LEAGUE CITY, Texas — On Wednesday night, a family was finally able to say goodbye to a loved one who disappeared 30 years ago.
A memorial service was held at Magnolia Creek Baptist Church in League City. The church now sits next to the infamous “killing fields” on Calder Road, where the bodies of four females were dumped between 1983 and 1991.
The remains of Donna Prudhomme, a mother of two when she disappeared, were identified last week after a Houston based DNA company helped crack the cold case.
Dianne Gonsoulin Hastings is Prudomme’s sister and since 1989 has been searching for her.
“Always… I knew that she loved her kids so much that she just wouldn’t leave them.”
Gonsoulin says that over the years the family hired private investigators, working with police and the media hoping to find clues that led to a break in the case.
“I can tell you that every time there was a body found,” said Gonsoulin, “I was always waiting to see if it was her.”
Bennet Greenspan is the CEO of FamilyTreeDNA.
In late January, League City Police gave FamilyTreeDNA of Houston DNA samples from the two unidentified Killing Fields’ victims' remains, so it could be cross-referenced with the DNA profiles of customers in their digital database, they had two matches, Prudomme and another woman named Audrey Lee Cook.
“And I just was like, no. But then also it’s just a big relief - it’s a huge relief for my nephew to know that she just did not abandon them. And I knew she didn’t”
Prudomme’s family traveled from all over Texas to be at the Memorial Wednesday night to honor her life and share memories of a woman that they loved.
“She loved life. Like, with her kids it was just… she just wanted to give them everything life could offer.
“I’ve always lit candles at churches, said my rosary. So, on Monday… I lit my last candle for Donna. I don’t have to look anymore.”
There has never been a conviction in any of the Killing Fields’ deaths. Anyone with information is asked to call League City Police.
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