A woman’s body was found in a shallow grave in the backyard of a home where investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies worked overnight and today on Chapel Drive in Hueytown.
Trussville police late Friday afternoon said the remains have positively been identified as Paighton Houston. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has not yet released the cause and manner of death.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Houston family as they begin the grieving process,'' said Trussville Det. Ben Short, who has been assisting in the investigation.
Houston’s body was wrapped in some sort of fabric but her body was intact, said Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington.
Houston vanished Dec. 20. She was last seen at Tin Roof in the 2700 block of Seventh Avenue South in Birmingham’s Lakeview District.
The remains were recovered in the “muddy, nasty” back yard of the home, which is not currently occupied. Investigators arrived at the house at 9 a.m. and the transport van left the scene with the remains shortly before 1 p.m.
"It just takes time,'' said Washington. “We have to preserve the integrity of the crime scene and the integrity of the body.”
The focus of the probe is a house and surrounding property on Chapel Drive at Love Street. Authorities on the scene included Birmingham police homicide officials, Trussville and Hueytown police, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies and K9, the Jefferson County’s Metro Area Crime Center. Hueytown’s Crime Scene Van arrived on the scene shortly after 9:30 a.m.
Neighbors say an elderly man once lived at the home, but family members took him out of the house a while back to care for him.
Several large white portable tents were on the property where investigators were working.
Jefferson County sheriff’s Chief Deputy David Agee said the sheriff’s office is taking over as the lead investigative agency on the discovery of the remains. He emphasized that this is a death investigation that has not yet been deemed a homicide. "Right now we have a lot more questions than answers,'' Agee said, “but we hope to have those answers real soon. We’re gonna work hard and we’re going to find out what happened.”
Washington said it’s always a tough situation to recover human remains and today’s investigation is no different. "Somebody is missing from somebody’s family and hopefully once we identify who that person is, they’ll have closure,'' Agee said. “But it’s always a sad occasion when you have a death.”
"It’s always hard whenever you find the remains of a person because there are family members attached to those remains,'' Washington said. “Of course the most thing a family would want is to have their missing family member returned to them but we can’t give them that. The only thing we can do at this point is try to give them justice.”
According to Birmingham police, Houston left the bar about 10:45 p.m. with two heavy-set black males. Sgt. Johnny Williams said it was reported that Houston left the location willingly with the two men.
Paighton Houston, 30, has been missing since Dec. 20, 2019. Her mother posted on Facebook Jan. 3 as investigators search a Hueytown house as part of the probe. (Facebook)
She had reportedly gone to the Birmingham bar with co-workers. Friends on Facebook said Houston didn’t know the men and that the last text message from her to a coworker – about two hours after she left Tin Roof - stated she didn’t know where she was, and she felt she might be in trouble. Her mother said that text is “very concerning” and family said she has not used her bank account since she disappeared and said her phone is going straight to voicemail.
“Someone knows something, and we have to bring her home,’’ her mother posted on Facebook last week. “Her last message said, "she didn't know these people and she was in trouble. The detectives are working to find her but please help us with any information you get.”
Gov. Kay Ivey offered a $5,000 reward for information in Houston’s disappearance. Crime Stoppers also offered a $5,000 reward for a total of $10,000.
The police presence in Hueytown began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday when investigators received a tip about an ongoing undisclosed investigation. Initially Hueytown police shut down Pinewood Avenue from Johnson Drive to the girls’ softball park but later reopened that roadway and moved to the second location where more than a dozen marked police cars and unmarked vehicles congregated on Chapel Drive beginning shortly before 5:30 p.m.
One man Thursday night said investigators asked him if he had a shovel. They temporarily suspended the investigation overnight about 9:30 p.m. but taped off the house and posted Hueytown officers at the scene around-the-clock to preserve the site.
They obtained a search warrant for the house and property and set a 9 a.m. meetup time to be back out at the scene.
Hueytown and Birmingham police have declined comment. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.