http://www.mexiadailynews.com/local/local_..._140112224.htmlPublished: May 19, 2008 11:22 am
Texas Ranger, Sheriff work on Kosse ‘Cold Case’
By Bob Wright-Editor
Texas Ranger Matt Cawthon, a longtime veteran in law enforcement, briefly reviewed some history of the state agency during a speaking engagement before the Mexia Lions Club.
A member of Ranger Company F, Cawthon is no stranger to Limestone County. He has been called upon for his expertise on several cases, including the first one he worked on in this county - the murder of Mexia Police Officer Ricky Ward. His work, along with that of Limestone County law enforcement agencies, resulted in a life sentence for the murderer - not eligible for parole until 30 years served.
Sheriff Dennis Wilson introduced Cawthon. Don Corbitt was program chairman.
Cawthon is currently assisting Limestone County after digging out a couple of the county’s Cold Cases. One regards the disappearance of a two and a half-year old Kosse girl, who today would be about 26. The girl is Desiree Carroll, who disappeared without a trace in 1985. A computerized age-progression has been made available to law enforcement agencies, showing what Desiree might look like today. “We thought we had located her once, but the lady we saw was not Desiree,” Cawthon explained. However, officers believe that she is still alive. The other case being worked on is believed to be drug-related, although no body has been found. The man was said to have been buried in some pasture, but right now it’s akin to searching for that proverbial “needle in a haystack.” Withoujt divulging too much about either case, Ranger Cawthon did allude to clues’ being checked out.
Matt, stationed with the Rangers in Waco, has served for 26 years with the Department of Public Safety (DPS), and has been a Ranger for 16 years. In 1982 he bagan a seven-year career with the Texas Highway Patrol, while being in the DPS for 26.
Right now, Matt Cawthon has been in the Rangers/DPS Criminal Intelligence Division for quite awhile.
The Rangers were born out of a need to keep down lawlessness during frontier days of the Lone Star State. The special units were formed in 1823 when 20 members were commissioned. There are currently 135 Texas Rangers.
Cawthon said the Texas Rangers’ work “has been very rewarding.” As a case in point, Cawthon related the availability of DNA as evidence, highly praising this phase of law enforcement. He told about a case in 1993 when a girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. The girl was released in this instance, at the age of eight. Technology was not available at the time, technology which might have earlier tracked down the perpetrator. Some seven years later, DNA made the scene bigtime. The girl was nearly 20 at the time when the perpetrator was caught.
Cawthon, in answer to an audience question, said he worked on the Kenneth McDuff case “toward the last,” and explained that McDuff showed them where he and Hank Worley buried the body of Colleen Reed, an Austin woman kidnapped from a carwash, then brought back into Central Texas, where she was tortured, sexually assaulted numerous times, then murdered. McDuff, later put to death, was described by Ranger Cawthon as a “psycho sadistic type of killer, with no remorse for what he did over the years.”