KILLING FIELDS

Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, won a default judgment in his 2014 wrongful death lawsuit filed against Clyde Edwin Hedrick. Galveston County judge Lonnie Cox granted Miller’s motion for default judgment on Monday and awarded him $21,020,000 in damages.

Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Dickinson, Tim Miller buried his daughter’s remains for the third time since her murder in 1984. Then at the end of 2019, Miller said was told more of his daughter’s remains were found stashed in a box at the ME’s office. Laura’s murder is the reason Tim Miller founded Texas EquuSearch, an organization that has saved countless lives around the world. “It was time to say goodbye, it was time to say goodbye. It was very, very difficult carrying that little casket, but it’s time to say goodbye,” Miller said.

Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, tells KPRC2 he is dropping his lawsuit against Galveston County. Miller filed suit against the county in May. The lawsuit came after yet another decades old mix-up with his daughter’s remains was discovered. Miller first sued Galveston County in 1997 when Laura’s body was exhumed and it was discovered not all of her remains had been buried. Miller said he then received a October 2019 from the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office, notifying him human remains were found in a file box bearing the case number for Laura’s murder.

LEAGUE CITY, Texas – Founder of Texas EqquSearch, Tim Miller is suing Galveston County for the second time over the handling of his daughter, Laura’s remains. Barnhart said partially because Cook went unidentified for decades and partially because DNA testing was not routine in the 90s. League City police then combed through decades of old reports and autopsies to determine that the unidentified remains belonged to Cook. League City police said the ME’s file on Cook showed her fingernails were clipped and saved as possible evidence. Yet, League City officials said their records show no indication that the clippings were ever given to police and are not stored with their department.

For the second time, Tim Miller is suing Galveston County over the handling of his daughter’s remains. Miller exhumed his daughter’s remains and then reburied her after receiving what he thought was the remainder of her body. Miller settled the first lawsuit in 2000 with the former Galveston County Medical Examiner, Dr. W.E. Then came the call more of Laura’s remains may still be at the ME’s Office. “They’re giving us silly arguments; trying to pretend like they have no responsibility for something by an official of Galveston County,” said Buzbee.