The disappearance of a number of young girls and women from the vicinity of League City, Texas, in the early 1980s and early 1990s left the locals of that city horrified, and the bodies of some of those individuals were discovered years later. Therefore, when Ellen Beason vanished without a trace around the year 1984, her family pleaded with the authorities to place as much of a priority as they could on the investigation. This horrifying event is detailed in the documentary series “Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields,” which can be streamed on Netflix. The series depicts how officials eventually located her remains hidden behind a sofa in a wooded area in Galveston County. Now that we have established that, shall we investigate the specifics that surround it?
Ellen Beason
How Did Ellen Beason Die?
Ellen Rae Simpson Beason was just 30 years old when she went missing. At the time of her disappearance, she was a resident of League City, Texas. She was well-liked in the neighbourhood as well as among the people in her circle of friends because of her generous nature and warm personality. In addition, individuals who knew her well remarked that she enjoyed having a good time and got along well with the vast majority of the people she interacted with. Her sunny disposition made it easy for her to gain friends quickly, and the fact that she didn’t really have any enemies contributed to the shock that was caused by the unexpectedness of her passing.
Reportedly, Ellen’s favourite thing to do with her pals in her spare time was to visit various bars, and one evening around 1984, she was doing just that. Later, her pals claimed that they had all congregated at the Texas Moon Club in League City, where she had a chance encounter with a man who appeared to be quite attractive. The two were instantly attracted to one another, and according to the source material from Netflix, the young woman chose to spend the majority of her evening with him rather than her reliable confidants. In addition to this, when it was time for her to go home, she pretended that she and the unknown person had plans to go swimming in a nearby lake and urged her companions to leave without her, saying that she would catch up with them later.
However, Ellen was never seen returning home, prompting her concerned family to instantly organise a search party and begin looking in any and all possible locations where she might have been. Even the area around the lake where she was believed to be swimming was searched, but the search turned up no trace of the woman who was 30 years old. After some time, the police also became engaged and conducted a thorough investigation, during which they did not overlook any leads. However, as the months progressed, her loved ones began to fear the worst case scenario, which was verified when investigators retrieved her decaying bones from underneath a sofa in a forested area beside Old Causeway Road in Galveston County. The medical examiner at the time was unable to pinpoint the cause of death, but when her bones were exhumed in 2012, it was discovered that she had suffered significant skull fractures. This information was uncovered by the medical examiner. To put it another way, the young woman had been struck on the head with something that delivered a forceful blow just prior to her unfortunate demise from drowning.
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Who Killed Ellen Beason?
The truth is that investigators achieved their first major breakthrough relatively early on in the investigation because Ellen’s pals had not only witnessed the stranger Ellen had met at Texas Moon but also recalled the specifics of their encounter. Clyde Hedrick, a local citizen of League City who works as a roofer and construction worker, was quickly identified by the police using the description that was provided by them and the information that was provided by the staff members of the club. People who knew Clyde well regarded him as an introverted and reserved person who, for the most part, stayed to himself or maintained a small and intimate group of friends and acquaintances. However, residents disclosed that they had frequently seen Clyde at a variety of clubs and bars located throughout the city, where he attempted to strike up conversations with female patrons while dancing.
When Clyde was first hauled in for interrogation by the authorities, he revealed that he had feelings for Ellen. He also confirmed that the two of them had gone swimming in a neighbouring lake after leaving Texas Moon on the fateful night. However, he stated that the young woman had drowned inadvertently while she was in the water, which caused him to panic and dispose of her body because he feared that if he took her to the hospital, he would be accused of having committed some sort of foul play. Because it was impossible to determine what caused her death at the time, the only accusation that could be brought against him was abuse of a body, which he was found guilty of and received a sentence of one year in prison for.
However, the investigation was reopened when Clyde’s ex-wife came forward with some disturbing details. According to the records, the authorities had a strong suspicion that Clyde had been responsible for the murder of Ellen from the very beginning. This was due to the fact that Clyde’s story seemed too fantastical to be true. In 2011, the ex-wife is said to have approached them with the claim that she had heard her ex-husband discuss how Ellen’s murder was linked to a botched drug transaction. She went so far as to say that he had openly discussed the possibility of having sexual intercourse with the victim after he had killed her. These pieces of information basically pushed the authorities to perform a second autopsy, which unearthed the indisputable proof of blunt force trauma. As a result of this, they were able to obtain a warrant for Clyde’s arrest and charge him with murder at the beginning of 2014. They had hard evidence that a homicide had occurred.
