The Possible 28th Victim of Serial Killer Identified
Joseph Lyles Disappeared More Than 36 Years Ago
by Monica Rhor
Nearly four decades after serial killer Dean Corll tortured and killed more than two dozen young boys in Houston, another of his victims may have been found. Sharon Derrick, a forensic anthropologist with the Harris County medical examiner’s office, said Wednesday that the office identified Joseph Allen Lyles through DNA analysis more than 36 years after he disappeared and 26 years after his body was found buried on a beach in nearby Jefferson County in 1983.
Derrick noted that Lyles was listed as a possible victim of Corll’s by investigators in 1973 and that his body was buried in a similar manner to other victims. Lyles would be the 28th victim found if an investigation shows that he was killed by Corll. Lyles was 17 when he disappeared in February 1973, around the time that Corll and his two teenage accomplices, Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks, killed 27 boys and buried their bodies in makeshift graves in a Houston storage unit and beaches in nearby counties. “We strongly believe that he is one of Corll’s victims, but it is not official at this time due to the ongoing investigation,” Derrick said. Corll was shot and killed by Henley August 8, 1973.
His death led to the discovery of the buried bodies. Henley and Brooks are serving life sentences for their roles in the murders. All but two of Corll’s known victims have been identified. Another victim, Randell Lee Harvey, was identified last year after an intensive effort by Derrick to track down the names of unidentified victims. Lyles’ sister submitted a DNA sample for testing during that search, but it did not match any of the victims. Lyles’ family said the teenager had visited Corll’s apartment and lived down the street from Brooks. Lyles’ unidentified remains were still in a Harris County cemetery, where they had been buried last year as unknown.
This year, Jennifer Love, who heads the forensic anthropology unit and has made an effort to put names to unidentified bodies, sent a sample from the remains for testing. They were a match for Lyles’ sister. “When we told the family, that we didn’t have him, they cried. When we told them, we had identified them, they cried too,” Derrick said. “It’s what they wanted to know, but not what they wanted to know.” Lyles’ family was notified of the identification Wednesday, a day before a burial service will be held for one of the still unidentified victims. However, Derrick said, the search for the names of the two remaining Corll victims will continue.
