Perseverance quite often pays off in law enforcement, and that was definitely the case this time when a Texas side Police detective refused to give up on a cold case.
Here is a Press Release from the Texarkana Texas Police Department:
Detective Thomas Shaddix, who took a personal interest in this cold case, had been working on it for about a year in his “spare” time between his assigned cases. His efforts eventually paid off. Looking at the investigation with a fresh perspective, he eventually discovered information and evidence that pointed directly to 28-year-old Darren King in the murder.
On March 28, 2018, John Neal’s body was found inside a car sitting on the side of the road in the 4200 block of Findley Street. He had been shot several times and then the car set on fire in an apparent attempt to destroy any physical evidence. His family had reported him missing the day before after he’d left to go meet someone and never returned.With very little information to go on from the very beginning, this case has proven to have been a difficult one to solve. However, we have never stopped working on it. When Thomas finally found that one important missing piece of the puzzle, the whole picture came into focus and made sense.King is being held in the Bi-State Jail with a $1 million bond.
Thank you, Thomas, for your diligence and hard work to bring John Neal’s murderer to justice and be able to give his family some closure. You did a great job!!