Clyde entered a not guilty plea when he was brought before the court, but after a trial before a jury, he was ultimately found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. As a consequence of this, he was given a prison sentence of twenty years in 2014. However, he was only incarcerated for a little over six years before a law that had been passed in Texas in the 1980s made it possible for him to come out of jail early based on his good behaviour. To put it another way, Clyde was granted early parole from the Estelle Supermax Penitentiary in Huntsville, Alabama, in the beginning of October 2021 due to a technicality that could not be contested by anyone.
Killed Ellen Beason
Man arrested in 1984 unsolved murder of Ellen Rae Beason
GALVESTON COUNTY, TEXAS – [Commentary] The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement on Thursday that the FBI has arrested and charged a 59-year-old man in connection with the unsolved murder case of Ellen Rae Beason, which occurred in 1984.
Clyde Edwin Hedrick, 59, from San Leon was charged with murder after being apprehended by a detective from the sheriff’s office, with assistance from the League City police and the FBI.
Ellen Rae Beason was reportedly reported as a missing person to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in July of 1984, according to the authorities. A friend who checked on her the next day and saw that her car was still parked at the location where she had left it reported that she was last seen at the Texas Moon Club in League City.
In the year 1985, investigators obtained information that led them to the location of Beason’s body. After that, she was found, according to the sheriff’s office in Galveston County, at an area just off the old causeway road.
The authorities stated that detectives opened this cold case in November 2011 and developed new evidence, which led to the remains of Beason being removed from her grave site and transported to the University of North Texas Health Science Center for examination by a forensic pathologist. The authorities stated that the case had been open since November 2011.
According to the deputies, Dr. Gil-King concluded that Beason’s skull had sustained blunt force trauma, and he categorises this incident as a homicide. Further DNA testing was conducted in order to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the remains belonged to Beason.
Hedrick is still being held in custody despite having a bond set at $150 000.
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Man charged with murder in 1984 disappearance
Because of a mistake made during the autopsy of a woman who had passed away in Galveston County, her passing was not initially classified as a homicide for almost three decades.
Now, sheriff’s deputies say they have arrested the man responsible for the murder of Ellen Rae Beason in July 1984. Beason, who was last seen alive at a nightclub in League City, was found dead in her apartment.
After his arrest on Thursday, 59-year-old Clyde Edwin Hedrick was taken into custody in Galveston County and charged with murder.
Beason, age 30, was discovered by authorities in Galveston County, Texas, reportedly suffocated under a sofa that was located in a heavily overgrown area off of Old Causeway Road.
Homicide detectives had doubts about Hedrick almost from the beginning of their investigation.
After the woman was found dead, the investigators questioned Hedrick and he told them that Beason had passed away while swimming after they had left the Texas Moon Club.
According to the officials in Galveston County, Hedrick claimed he was overcome with fear and tried to conceal her body.
Because Hedrick moved the body of the deceased woman, he was charged with abuse of a corpse and received a sentence of one year in the Galveston County Jail for his actions.
However, he was not charged with murder because the medical examiners who worked on the case at the time were unable to determine whether or not the death was the result of foul play because they failed to notice the skull fracture.
According to Captain Barry Cook of the Galveston County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division, “Back in those days, the medical examiner’s office did not have an X-ray,”
The investigation into the case was put on hold until November 2011, when deputies with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office started gathering new information about it.
An affidavit used to obtain an arrest warrant states that during that month, Hedrick’s ex-wife reported to the authorities that he had told her that Beason’s death was the result of a botched drug transaction.
According to the records, he stated that he began choking Beason and then pushed her under the water.
Additionally, Hedrick disclosed to his ex-wife that he had sexual relations with Beason after her passing and that he concealed her body somewhere in the vicinity of the causeway.
Ellen Beason Die
Texas man may have solved daughter’s 1984 murder
