Overview
- Texas DPS and the Texas Rangers announced the identification on Dec. 16, naming Riggs as the third and final perpetrator.
- Authorities said Riggs is deceased, so no arrest will be made and the investigation is now closed.
- The five victims were abducted from a Kilgore restaurant in 1983 and found shot on a Rusk County oil lease, and one victim was also sexually assaulted.
- Two men, Romeo Pinkerton and Darnell Hartsfield, were convicted in 2007–2008 based on DNA from the restaurant, while DNA from a victim’s clothing indicated a third offender.
- The breakthrough followed DPS’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative: evidence went to Bode Technologies in July 2024, a lead to three East Texas brothers emerged in May 2025, and a November 2025 DNA match confirmed Riggs, with support from local partners, the DPS Austin Crime Lab, and DOJ funding.