Hurricane Harvey was right around the corner when a storm brewed in the life of Crystal McDowell, a Texan mother of two, who vanished all of a sudden in 2017. Ironically, the hurricane indirectly aided the detectives in capturing the perpetrator after an investigation full of twists and turns. In the episode titled ‘Before the Storm’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline,’ the viewers are provided with a detailed account of the entire case through the perspective of the experts who were involved in solving the case.
Crystal McDowell Went Missing Before Hurricane Harvey Struck
Crystal Ann Seratte McDowell was born on October 26, 1979, in Baytown, Texas, to Anthony Paul “Tony” Walters and Pamela Sue Seratte Walters. Growing up, she had a disturbing and traumatizing childhood as both of her parents were drug addicts and passed away six months apart when she was only 11 years old. On top of that, at the tender age of 13, she was reportedly abducted by an unidentified man and sexually assaulted. Somehow, she escaped the abuse and began staying with her extended family, only to then begin moving on with her life. She acquired a sense of maturity and stability before getting a job as a flight attendant.
Soon, Crystal crossed paths with Steve McDowell, and after dating him for a while, she tied the knot with him. Over the years, the couple welcomed two beautiful children into the world, Madden as well as Maui. Described as a loyal friend, a loving mother, and a secret keeper, she worked her way up to become a top-producing 3rd generation realtor in her family’s business, Virginia Malone and Associates.
Besides that, Crystal also had 15 years of experience working for ExpressJet Airlines, where she was a Flight Attendant and Training Instructor. On the personal front, while her marriage with Steven seemed to have begun just fine initially, several problems surfaced between the two later on. After staying in wedlock for a decade, they thus decided to get divorced and go their separate ways while sharing custody of their kids amicably. She did subsequently get a separate place, but stayed with Steven as it was being remodeled.
Nevertheless, Crystal reentered the dating scene and sparked a new romance with a local jeweler named Paul Hargrave. But alas, her time with Paul came to an abrupt end when she suddenly went missing on the morning of August 25, 2017, just a couple of days before Hurricane Harvey hit the Baytown area. Soon, the police were informed about her sudden disappearance, and they launched an extensive search for her. She was ultimately recovered from a remote wooded area, where she’d been disposed of after being asphyxiated to death.
Crystal McDowell’s Past Came Back to Haunt and Kill Her
As investigators delved deep into Crystal McDowell’s life until she disappeared and interviewed her loved ones to get more information about the same, they found two primary suspects — Crystal’s ex-husband and her current lover, Paul Hargrave. The latter was one of the last persons to see her alive since the two had gone out on a date the night before she went missing. She’d then left his house at 7:35 am on August 25, 2017, as captured by a nearby surveillance camera. Moreover, the way he behaved after her disappearance raised suspicion too.
On the other hand, the detectives noticed that Crystal’s ex-husband still wore his wedding ring and had a rather gray history with the victim. So, in spite of both the men being cooperative with the authorities, they had plenty of reasons to suspect them. Failed polygraph tests from both added more suspicion to their names, but then Hurricane Harvey struck just as the investigation was seemingly gaining traction. Despite the ongoing storm, there was another development in the case as Crystal’s vehicle was spotted parked outside of a local Motel 6.
Since this vehicle was retrieved with the keys still inside, it suggested that the possible would-be thief failed in his attempt to move the car. Upon taking a look at the surveillance footage of the area from different businesses, the police saw Steve near the area, checking to see if the vehicle was still there in the footage of August 26, 2017. When they questioned him about the same, Steve still maintained his innocence. As the suspicions against him intensified, the investigators were worried about his children’s safety. However, the next day, he showed up at the station to confess everything about the fact that he choked Crystal to death after a heated argument.
In his confession, Steve admitted that he wrapped his ex-wife’s body in a blanket and placed her body inside the trunk of her Mercedes vehicle after killing her. When the possibility of the death penalty was taken off the table, Steve took the detectives to a remote wooded area where he had disposed of the body of his former wife, Crystal. When the trial of Steve got underway, the defense claimed that he acted in sudden passion after she told him that she did not love him anymore. Despite the defensive arguments, the jury still found him guilty and convicted him of the murder of Crystal. Following his conviction, it did not take long before he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for strangling his former wife in June 2019.
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