Two found dead in Bay Street Park

TEXAS CITY — Morning walkers strolling through a city park Thursday found the bodies of a man and a woman who police suspect were shot to death.

Delmus Jerome Wiggins, 28, of Texas City, and Autumn Dee Istre, 18, of San Leon, were found about 7:30 a.m. on the ground near a picnic table in Bay Street Park, Texas City police Capt. Brian Goetschius said.

Police don’t have a suspect in the case investigators are calling a double homicide, Goetschius said.

“It appears a gun was involved in both the deaths,” Goetschius said. “From visual observations, it appeared there was at least one gunshot wound to each, but there was no gun recovered at the scene.”

It was unknown how the pair arrived at the park, which is closed at night. Police found no vehicles at the scene, Goetschius said. The park’s hours are from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“It is our opinion they were killed at the scene,” Goetschius said.

The gated park’s entrance is just north of the Texas City Dike, and the bodies were found near the water behind two airplane statues.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew assisted police in looking for evidence at the scene, Goetschius said. Police also used an ATV to search for evidence, Goetschius said.

Heavy rain drenched the area much of the morning.

A woman who lives near the park said the killings were unsettling.

“I have two daughters, and I won’t let my 16-year-old walk over there anymore,” Rhonda James-Seastrunk said. “She used to go early in the morning before school started, but now, that’s a no-no.”

The neighborhood around the park is normally quiet, James-Seastrunk said.

“You see about it and read it in the news, but you never think it will happen here,” she said. “But when it’s this close, it’s really scary.”

The park, which is adjacent to a soccer field and Tarpay Park, is a popular venue during the day with children, parents, joggers and dog walkers, James-Seastrunk said.

Wiggins was last seen Tuesday in a 2000 maroon Dodge Intrepid with license plate SMC899.

The car has a gold colored trunk and was listed stolen from Galveston, Goetschius said.

Goetschius asked anyone with information on the killings to call Texas City police at 409-643-5723.