Cold case now a murder investigation after body found in Texas lake 37 years ago identified

The last time Gwen Tranum heard any news of her brother Clarence Lynn Wilson, it was 1985.

He was living in Texas with a woman he’d married. The pair visited Modesto, California to see his parents. An argument ensued and he left, never to be heard from again, his sister told USA TODAY in an interview Thursday.

“I don't know what happened because my mom would never tell me,” said Tranum, now 70. “She just said there was a big argument … They left and went back to Texas.”

It wasn’t until just recently that the family came closer to finding out what happened to Wilson. A detective from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office reached out to Tranum about remains found in 1986 in Crater Lake, about 40 miles north of Houston.

The victim had a tattoo on his left upper arm that read “Liz,” as well as a tattoo on his right upper arm that read “Baby Dawn.”

It all checked out, Tranum recalled telling the detective. Liz was her brother's wife and Dawn was his daughter.

She also submitted her DNA for analysis. In October, that’s when it was confirmed: her older brother had been murdered.

“He had been shot two times, once in the shoulder and once in the head,” Tranum told USA TODAY. “He had been weighted down by a cinder block.”

Texas man's remains were a mystery, unidentified for 37 years

Wilson’s remains were found about 5:00 p.m. on Aug. 3, 1986 after people at Crater Lake saw a human body partially submerged in the water. 

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies came to the scene and took the body out of the water, which had been weighted down with two cement cinder blocks and an electrical cord, the sheriff’s office shared this month in a press release on Facebook.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Cold Case detectives exhumed the remains in 2015 to get DNA and enter it into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). His remains still weren’t identified though.

Detectives decided to try to identify the victim again in May 2023 since technology has advanced so much. They exhumed his remains a second time and took them to the Othram forensic lab in The Woodlands, where they were able to get more DNA and conduct a genealogy assessment.

Tranum was identified as one possible family member, so detectives asked her for a DNA sample. Othram confirmed Wilson’s identity in October and, according to authorities, his last known address was in Texas City.

“I was shocked,” Tranum said, adding that she immediately wanted to know what happened to her brother.

When found, the body was described as a white man in his 20s or 30s who stood at 5-feet-6 inches and weighed 133 pounds. He had a slight build, collar length reddish brown hair, decaying teeth and tattoos.

Tranum said her brother was heavier than that while he was alive and guesses he weighed about 170 pounds in 1985, the year before his death. 

“He never was that thin and he had really bad teeth,” she said, adding that police gave her the information. “They think he was involved in drugs. His wife said that he was heavily into drugs.”

Sister thought her estranged brother was living his life, not missing

Tranum, Wilson’s younger sister, said they were born in Arkansas but moved and spent most of their young lives in Modesto, California. Altogether, their parents had seven kids – four girls and three boys.

“From high school on, he always went by the name of ‘Red’ because when he was younger, his hair was really red. As he got older, it turned more of a brownish red.”

Wilson left home at 18 years old and explored Los Angeles, where he met his first wife. The pair had a daughter, Dawn. He eventually split with his wife and went to Texas, where one of his sisters lived, Tranum said.

She said her parents were hard on them as children and didn’t let them go many places. Her brother didn’t have many friends. He was very shy, meek and quiet, she said.

When he left after an argument with his parents in 1985, his mom looked for him years later, she said. She even had a cousin who worked as a private investigator look into his whereabouts but nothing turned up.

“After my dad died, that's when my mom decided ‘Maybe I should look,’” Tranum said. “It didn’t really seem to bother (my parents) that much.”

Tranum thought her brother was out living his life. She had no idea he had been missing or killed. She did start looking for him about 20 years ago, though.  She heard nothing until detectives got in contact with her this year.

Wilson also spent some time in prison in 1982 for burglary of a building with intent to commit theft in Harris County, Texas, according to detective Fadi Rizk, who is working on the case.

Tranum said her brother wasn't like most boys and even in 1985 when she last saw him, he was very quiet. 

“I don't know,” she said. “I guess when someone goes into the system, he was in prison for a few years, maybe that totally changed him. I would think it would really have to change a person, being in that kind of environment.”

Family wants justice for murdered brother, sister says

She’s glad police found her, got her DNA and identified her brother, she said. She believes no one should get away with murder the way her brother’s killer has.

Their family hasn’t been in contact with his daughter, Dawn, Tranum said. Neither have the police, although authorities have spoken to his daughter’s mother.

Tranum said the family is glad they know what happened to him. There are four siblings remaining, she said, including herself. Now, they want those responsible for his death held accountable.

“We all feel the same,” she said. “We're devastated. We're shocked because of what happened and the brutality because we knew his personality. He was not a mean person. He was not a bully. He was nothing like that. He was very quiet, meek, just a loner-type person, and that's why it’s so shocking.”

His death seems like an execution-style killing, she said. She thinks more than one person must’ve been responsible. “You cannot carry a body and throw it in the lake by yourself, especially with cinder blocks,” she said. 

“I'm hoping that somebody knows something and they will come forward and give us some information so we can find out who this person is. We want closure for him. He shouldn’t have ever, ever, ever gone like that.”

The investigation is still ongoing. 

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Squad has asked that anyone with information call them at 936-760-5820 or ring the Multi-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-392-7867.