Shivangi Sinha
In August 2017, Crystal McDowell left her boyfriend’s house in Baytown, Texas. Police were initially delayed because they were still following up after Hurricane Harvey, which had stalled the investigation for a few days. It wasn’t until her car was found and the police reviewed CCTV footage that they realized it was her ex-husband, Steven McDowell, whom she had divorced a few months earlier. NBC’s ‘Dateline: Before the Storm’ details the case and provides a timeline of how Steven was eventually apprehended.
Steven McDowell Had Been Through a Divorce Months Before His Ex-Wife Went Missing
Steven Wayne McDowell met Crystal for the first time in the early 2000s when she was working as a flight attendant. The two were completely smitten with each other, and by 2007, they were married. On the surface, it seemed like a happy and perfect relationship, but it had its own problems. According to reports, Crystal had allegedly been unfaithful multiple times, and in 2008, she even filed for divorce. However, they were able to work out their differences and eventually grew their family as well. Their children, Maui and Madden, brought a lot of happiness to their lives, and the family settled down in Baytown, Texas.
Crystal eventually changed her profession and started working in real estate. However, the relationship between her and Steven did not improve over time. In February 2017, they filed for divorce, which was finalized by June of that year. With their two kids to manage, Crystal, while preparing her own house, decided to stay with her ex-husband and the children at her old home. Their divorce seemed amicable, especially since they were living together and Crystal had even started seeing someone else, named Paul Hargrave. But things were not the same. According to reports, Steven had a hard time accepting the news and allegedly threatened to harm himself and his children multiple times. In fact, in March 2017, the police were reportedly called to their house over a similar issue.
On the morning of August 25, Crystal left Hargrave’s house early. She was last seen leaving his home, and the next day her family filed a missing person report. The police spoke to both Steven and Paul, and each pointed the finger at the other. Soon, Hurricane Harvey hit the town, and the investigation stalled until a photo surfaced showing Crystal’s vehicle in a parking lot near Motel 6 on August 28, 2017. Because of the hurricane, no DNA evidence could be collected from the car, but the police used CCTV footage to see if anyone had driven it there. They obtained the footage and saw a figure dropping the car off. Just a few hours later, they saw Steven driving up to a gas station in his car and then leaving without filling up his tank.
Steven McDowell’s Movements Near Crystal McDowell’s Car Led to His Arrest
This evidence raised suspicion against Steven McDowell, and he was called in for questioning. He claimed that on the morning of August 25, 2017, he had received a text from Crystal McDowell asking him to get water and saying that she would stay with the kids during the hurricane. However, there was no evidence of this text. When asked what he had been doing at the gas station, he said he had gone to visit a Walmart. Upon checking the store footage, the police discovered that the figure who had gotten out of Crystal’s car had indeed walked to Walmart, bought a bike, and then driven away. This person was identified as Steven.
While this was further proof against him, it was not yet concrete evidence. The police also discovered that the divorce Steven claimed was amicable was not the case. In fact, Crystal had uninvited him from a family trip and asked her boyfriend, Paul Hargrave, to join them instead. The police brought Steven in for questioning again, and this time he seemed tired. After some probing, he eventually confessed that he had killed Crystal on the morning of August 25, 2017, after she returned from her boyfriend’s house.
He said an argument broke out between them, and he had held her from behind and strangled her. Their daughter, Maui, had witnessed the attack, and when questioned by the police, she confirmed the same and said her father had asked her to keep quiet. On September 9, 2017, Steven led the police to Crystal’s remains in a wooded area in western Chambers County, Texas. He said he had placed a bag over her remains, transported them in his car, and buried them there.
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Steven McDowell is Behind Bars in a Texas Prison Today
Steven McDowell was charged with murder, and his trial began in June 2019. His defense team claimed that the crime had been committed in the heat of passion and argued that he should receive a lesser sentence. They alleged that he had been hugging Crystal when the incident occurred. However, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He is currently being held at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee County, Texas, and will be eligible for parole in 2042 after serving half of his sentence.
