'Orange Socks' cold case: Williamson County Sheriff's Office still investigating murder of Debra Jackson

MIT: Orange Socks cold case

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the 1979 murder of Debra Jackson, also known as "Orange Socks".

GEORGETOWN, Texas - Many knew her as Orange Socks for decades, but five years ago, she got her name back. However, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the murder of Debra Jackson.

On Oct. 31, 1979, the body of a young woman was found in a culvert off of I-35, just north of mile marker 268 in Georgetown.

The medical examiner was able to determine the cause of death as strangulation and ruled it a homicide.

"The only article of clothing she had on her was a pair of orange socks," WCSO Det. Mark McKinney said.

Abilene woman identified as murder victim in 40-year-old "orange socks" case

After four decades, the woman strangled and left behind along I-35, wearing nothing but "orange socks" has been identified. Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody said an updated forensic sketch of unidentified victim was the key.

For 40 years, she was only known as Orange Socks, but in 2019, she was identified as 23-year-old Debra Jackson of Abilene, using genealogy and tips, including from one of Debra's sisters, Angie Larned.

WCSO released a sketch of the unidentified victim on Facebook and Larned thought it looked a lot like her sister. She reached out and submitted her DNA; it was a match.

"I've been here at least a little over 20 years, and she's been in my backyard this whole time, and I never knew it," Larned said.

She says she'd love to learn more about her sister's whereabouts leading up to her death.

"I feel like anybody that knew her or anybody, it was her friend or somebody she worked with. If they could just come on and, you know, just tell us. Tell us about it. Tell us what you knew about her," said Larned.

'Orange socks' identified after four decades

Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon to release the name of 'orange socks.'

Larned told FOX 7 Austin that she believes the last area Jackson worked in was the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"She usually did maidwork for hotels and stuff like that. And I tried to track most of those companies, but [they are] no longer in existence," Larned said.

WCSO Det. McKinney says that they are working to establish a timeline of what happened to her from 1977 until her death in 1979. Anyone with any information about her whereabouts during that time period, such as places she worked or friends she visited, is asked to come forward.

At one point in time, Henry Lee Lucas confessed to killing Debra Jackson, but later recanted.

Anyone with any information about Jackson's murder is asked to call the Williamson County Sheriff's Office at 512-943-5204 or the Williamson County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-253-7867 or online. Crime Stoppers is also offering a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.