Welcome to the Las Americas apartments at 5900 Glenmont in south west Houston. Back in 1979 they were called The Orchard Apartments. The complex (and many more like it) was built to accommodate the mass of young adults coming to work in Houston's energy boom. On July 27, 1979, a man arrived here to pick up a co worker however he found her body. Aside from the mass of blood he found that her head was missing. He followed a blood trail to the parking lot where it disappeared.
33 year old Alys Elaine Rankin had been raped and beheaded here. Her head was never found. Two weeks later Mary Calcutta was found murdered just two floors above Alys. She had been stabbed so hard, so many times that the blade bent. The killer was never caught. Naturally folks here were on edge.
I know this location. I've driven through here several times. One night I drove out here. I looked at the complex (now under a new name). A gate now surrounds the property as a security guard sits (or sleeps) in his car with a flashing blue light attached. It's been over 30 years since these horrific murders. As I took in the scene I wondered what path did the killer take? Did he live here too? How many of these people sleeping peacefully know about these murders? Which apartments did they occur in? Do the spirits of these women haunt the complex? Why did the killer stop so soon? What happened to him? Could he possibly still be here? Could he be watching me?
Read the chronicle story.
I lived two blocks away when this happened, and Mary was my co-worker. Can you imagine how scared I was as an 18 year old girl out in the world for the first time living with my best friend? I moved back home with my parents a couple of days later. This case has always haunted me and I've tried to keep up with it over the years. I have been told by reliable sources that the cases are not connected. The police know who the killer of Mary is, but the evidence has been lost over the years.
ReplyDeleteDo you still know the apartment numbers ?
ReplyDeleteI don't know because I never went to her apartment. We worked together and rode the same bus home from work sometimes, that's about it. We were not close friends as there was almost a ten year age difference between us. But, yes...it scared the hell out of me.
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