A real estate investor’s body was discovered Friday in the Houston Ship Channel more than two weeks after he went missing, prompting Houston police to launch a homicide investigation.
According to Chron, Delano Burkes was last seen on Nov. 13 bar-hopping with friends in Houston’s Heights neighborhood. Surveillance cameras captured the 26-year-old leaving McIntyre’s bar — about 15 miles from where a tugboat crew saw his floating body, and a Houston Police Department dive team recovered it. Authorities announced the discovery of the body on Monday.
“The way he was fumbling around almost looked like he was drugged or something,” said Karen Jeffley, Burkes’ mother, after reviewing the surveillance footage, Chron reported. She noted others have said, “it looks like his side was hurting.”
According to the Houston Chronicle, Burkes reportedly separated from his friends at McIntyre’s, and they left without him. The former Texas A&M football player was last seen departing the bar around 1 a.m, heading west, on foot, toward White Oak Bayou.
Jeffley spent the last week hoping people would come forward with information to help find her son. The family now wants to learn exactly what happened to him.
“If anybody saw him that night, let us know,” Jeffley said, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Police said officials would perform an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of Burkes’ death.
Fox 26 News reported that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has been in close contact with Burkes’ kin and says they all are hoping to get answers.
Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering $5,000 for information that results in arrests in the case.
“There may be a lot of information that could help this family have closure and comfort during this difficult time,” said Jackson Lee. “We want to ask people to continue [to] help us find out what happened to Delano Burkes.”
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