HOUSTON – Two women with the same name (by complete coincidence) were murdered days apart. Nearly 25 years later, their murders remains unsolved.
RELATED: Who killed Mary Morris? 2 women with same name, no relation, murdered days apart in Houston
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It was October 2000 when Mary Lou Morris was found dead inside a torched car on a rural road in an area north of Baytown. Days later another Mary Morris was found dead inside a vehicle in Northwest Houston.
Mary Lou Morris
Mary Lou Morris was a no-show at her longtime job as a loan analyst at a bank off Katy Freeway in West Houston.
“My mom didn’t make it to work that day,” Marilyn Blalock, Morris’ daughter recalls that day. “When I got to her house. I just remember when I pulled up, there was a cop there.”
Blalock and her stepfather decided to drive Morris’ commute to work, in hopes of finding her car. Hours had passed and there was no sign of Morris, or her car.
“I’m not seeing her car on side of the road stalled or seeing a sign of an accident,” recalled Blalock.
Blalock called hospitals to see if a woman with the description of her mother was checked in. No leads. More anxious, Blalock received a call from her father saying he heard authorities found a burned car near Crosby-Lynchburg and I-10 not far from Mary’s mother’s home.
Immediately, Blalock and her stepfather drove to the area.
“I wanted to drive because I wanted to get wherever this was as soon as possible,” she said.
Confused, Blalock recalls her stepfather directing her to a specific location, 2600 West Cedar Bayou Lynchburg Road, not Crosby Lynchburg the area which her father gave to her on the phone.
Blalock said she could not see the charred car, but a sheriff’s deputy on the scene confirmed there was a burned-out car at that location. Blalock said the deputy instructed them to return to their home.
“It wasn’t 15 minutes later they came knocking on the door,” she said. “That’s when they told us that, you know, my mom’s car was there where we had been and that her body was in the car. I just remember losing it. I just cried, bawling because I think I was in absolute shock.”
Paralyzed by pain, Blalock has so many questions and very few answers. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days. Blalock was watching the news and heard her mother’s name mentioned during a newscast. It caught her attention.
“It was like the news crews messed that up. Like they got all the details wrong,” she explained.
Time was a blur as Blalock was preparing to say her final goodbyes to her mother.
“The one thing that was important to me when my mom was buried is that she’d be buried with her jewelry,” she remembered. “The funeral home didn’t want to put my mom in the coffin. They wanted her to stay in a body bag. That was gruesome. So, when I was the only person that saw my mom in her coffin. And when they opened the coffin up, I didn’t see her jewelry anywhere.”
After a call to the medical examiner’s office, Blalock was more baffled as she was told the jewelry would have been picked up with the body.
“I said, no, my mom’s remains have already been picked up. I just need to figure out where her jewelry is and how I pick it up. And they were like, no, Mary Morris is still here. I just remember him putting me on hold for what seemed like forever,” cried Blalock. “He eventually got back on the phone, and that’s when I found out that there was another Mary Morris at the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.”
Blalock eventually received her mother’s jewelry, most of it singed in a bag. The only piece not destroyed: a heart pendant. Blalock had the piece of jewelry refurbished.
“I wear it a lot actually,” she said.
More than 20 years later, a token of love from a person who cherished and nurtured life. From family to hobbies, Morris loved cars. In fact, she was one of the first women wrecker drivers in Houston and drove in demolition derbies. Morris also loved animals, especially horses.
“It’s heartbreaking because she was a good woman. She was a good wife.” Explained Blalock. “I want to know why. I also really do want to know how she died. I want to know that my mom didn’t suffer. She was a good mom, and you know, she taught me to take care of your family, take care of your kids and word hard. The woman she was, made me the person I am.”
Morris was 48 when she was found dead on October 12, 2000.
The murder of Mary McGinnis Morris
Another Mary Morris was murdered, found dead in her car on Houston’s Northwest side one day later on October 15, 2000.
“She was so many things to so many people,” explained Katy Morris, Mary McGinnis Morris’ daughter. “I think she was an incredible mom. She was a fantastic daughter and sister, a great friend, great wife. She was a beloved member of our community, our church community, our theater community. She was also a health care provider.”
An only child, she reflects on her mother’s life. At 39, Mary McGinnis Morris was attacked, shot, and killed inside her car. Katy is now 39 herself and a mother of her own.
“So much reminds me of my mom, especially now that I have kids of my own.” Explained Katy.
At the time of her mother’s murder, Katy was 15.
“I was a sophomore in high school, and it was Fall so things were busy.” Recalled Katy.
The Morris Family moved from West Virginia to Texas for Mary’s job, a nurse practitioner, she accepted a job as medical director at a Houston-based chemical company.
“Houston opened a lot of doors.” Explained Katy.
It was a Sunday, Mary headed into the office, Katy and her father were going to a movie.
“We attended the movie, and we came home and she wasn’t home. She should have been home already. The dog was still in her kennel.” Explained Katy.
Katy said when they arrived home, it was obvious something was not right. Katy’s father reached out to Mary’s friend who’d she been with that day.
“And she hadn’t seen her since earlier in the day. But she did remember my mom calling her and telling her she had seen someone while she was running errands that that creeped her out. That she felt was a friend or an acquaintance of this coworker that she had had issues with earlier in the week.” Recalled Katy.
Shortly after that, Katy said her mother recalled 911. The recording of that call has never been released, but Katy says it captured her mother’s final moments.
“I did have the opportunity to listen to it. And the last memory that I have of my mom is her screaming.” Explained Katy.
As for who attacked and killed her mother, Katy said she does not believe her father murdered her mother.
“I don’t believe my dad had anything to do with it. I don’t think their relationship was perfect, but I think they were both two people that were willing to work to make that relationship better. I just want peace for my dad. I cannot imagine what he went through losing his best friend, losing his partner, having to raise a 15-year-old daughter on his own halfway across the country from his family.” Explained Katy. “My hope is that both of these cases can be solved. That Marilyn and I can both get some peace. Not just for ourselves as the daughters of these women, but for the rest of our families. [Do you believe Marilyn’s mother, also Mary Morris was killed by someone who thought they were killing your mother?] It definitely is a little suspicious to me that this happened. These two women were killed so close together with the same name.”
The murders of both Mary Morris remain unsolved. If you have information that could help solve either case, reach out to Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
