Accused serial killer William Reece indicted in deaths of Cain, Smither He led investigators to bodies before facing murder charges in Oklahoma

Convicted kidnapper William Lewis Reece, pictured in Huntsville in 2007, is suspected in a number of high profile disappearances around Texas. On Sept. 1, 2016, he was indicted in the 1997 deaths of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood and 17-year-old Jessica Cain of Tiki Island. uncovered.

Here's what you need to know about Reece and the cases he's connected with. less Convicted kidnapper William Lewis Reece, pictured in Huntsville in 2007, is suspected in a number of high profile disappearances around Texas. On Sept. 1, 2016, he was indicted in the 1997 deaths of 12-year-old ... more Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close Accused serial killer William Reece indicted in deaths of Cain, Smither 1 / 45 Back to Gallery

GALVESTON – A Galveston County grand jury Thursday handed down murder indictments against an alleged serial killer who earlier this year led investigators to the bodies of two of several women he is accused of killing nearly 20 years ago.

William Reece was indicted for the deaths of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood and 17-year-old Jessica Cain of Tiki Island. Smithers' body was discovered in Pasadena in 1997, and Cain vanished that same year.

Reece was serving a 60-year prison sentence for kidnapping when he led police earlier this year to the remains of Cain and Kelli Cox, a 20-year-old University of North Texas student who vanished from Denton in 1997.

RELATED: Reece sent to Oklahoma to face capital murder charges

Reece was transferred to Oklahoma in July to face murder charges there, but Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady has said Reece will eventually be returned to stand trial in Texas. His attorney has said that Reece began cooperating with authorities in Texas in hopes of avoiding the death sentence in Oklahoma.

Reece was identified years ago by police as the "prime suspect" in the killing of Laura Smither.

After her disappearance, a massive search was mounted through boggy swamps and woods for the aspiring ballerina, among a select few who had been accepted into the Houston Ballet Academy the year before. Her face was flashed over the nightly news for 17 days until her body, clad only in a pair of socks, was found 12 miles from her home in a Pasadena retention pond on April 20, 1997.

Reece became a suspect after investigators learned he was a registered sex offender working off Moore Ranch Road, where the child was last seen jogging. On that particular day, Reece had been let go from work early because of rain.

However, Reece was never charged, and he even got a judge to restrict officers from interviewing him again without his permission in 1999.

A MOM'S MISSION: Smither's mother says she wants to meet with Reece

At that time, he told the Chronicle, "Hey, look. Enough is enough. Either file the (expletive) murder charges ... or get off me."

The girl's parents later won a $110 million wrongful death lawsuit against Reece, who chose not to participate.

Cain, a senior at a Catholic preparatory school, disappeared on Aug. 17, 1997, as she was driving home from a high school musical cast party at a Clear Lake restaurant. Her truck was later found on the shoulder of I-45, with her purse locked inside. Reece led investigators to her remains in a horse pasture near Hobby airport.

Reece, a former truck driver, had spent almost 10 years in an Oklahoma prison for two rapes in that state before being released on Oct. 5, 1996. He has been linked to five attacks on young women, four of which were fatal, over a five-month span in 1997.

The sole survivor, Sandra Sapaugh, then 19, escaped by leaping from Reece's truck on Interstate 45. Reece was convicted the following year in her kidnapping and received the 60-year prison term in Texas.

Investigators began to zero in on Reece as a possible suspect in some of the other cold cases after advances in DNA testing connected him last year to the death of Tiffany Johnston, 19, who was abducted from the Sunshine Car Wash in Bethany, Okla. on July 26, 1997. Her body was found the following day.

TRAGEDY: Cain's remains found in Houston field

Oklahoma authorities agreed to let Reece remain in Texas to assist in the investigation of the other young women's deaths on the condition that he would be returned to Oklahoma to stand trial before charges were brought in Texas.

Reece was transferred from a Texas prison to the Friendswood city jail. He led investigators to the remains of Cain and Cox, who vanished in the summer of 1997.

Cox, a 20-year-old University of North Texas student and mother, went missing down the street from the Denton Police Department after touring the station for a criminology class on July 15, 1997. Reece helped police find her remains in Brazoria County in April.

Cox left behind a then-19-month-old daughter, Alexis, who is now 20 and a student at the University of North Texas. The Denton County district attorney is handling the investigation into Cox's death.