Weatherford

Weatherford Police Crack Teen's Decades-Old Cold Case Murder

What to Know

  • Teen disappeared in 1987; body found four days later in rural Parker County.
  • Weatherford continued to investigate the cold case for decades; involved Texas Rangers, Secret Service in renewed investigation this year.
  • Arrest made Wednesday morning, nearly 30 years after woman's death. Police say more arrests are possible.

Police made an arrest Wednesday morning in the decades-old murder of a North Texas teenager whose body was found days after she disappeared while visiting an area lake.

Wendy Kae Robinson, 19, was sunbathing at "The Wall," a popular location at Lake Weatherford, when she was last seen alive on the afternoon of July 8, 1987.

Though her car was found near the lake the following day, her body was not discovered until four days later outside a gated Parker County ranch along the 500 block of Savage Lane -- about seven miles from where her car was located.

Police said Wednesday that since Robinson's body was discovered nearly three decades ago, her death has been investigated as a homicide and that detectives continued to follow-up on leads and tips over the last 29 years.

NBC 5 News
Ricky Lee Adkins, 59, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, in connection with the 1987 murder of 19-year-old Wendy Kae Robinson.

On Wednesday, nearly 30 years after Robinson was killed, Weatherford police announced they had arrested 59-year-old Ricky Lee Adkins at about 10 a.m. at his residence in Ranger and that he was being held in the Parker County Jail on a capital murder charge.

Investigators have not revealed what evidence led them to Adkins and said the investigation is ongoing and that more arrests may be forthcoming.

What police did say however was that the cold case was reviewed again by detectives in January 2016 and that investigators from the Weatherford/Parker County Special Crimes Unit assisted in bringing forth new theories in the investigation.

"After developing a new strategy based off old leads, detectives sought the assistance of the Texas Rangers and the United States Secret Service," Weatherford police said Wednesday in a statement.

After months of renewed investigation, reviewing case reports, taking new statements and interviewing multiple individuals, police said the Parker County District Attorney’s office presented the case to the Parker County Grand Jury who handed down an indictment for Adkins in the teen's murder.

Adkins' arrest comes just one day after police said detectives were looking at new clues in the 29-year-old murder. NBC 5 has learned he is a registered sex offender with a long criminal record and that court records show Weatherford police arrested him in 1987 for forgery just a few weeks after Robinson’s murder. Adkins would have turned 30 years old just two days before Robinson disappeared.

Speaking with NBC 5 earlier this week, Robinson's father pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.

"It was a horrible experience," her father, Jim Robinson, said. "We didn't know what to think. And the more time that passed by, the worse we felt like the situation was."

Robinson's father said she was a student at Weatherford Junior College and planned to be a teacher.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call the Weatherford Police Department at 817-598-4300. Individuals can also submit information through the Texas Rangers’ Cold Case website or by contacting the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at 1-800-346-3243. A $5,000 reward for information is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to the arrest of anyone else responsible for Robinson's death.

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