Brownwood "COLD" Cases
Rangers to probe '89 slaying of girl, 13
Technology may uncover leads in Brownwood case
By Celinda Emison / Reporter-News Staff Writer
December 1, 2005
BROWNWOOD - The cold case unit of the Texas Rangers announced Wednesday that it will investigate the 16-year-old murder case of a teenage girl.
Ranger Troy Wilson of the Unsolved Crimes Investigative Team of San Antonio, said he will be in Brownwood for the next several days looking over the case of Amanda Goodman, 13, who was found dead on the side of a country road south of Brownwood on May 16, 1989.
Fellow Texas Ranger Nick Hanna, who works in Brown County, contacted Wilson about the Goodman case. Hanna said that before the case could be turned over to the cold case unit,
the files and evidence had to be reorganized by the Brown County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators have not named any suspects, but hope that advances in technology will help them uncover leads that they were not able to find in 1989.
''It is possible that some of the physical evidence could be sent off to check for DNA,'' Wilson said.
Brown County Sheriff Bobby Grubbs, who at the time Amanda was found was the lead Texas Ranger investigating the case, sheriff's Det. Lana Guthrie, and Hanna will assist Wilson.
''We will also call in anyone that we need to who was involved in the initial investigation,'' Grubbs said.
Amanda's body was found 10 miles south of Brownwood along the north side of Indian Creek Road.
Investigators recalled that she had been ''gingerly'' place near a tree, with her books and purse neatly beside her. The 13-year-old was killed by a single gunshot to the head. Goodman's mother, Barbara Nejtek, said she had hoped and prayed for the day the case would be turned over to the cold case unit.
''I'm relieved, and after 16 long years of waiting, we may find out the truth about what happened to Amanda,'' she said. ''The family and I are thrilled - we believe this is the next step in getting this case solved.''
Contact Brownwood Staff Writer Celinda Emison at (325) 641-8804 or emisonc@reporternews.com.
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Brownwood, Texas,
Leon Laureles
May, 1996
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