Colleen Reed, a 28-year-old woman, was abducted on December 29, 1991, from a self-service car wash in Austin, Texas. Reed, an accountant and accounts payable supervisor for the Lower Colorado River Authority, was kidnapped by Kenneth McDuff, a notorious serial killer. Witnesses reported hearing her screams near the car wash, but by the time they arrived, she was gone.
Her car, a white Mazda Miata, was found abandoned in one of the stalls, still covered in soap, with her purse and keys inside.
McDuff, who had previously been convicted of murdering three teenagers in 1966, had been released from prison in 1989 due to changes in Texas' parole system. Within days of his release, he resumed killing. Reed was among his victims, and her case became one of the most infamous in Texas history. Investigators determined that McDuff and an accomplice, Alva Hank Worley, kidnapped Reed and drove her north on Interstate 35. Worley later testified that McDuff knocked Reed unconscious and placed her in the trunk of his car, telling Worley he was going to "use her up."
For years, Reed's fate remained unknown. It was only in 1998, shortly before McDuff's execution, that he led investigators to her remains, which were found in a shallow grave near the Brazos River in Falls County, Texas. The discovery brought closure to Reed's family, who had spent nearly seven years searching for answers.
McDuff was convicted of capital murder for Reed's death and was executed by lethal injection on November 16, 1998. His case led to significant reforms in Texas' criminal justice system, including stricter parole policies and an increase in prison construction. Authorities believe McDuff was responsible for at least eight other murders, and possibly more. His reign of terror remains one of the darkest chapters in Texas crime history.
