The site where Denise Christie Brothers was found

This is the site where serial killer Samuel Little dumped the body of Denise Christie Brothers.

It is located at 2700 Van Street in Odessa, Texas.

Background

Brothers became addicted to heroin after her second husband introduced her to the drug. As her addiction worsened, she became alienated from her family and started working as a sex worker.

At the time of her murder, she frequently drifted between her parents' home and a motel on West 2nd Street.

Brothers had four children.

Her oldest son lived in Miami. Two of her sons, Damien and Dustin, lived with her parents. She put her fourth child, Derreck, up for adoption due to her worsening drug habit.

The 38-year-old was last seen at a nearby motel in January 1994.

Discovery

On February 2, 1994, a Coca-Cola bottling employee discovered her partially clothed body at this lot on Van Street.

Brothers' killer had strangled her to death and left her in a bush.

When the employee first saw her body, he initially believed it was a mannequin.

Although the body had been lying in the lot for approximately 3-4 weeks, investigators believe that the cold weather slowed decomposition.

The detectives who arrived at the scene recognized Brothers, as she was known to law enforcement.

An autopsy report ruled the manner of death a homicide, and a murder investigation was immediately launched.

Initially, the police identified her pimp and another man as suspects. However, each lead went nowhere, and Brothers' killing eventually became a cold case.

Her murder remained unsolved for nearly 25 years.

Samuel Little

In September 2012, the authorities arrested a man named Samuel Little at a homeless shelter in Kentucky on a narcotics charge.

He was subsequently extradited to California, where a DNA test linked him to the murders of three women in Los Angeles.

In September 2014, Little was convicted of the killings and sentenced to life in prison.

Four years later, he agreed to confess to his crimes in exchange for a prison transfer. Although serial killers have been known to inflate their victim count, investigators confirmed that many of Little's statements were accurate.

When his confessions matched key facts, it soon became clear that Little was one of America's most prolific serial killers.

In May 2018, he confessed to Brothers' murder. Seven months later, he pleaded guilty to the crime and received another life sentence.

Little's confession came too late for some of Brothers' family members.

On September 19, 2005, her son, Dustin Powell, was shot and killed outside the Jaguars Gold Club in Odessa. He was 21 years old.

Her brother, Robert (59), died in July 2012.

Brothers' parents, Robert (84) and Billie Powell (80), passed away in 2015, three years before Little confessed to the crime.