Man charged in deaths of missing family
Remains of Angleton husband, wife and son, 5, found burned beyond recognition on property
Ray Shawn Hudson Jr. was turning 5 last week, and his family knew exactly how they wanted to celebrate — with cake and ice cream in the park.
But the boy and his parents didn’t show, and Ray Shawn’s grandmother, Frances Rivera, got worried.
Days passed. Family members grew increasingly anxious.
This weekend, they heard the news they dreaded: Ray Shawn and his parents — Maya Rivera, 24, and Ray Shawn Hudson Sr., 28 — were found dead on rural Wharton County property, their bodies charred.
Robert Allen Satterfield, who was linked to the property, was charged Saturday in connection with the slaying of the missing Angleton family.
After nearly a week of unanswered questions, the Wharton County Sheriff ’s Office and Texas Rangers followed a tip to the property and realized it may have been the scene of a crime.
Witness interviews led them to Satterfield — who was already in jail in Fort Bend County and agreed to cooperate. Investigators took him to the property roughly 50 miles from the slain family’s home and recovered skeletal remains there.
“It is believed these remains to be the same of Hudson, Rivera and their child,” the Wharton County Sheriff ’s Office wrote in a release Sunday. “The remains are at this point unidentifiable as there had been an attempt to dispose of the bodies by burning them.”
On Saturday night, a judge in Wharton signed off on three arrest warrants for the three murder charges, which could be upgraded to capital murder once prosecutors weigh in.
The 36-year-old is now being held in the Fort Bend County Jail with bail set at $305,000.
It’s not clear exactly when the family members were last seen or where, according to Texas Equu-Search founder Tim Miller.
“I don’t think anybody knows the circumstances,” he said.
Frances Rivera, Maya’s moth--
er, said she last saw her daughter’s family on June 10 before they visited Hudson’s family in Missouri City.
“I try not to think about the hows and the whys and the whens,” she said, referencing the circumstances of their deaths.
Instead, she said, she thinks about her grandson, who called her Yaya and loved scoring goals on the soccer field.
Named after his father, “Baby Ray” loved following his dad’s lead, becoming interested in horses and trail riding.
“Anything his daddy did,” Rivera said, “he wanted to be right behind him.
The boy helped his grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s, find restrooms and remember names, Rivera said.
Mom had zest for life
When she turned 24 in January, Maya Rivera, a licensed massage therapist, expressed her love for her son and her hopes for the coming year on Facebook.
“I have 1 baby boy who I love more than life itself. I bust my ass and will continue to do so until the day I die all for him! I have a God given gift to care for people and to heal the entire mind, body, and spirit. You gotta try it out sometime! I’m officially 24 today!
“I’ve been through so much but God has whispered in my ear that this is my year! He told me “Let everything go and follow me and I will never fail you. Trust in me and I will make your dreams come true! Never give up and I promise to never give up on you!” And that’s exactly what I intend to do! I’m so blessed and thankful for my life and today will be a awesome day!”
“She loved making people feel comfortable and relaxed,” Frances Rivera said. “Her little boy was the light of her life. The light of everybody’s life. That infectious smile — everything she did, she did for him.”
Frances Rivera said family members want their three relatives buried together once the remains are definitively identified.
‘I love you, mom’
As authorities continue searching for answers and a possible motive, the Angleton family’s loved ones and supporters started to mourn online.
“Our last words were, ‘I love you mom,’ ” Hudson’s mother wrote in a post on Sunday.
Authorities haven’t said when they believe the family died.
The couple’s car was recovered in Rosenberg. A man caught driving the car was taken into custody, police said, though they declined to offer more information about circumstances of his arrest.
The Wharton County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Rangers, Angleton Police Department, Rosenberg Police Department and Texas EquuSearch pitched in on the case.