Blood found on missing woman’s kitchen floor, Texas cops say. Man charged with murder
About one month after a niece reported her aunt missing, a convicted felon faces a murder charge in connection to the woman’s disappearance, according to authorities in Texas.
The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office was called to Sheryl Ann Siddall’s home at about 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18, McClatchy News previously reported. Family members said they last talked with her on Sept. 12, but then the 57-year-old woman stopped answering phone calls.
“When deputies went to her home to check on her welfare, they found blood on the kitchen floor and on cabinets that made them suspect foul play in her disappearance,” the sheriff’s office said in an Oct. 13 news release.
Investigators previously said they found evidence of something being dragged into Horseshoe Lake behind Siddall’s home.
“To this date, and despite exhaustive searches, she has not been found,” authorities said. “Searches around her community and in the lake behind her home have turned up no sign of her.”
Investigators do not believe Siddall left her home on her own, Capt. David Meyers said in the release. Her wallet, purse, ID and vehicle have all been found at her house.
Her phone was last pinged by a tower near her home on Sept. 11, officials said. It has not been found.
An arrest warrant has now been issued for Donald Lee Hassler, 57, on a capital murder charge. Authorities said the convicted felon was at Siddall’s home when deputies first arrived.
He consented to a search of the home, officials said.
“Hassler told investigators he is purchasing the home from Siddall and he (claimed) that she told him she was leaving to visit her sister in Oklahoma,” the sheriff’s office said on Sept. 19.
The man was initially arrested and booked into the the Liberty County Jail on a charge of felon in possession of firearms, authorities said, as eight firearms were found during the investigation.
Since his earlier arrest, “Hassler pleaded the fifth and has not been forthcoming with information about Siddall’s disappearance,” according to the release.
Hassler is being held without bond, records show.
“We still want to find Siddall, and we will not give up until we do!” Meyers said in the release. “We want to help bring some sort of closure to her family. They are already in talks of having a memorial service for her soon.”
Siddall is a grandmother, and “all the kids in the family are her pride and joy,” her niece, Amanda Turner, told KTRK.
Horseshoe Lake is about 70 miles northeast of Houston.
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