The site where Samuel Little dumped the body of Denise Christie Brothers

This is the lot where the body of Denise Christie Brothers was discovered.

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

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

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

Brothers had been strangled to death and left in a bush.

When the employee first caught a glimpse of her remains, he initially believed that it was a mannequin.

Although the body had been lying there for some time, it is believed that the cold weather helped preserve it.

When detectives arrived at the scene, they immediately realized that it was Brothers. At the time, she was well known to local 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, every lead seemed to go nowhere, and Brothers' killing eventually became a cold case.

For nearly 25 years, her murder remained unsolved. Then, in May 2018, a serial killer named Samuel Little confessed to the crime.

Little had been arrested at a homeless shelter in Kentucky in 2012 on a narcotics charge and then extradited to California. Following his arrest, the authorities discovered that his DNA connected 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 finally started to confess to his crimes. Furthermore, the FBI was able to confirm that he was telling the truth.

At that point, it started to become 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.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

2700 Van Street

This Google Street View image of 2700 Van Street was taken in June 2019.

The lot has two entrances. The image above shows the eastern entrance.

The property is currently home to Steel Goode Products LLC. However, at the time of the murder, it was being used by a Coca-Cola bottling company.

Aerial image

This is an aerial image of the site. We have outlined it in red.

Note that it is unclear exactly where Brothers' body was discovered. Newspaper reports state that the employee was backing up his vehicle when he spotted her remains in a nearby bush.

Detective Sgt. Snow Robertson

This photograph shows Odessa Detective Sgt. Snow Robertson standing near the site on Van Street.

Denise Christie Brothers went missing at the start of 1994. The police believe that she had been dead for 3 or 4 weeks by the time her body was discovered.

Brothers was addicted to heroin and worked in the sex trade. As a result, she drifted between her parents' house and a nearby motel.

Her oldest son was an adult who was living in Miami. Her other two sons, Damien and Dustin, were staying with her parents.

Brothers' fourth child, Derreck, was put up for adoption due to her worsening drug habit.

Sadly, she had become addicted to heroin after her second husband started using it. As her addiction worsened, she became more and more alienated from her family.

On September 19th, 2005, her son, Dustin Powell, was shot dead outside of the Jaguars Gold Club in Odessa. He was only 21 years old.

Both of her parents passed away in 2015, which was three years before Little finally confessed to the crime.

Newspaper clipping

The autopsy report indicates that Little strangled Brothers to death with his bare hands.

Motel

Brothers was last seen in the parking lot of a motel near West 2nd Street and Country Road West, which is roughly 0.5 miles away from the lot where her body was discovered.