Remains of missing woman found in Third Ward manhole
Police found human remains Friday afternoon in a manhole on Hadley Street, following a more than yearlong search for a Braeswood Place woman.
Activist Quanell X said he and Alex Haggerty, who was arrested in connection to the death of resident Brittany Burfield, led police to the Third Ward location that day. Haggerty was charged in her death in July 2018.
“He said, ‘When you lift the manhole cover, she’ll be in there,’ ” Quanell said. “And when the police lifted the cover, within 10, 15 seconds, we saw her there, and we saw her purse and the same identical thing that she had on when she was last seen.”
Quanell said that the 37year-old Haggerty’s family had reached out to him months before, saying that Haggerty would like to speak with him. Quanell said that when he finally went to speak with Haggerty on Friday morning, Haggerty said that he would lead authorities to the body and that he hadn’t acted alone when disposing of it.
The discovery comes just three months after Quanell garnered a lead for the location of the body of 4-year-old Maleah Davis — whose disappearance captured the nation’s attention — in southwest Arkansas by speaking to the man charged with tampering evidence in the case.
Quanell said that Tim Miller, the director of Texas Equu Search, an organization dedicated to the
search and rescue of missing persons, also asked him to speak to Haggerty, but he did not immediately do so. “This stuff takes so much out of you,” he said. “By God’s grace, I was able to get a confession.”
Burfield was 37 when she last seen June 25, 2018. Police later found her car near Richmond Avenue and Beltway 8, and Houston police charged Haggerty with her murder.
Burfield’s mother, Tricia Valentine, waited on Hadley Street as workers in yellow vests lowered equipment into the manhole to remove the remains.
“After I finished all of my crying — I have to tell you, I am really excited to have my baby back,” she said. “Brittany’s been missing over 13 months now. My son has really struggled with closure. Me, I know where she’s at, she’s in heaven with the lord. But the kids — they’ve really struggled with it. They really needed her body.”
Miller, who helped search for Burfield for more than a year, put his arm around her. Others who had combed the neighborhood for months last summer also came by to comfort Valentine.
Harry Cooper was one resident who gave Valentine a hug in the street. A year ago, he had helped with the search, which he described as lasting “every day, all day.”
“It’s good for the mother,” Cooper said of the discovery.
“I’m telling you, the emotions going through me right now cannot be contained,” Valentine said. “I’m just so grateful that God has revealed to us where she’s at.”