Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: WED 08/23/2000
Section: A
Page: 21 Metfront
Edition: 3 STAR

10 years later, `Lover's Lane' case unsolved

By S.K. BARDWELL
Staff

Ten years after the bound and slashed bodies of Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson were found in a west Harris County field, Houston police say the case remains a mystery.

Houston Police Department homicide Sgt. Billy Belk said that he is "back at square one" in the investigation, but his desire to solve the case has in no way diminished.

"Everybody has a case that haunts them. This is mine," Belk said.

Henry, 22, was home for the summer from classes at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. Atkinson, whose 22nd birthday was only days away, had just moved home to Houston after finishing college in North Carolina, and was working in a gym.

The two left on a date the evening of Aug. 21, 1990, along with Henry's sister, Shane, and her escort. The sisters said their goodbyes when the couples left the Bayou Mama club near Westheimer and Gessner late that night.

Henry and Atkinson never returned to their homes after their date and were reported missing early the next morning.

"I was the last one to see her alive," said Shane Blaine of her sister.

Atkinson's car was spotted the evening of Aug. 22 on Enclave Round, then a secluded cul-de-sac in an undeveloped, scenic spot off the 1300 block of Enclave Parkway sometimes referred to as "Lover's Lane" - a place where many young people parked after dark.

The car's broken window was the result of a previous break-in, but blood in the car appeared fresh. When a computer check of the vehicle's license plate showed it belonged to a missing person, a tracking dog was called to search the nearby heavy woods.

The dog led police to Henry's nude body, found face down about 200 yards from the car. Her hands were bound behind her with rough hemp rope. She had been raped, and her throat had been slashed. The killer or killers had made a feeble attempt to cover her body with boards from a nearby fence.

Darkness prompted police to halt the search for Atkinson. A police officer was left to stand watch in the area until dawn, when the search began anew.

Atkinson's body was found about 100 yards from Henry's. Still clothed, a similar rope had been used to bind his hands behind him, although not as securely as Henry's.

Atkinson had been seated beneath a tree, his back to the trunk, before his throat was slashed.

Intense activity followed as a number of homicide investigators worked on the case, conducted dozens of interviews and followed up hundreds of leads.

A second flurry of activity followed the announcement five years ago of an increased reward in the case, but despite the hours spent on the case, the only real suspect ever identified in the investigation was cleared by DNA testing, Belk said.

Belk said he believes two attackers confronted Henry and Atkinson in the car. Both victims were young, healthy and athletic, and he said he doubts if the two could have been subdued by one person.

Blaine, who was 19 when her sister was killed, said whenever a major event occurs in the family, like her wedding in May, "I think of her and wish she could be here to see."

"They (the killers) cut that short and took it from us forever," Blaine said of her sister's involvement in the family. "Now I'm the oldest. You try not to think of it too much, but when you do, it's very sad."

"In every homicide, there is always someone with information," Belk said. He hopes the passage of time may have made that someone feel safer about coming forward with information.

Anyone with information in the case can call homicide investigators at 713-308-3600, or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.