Jessica Cain's accused kidnapper returns to help search for body in SE Houston
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The same man accused in the 1997 kidnapping of 17-year-old Jessica Cain has returned to help search for her body.
William Reece was spotted Sunday morning helping investigators and dig crews in southeast Houston.
Yellow markers show indicators of where the searchers have already dug at a site on East Orem, near Hobby Airport.
The crews returned just before 8am, getting help from Reece who was behind bars but is now out to help authorities.
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Reece is also suspected in the disappearance of at least four other girls, two of which survived.
Laura K. Smither was just 12 years old when she vanished near Friendswood. Her body was found later in April 1997 in Pasadena. In May, Sandra Sapaugh, 19, was held at knifepoint and kidnapped, but she was able to escape.
Reece was arrested and is now serving time in jail on the Sapaugh case.
VIDEO: Story from 1998 on William Reece being suspected in the death of Laura Smither
Reece was also suspected in the July 1997 disappearance of both Tiffany Johnston, 18, in Oklahoma City, and Anjanette Sorrentino, 22, here in Houston. Johnston's body was later found, but Sorrentino was also able to escape and is now seeking justice.
Pam Bryan believes her daughter Anjanette was kidnapped, raped and choked by Reece.
In an exclusive interview, she says she remembers the days before the crime scene, before the nightmares and before the broken bones.
"She had her own place," Bryan says. "She was doing amazing."
Pam's 22-year-old daughter stopped at a Houston gas station in July 1997 and minutes later, her tires were slashed. She was kidnapped shortly after.
Pam says William Reece was her daughter's kidnapper.
"He hit her in the back of the head with a knife that he used on her later," and then choked her, she says.
Sorrentino was able to regain consciousness in time to watch Reece murder his accomplice right in front of her.
"He began to impale this young man, over and over and over again," Pam says, "and she was screaming."
She lost consciousness again, but later awoke and managed to escape. Those critical hours changed everything.
"We got her back, and she was broken, and she was blind and she was traumatized," Pam says.
The Tiki Island police chief at the time, Sue Dietrich, says she was investigating Reece and immediately knew this crime had his fingerprints on it.
Nineteen years later, Anjanette and her family are awaiting justice and wish the Harris County Sheriff's Office had done more.
The HCSO says they are looking into the case, but it would take some time since it goes back to 1997.
