On April 20, 1972, Mark Steven Scott, a 17-year-old Caucasian male from Houston, Texas, left his home in the Heights neighborhood to spend time with friends. He was never seen alive by his family again. Shortly after his disappearance, his parents received a postcard purportedly from Mark, stating that he had found employment in Austin paying $3 an hour and would return home once he had saved enough money to pay a lawyer who had previously assisted him with a weapons charge.
His family, however, doubted the authenticity of this message and suspected foul play.
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Unbeknownst to his family at the time, Mark had fallen victim to Dean Corll, infamously known as the 'Candy Man,' a serial killer who, between 1970 and 1973, abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered at least 28 teenage boys and young men in Houston and Pasadena, Texas. Corll was assisted by two teenage accomplices, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. and David Owen Brooks. Henley later confessed that he and Brooks had lured Mark to Corll's residence at 925 Schuler Street under the pretense of socializing. Once there, Mark was restrained and forced to write the aforementioned postcard to his parents. He was then subjected to rape and torture before being strangled to death by Henley the following morning. Henley and Brooks subsequently buried Mark's body at High Island Beach in Galveston County, a site where several other victims of Corll were later discovered.
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Despite the confessions of Henley and Brooks regarding the location of Mark's remains, his body has never been recovered. The area where he was purportedly buried became submerged beneath sea level following Hurricane Ike in 2008, complicating recovery efforts.
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In August 1973, Henley fatally shot Corll in self-defense and then alerted authorities, confessing to his involvement in the abductions and murders orchestrated by Corll. Both Henley and Brooks were arrested and charged for their roles in the crimes. Henley was convicted of six murders and sentenced to six consecutive terms of 99 years in prison, while Brooks was convicted of one murder and received a life sentence; Brooks died in 2020 at the age of 65.
Mark Scott remains the only confirmed victim of Dean Corll whose body has not been recovered. His case underscores the tragic consequences of Corll's murderous spree and the devastating impact on the families of his victims.
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