Betty Jo Norris (Texas Rangers)
AUSTIN, Texas - A woman killed in a rural Texas county over 40 years ago has been identified thanks to advanced DNA testing.
44-year-old Betty Jo Norris was killed and left along a highway for several months before her body was found in Sept. 1983.
The backstory:
On Sept. 1, 1983, ranchers found a human skeleton with clothing while working cattle along Highway 36 in rural Hamilton County, which sits west of Waco.
Investigators determined the skeleton had been left there several months before and the victim had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators found several pieces of clothing and jewelry, including:
- A pair of brown knee-length boots
- A blue-and-white polka dot blouse
- A pair of stretch blue jeans
- A Timex watch with a brown leather wristband
- Bobby pins and two barrettes with orange roses on them
Timeline:
The Texas Rangers say that several attempts were made over the years to identify Norris, including statewide announcements, forensic reconstruction images, and available DNA testing.
In January 2024, evidence from the case was reprocessed and submitted to the Texas DPS Crime Laboratory in Waco for updated testing.
That testing extracted an unknown male DNA sample from the victim's clothing in early 2025, but it was too degraded to obtain a profile. Further attempts to develop a profile from the sample also did not pan out.
DPS then submitted the victim's remains for testing and comparison through its Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program, which helped fund advanced DNA testing and genealogy research by BODE Technologies.
In July 2026, a breakthrough happened, leading investigators to relatives of the victim in Brazos and Bell counties. Those relatives pointed the Rangers to a man living in Belton whose mother had disappeared in the early 1980s.
The man, now in his 60s, provided a DNA sample for testing, and on Aug. 20, the testing confirmed the victim was in fact his mother, Betty Jo Norris.
What you can do:
Anyone with any information on Norris's case or death is encouraged to contact the Hamilton County Communications Office at 254-386-3300.
The Texas Rangers and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office are still actively investigating her death.
The Source: Information in this report comes from a release from the Texas DPS.