'Swimsuit Boy' Mystery: 'Candy Man' Serial Killer's Last Victim Seen in Facial Rendering to Uncover Identity 50 Years After Body Was Found
Aug. 15 2023, Published 6:35 p.m. ET
The last-known victim of the deranged "Candy Man" serial killer, Dean Corll, can be seen in a new facial rendering showing what he may have looked like amid efforts to identify him 50 years after his body was discovered, RadarOnline.com can report.
Corll, a local electrician, acquired the chilling nickname from working at his family's candy company when he was younger, having been known to hand out some for free.
In the image from forensic artists released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, "Swimsuit Boy," AKA "John Houston Doe," appeared to be a young man with shaggy brown hair. He is speculated to be between the age of 15 to 18 when he met his tragic end and is estimated to be 5' 2" to 5' 7" tall.
The victim, whose reference number is ML73-3356, was the last of the corpses found in the boat shed on Silver Bell Street in southwest Houston, Texas, where investigators would locate 17 bodies wrapped in plastic or sheets and buried under a layer of lime plaster.
The NCMEC released the new image of "Swimsuit Boy" and said that based on the condition of the remains, he was likely dead for 12 months or more prior to the recovery.
He was found with belted "Catalina" swim trunks with vertical red, turquoise, gold, and dark blue stripes featuring the letter "C" with golden wings on the buckle paired with a khaki-colored long-sleeved shirt that tied in the front, according to a release. He was also wearing dark blue corduroys, brown leather cowboy boots, and a knotted leather ankle bracelet.
Corll murdered at least 28 teenagers and young men in Houston and Pasadena during his vicious killing spree.
His former accomplice Elmer Wayne Henley, who later fessed up to direct involvement in six of the killings, fatally shot 33-year-old Corll with the killer's own .22 pistol a day before the bodies were found in August 1973.
Henley allegedly yelled out, "I can't go on any longer! I can't have you kill all my friends!" before he pulled the trigger six times, Texas Monthly reported.
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It was revealed that Corll paid then-teen Henley and fellow teen David Owen Brooks to bring him local boys with the promise of rides and parties, as the duo testified they were paid $200 per victim brought to Corll.
Henley got six consecutive life sentences and remains behind bars. Brooks died in 2020 while still incarcerated.