissue,” mentioned Dr. Jay Coons, an assistant professor at Sam Houston State College’s Division of Legal Justice and Criminology. “So, it isn’t too lengthy {that a} physique may be in water, on this setting, earlier than pretty routine evaluation turns into very troublesome.”
In line with the information offered by the Houston Police Division (HPD) by way of public data request, Houston police responded to 39 incidents by which our bodies have been present in a number of totally different bayous between Sept. 13, 2024 and Sept. 20, 2025. Causes of loss of life have been nonetheless pending for 15 of these folks, and 11 have been nonetheless listed as having an “undetermined” reason for loss of life, in response to the HPD data.
McKissic’s reason for loss of life is undetermined, in response to the Harris County health worker’s workplace.
Two out of each three bayou-related deaths in that yearlong span haven’t got a conclusive reason for loss of life.
Of these incidents, one was a results of murder, in response to HPD. That sufferer was discovered on Nov. 19, 2024. He had a gunshot wound in his again — and was discovered unintentionally.
“Whereas Houston police dive staff officers have been looking for a lacking individual in Buffalo Bayou, they discovered a special physique of an unknown individual,” the police report reads.
4 of the deaths have been dominated as suicides. One concerned a person who was discovered hanging from a tree that was within the bayou, and his spouse had simply “caught him dishonest,” in response to police data.
Sixteen of the our bodies have been present in Buffalo Bayou, and 9 have been present in Brays Bayou. 5 have been present in White Oak Bayou, 4 in Looking Bayou, two every within the Halls and Sims bayous, and one in Horse Pen Bayou. Of the 39 our bodies, three have been girls, together with McKissic.
RELATED: How information of Houston bayou deaths sparked a serial killer conspiracy idea
In almost each case listed, police documented they didn’t observe indicators of foul play or trauma. Those that didn’t explicitly say so included extra detailed incidents described by police.
For instance, one incident on Nov. 17, 2024, concerned a person who allegedly stole a motorcycle from the College of Houston campus, fled from police, jumped into the Brays Bayou and “was not seen once more,” till his physique was discovered two days later.
The data provide glimpses into what led as much as the discoveries of the our bodies. In some situations, like on Sept. 14, 2024, passersby have been visiting the bayous once they stumbled on our bodies. Others have been household tragedies, like on Could 2, 2025, when an 81-year-old man with dementia was present in Buffalo Bayou with a gunshot wound to the pinnacle after the loss of life of his spouse days earlier.
In March, a development employee was beneath a Loop 610 overpass “putting picket planks over a spot by the freeway when he’s believed to have fallen by the hole and into the water.” His loss of life was dominated as an unintentional drowning, with blunt power trauma.
A Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace worker noticed a physique floating in Buffalo Bayou “whereas understanding in car parking zone” in July. The sufferer in that case, a 40-year-old man, was nonetheless awaiting a reason for loss of life.
In case you or somebody in your life is feeling distressed or experiencing psychological well being challenges, name the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Free and confidential emotional assist is offered 24/7. Name 988 or textual content HOME to 741-741.
Disclosure: Houston Public Media is licensed by the College of Houston. The college doesn’t play a job in Houston Public Media’s editorial choices. Learn our assertion of ethics and requirements right here.
