GALVESTON, Texas — Authorities have charged a man in connection with two decades-old killings tied to the “Texas Killing Fields,” a stretch of land near Houston where the remains of dozens of women have been discovered since the 1970s, ending a long-standing piece of a case that has drawn books, films, and a Netflix documentary.

The area along Interstate 45, southeast of Houston, earned the nickname after more than 30 women’s bodies were recovered there. Investigators believe multiple individuals were involved in the deaths, which largely targeted teenage girls and young women.

A Galveston grand jury indicted 61-year-old James Dolphs Elmore Jr. for his alleged role in the deaths of 16-year-old Laura Miller and 30-year-old Audrey Cook, whose bodies were found in the area in 1986, Galveston County District Attorney Kenneth Cusick said Wednesday.

Court records did not list an attorney for Elmore, who was arrested Tuesday and is being held without bond in the Galveston County Jail.

Miller and Cook were among four young women discovered between 1984 and 1991 in a remote field along a dirt road in League City, roughly 28 miles southeast of Houston. The others were 25-year-old Heidi Fye-Villareal and 34-year-old Donna Prudhomme.

Cusick, who took office as district attorney in October, said he aimed to reexamine these cold cases.

“Due to the concerted efforts of the law enforcement agencies in this county, this 40-year cycle of violence by these defendants against women, we’re trying to make headway on it, and I think we made significant headway yesterday in getting a charge against Mr. Elmore and having him arrested,” he said.

Elmore faces charges of manslaughter and felony evidence tampering in Miller’s death, and evidence tampering in Cook’s case.

Prosecutors also presented evidence to a grand jury regarding Clyde Hedrick, whom authorities allege was responsible for the four women’s deaths and had been a longtime friend of Elmore.

But Hedrick, 72, died by suicide last month before the grand jury reached a decision in his case, Cusick said.

Hedrick had previously been convicted of manslaughter in the 1985 death of Ellen Beason. He was released from prison in 2022 and remained on parole at the time of his death, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Family members of the victims expressed relief over the arrest but also frustration over how long it took.

“I think with everything that they had in the past, it’s inexcusable that Clyde Hedrick had the opportunity to die without never been indicted, convicted,” said Tim Miller, Laura Miller’s father. After his daughter’s death, he founded Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit that helps locate missing people.

Miller said he had met with Elmore 30 times over the past four years, during which Elmore shared information, though Miller declined to provide details to avoid compromising the case.

Nina Jager, niece of Heidi Fye-Villareal, called Elmore’s indictment “bittersweet” because her grandfather had investigated the killings and long suspected Hedrick, but felt authorities ignored his efforts.

“Maybe today is a result of all the work that he put in, all the searching the fields, going and talking to people and doing his own investigation because he just didn’t feel supported,” she said.

Cusick said he remains committed to pursuing leads in the ongoing investigations. “There are active leads that can be pursued to bring to justice some people who may have escaped justice thus far,” he said.

Most of the murders connected to the “Texas Killing Fields” remain unsolved.

In 2022, Oklahoma death row inmate William Reece pleaded guilty to three Texas murders, including 12-year-old Laura Smither and 17-year-old Jessica Cain in Galveston County, as well as 20-year-old Kelli Cox of Denton, whose body was found in neighboring Brazoria County. Reece received life sentences for all three.