Woman’s body pulled from pond

KEMAH — Divers pulled a woman’s body from a pond in Kemah on Thursday morning. Investigators said they think the death likely was an accidental drowning.

Randee Michelle McCullough-Martin, 27, of Pearland, was with an acquaintance when she disappeared, Police Chief Bill Kerber said.
A police officer investigating an alligator sighting with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department saw McCullough-Martin on Wednesday afternoon with a man in front of his address in the 1100 block of South Kemah Drive, Kerber said.

There were several reports of alligators within the last two weeks at a different pond nearby. Alligator hunters shot one, which sank, Kerber said.

The hunters planned to return Thursday to see if the alligator’s body had floated to the surface.

While leaving the area, one of the officers saw McCullough-Martin with the man, who Kerber didn’t immediately identify but said served prison time with McCullough-Martin’s husband, who remains incarcerated.

“It was obvious they had been swimming,” Kerber said, noting there was a pond on the south side of the house.

Kerber said the officer warned the pair about reports of alligators and noticed that McCullough-Martin was intoxicated.

The man broke from the discussion with the officer and took McCullough-Martin to a floating platform on the pond, Kerber said.

“He sat her on the bench and came back to the front of the house and concluded the conversation with the officer,” Kerber said.

When the officer left, and the man went to the platform and McCullough-Martin wasn’t there, Kerber said.

The man searched the area, the house and called friends. Within 30 minutes, he called police, reporting McCullough-Martin missing, Kerber said.

“Nobody saw her go in the water and there was no evidence she had gone in the water,” Kerber said. “But to be on the safe side, we called the Galveston County dive team in.”

Nightfall came before members of the dive team arrived, Kerber said.

“They don’t like to dive in water in the dark, especially when there may be alligators,” Kerber said. “So, they made the determination to come back (Thursday) morning.”

The divers recovered McCullough-Martin’s body Thursday morning, Kerber said.

“I didn’t see any trauma, based on an initial review,” Kerber said, noting police didn’t suspect foul play.

McCullough-Martin’s body was found in about 20 feet of water, between the shore platform and another platform in the middle of the pond, said John Florence, a spokesman for the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The pond was a sand pit dug during road construction. The pit filled with water and homes were build around it, Florence said.

An autopsy, which could reveal the cause of McCullough-Martin’s death, was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Florence said.