First body of the year pulled out of Houston river that internet sleuths keep linking to a serial killer

A body has been pulled out of a Houston river that internet sleuths keep linking to a serial killer, marking the first such occurrence of the year after dozens of bodies were discovered in the area in 2025.

Houston Police say a man’s body was found in the Buffalo Bayou at around 2 p.m. local time Tuesday. Lieutenant Larry Crowson said a crew doing maintenance in the area spotted the body, according to local news.

“As always, with these cases, we have our homicide investigators here, and they’ll be conducting a follow-up investigation,” Crowson said, per KRIS 6 News.

The man’s identity and his cause of death are yet to be publicly revealed.

More than 30 bodies were recovered from bayous in the Houston area last year, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office, leading some to believe there may be a serial killer on the loose.

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“The math ain't mathing, I think there's a serial killer," Juan Sandoval, a Houston visitor, told local outlet ABC13. "I get Nevada's 'for you' page now, and even in Nevada, they're talking about Buffalo Bayou, so it's that bad, it's reaching another state, across state lines."

Authorities would find multiple bodies in a matter of days last year. One week in December, three bodies were recovered from local bayous, according to local media. In September, authorities found five bodies in less than a week, ABC13 reported.

"There must be someone out there, no? Because it's ridiculous that so many people are dying in the bayou, I think it's unfortunate that they haven't found the person," Houston resident Erick Cortez, a friend of Sandoval, told the local outlet.

The Independent has reached out to the Houston police and fire departments, the mayor’s office and the FBI’s Houston field office for comment.

It’s not unusual for there to be so many bodies found in the area. Local media reported 35 bodies were found in local bayous in 2024.

Click 2 Houston reported in December, citing Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office data, that about 200 bodies were found in local bayous since 2017. Houston Police said that since 2015, nearly 60 bodies have been found in the Buffalo Bayou alone, the local outlet reported last November.

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But Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare insisted that there was no indication that a serial killer was behind the deaths.

“There is nothing, nothing, and I want to be crystal clear, to indicate that there is someone operating here as a serial killer,” Teare recently told Click 2 Houston. “There are many reasons for these deaths. None of them are a serial killer.”

Rather than one twisted individual going on a murder spree, Teare said issues such as homelessness have contributed to the deaths.

“We have a massive homeless problem. We have massive mental health and addiction problem. All of those things are contributing to a lot of the bodies that we’re discovering,” he said.

At a September press conference, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said drownings have always been an issue in the city.

"Unfortunately, drowning in our bayous is not a new phenomenon,” he said, per CNN. “There are 2,500 miles of bayous, and people are exposed to them, sometimes foul play – often not.”