Peggy Merrimon and Kay Harrelson, Always Remembered In Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock, Tx. has a population of approximately 290,000 people. It’s the largest city in the Panhandle and it’s the area’s agricultural and economic hub. Lubbock is also home to Texas Tech University and the late Buddy Holly.
We also had Reese Air Force Base before it was shut down in 1997 due to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission of 1995. It’s also home to Marsha Sharp and dare I say it, former coach, Bob Knight.
Although Lubbock is not really a small town, most people know each other or know about each other. Usually, if you lived in Lubbock it’s because you were born there and a lot of times you were a 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation Lubbockite.
I was born there and spent a part of my life living there. My family and best friends still live there. If you go anywhere else in Texas and tell someone your from Lubbock, they usually consider us country folk and ask if everyone wear’s cowboy boots and hats. NO! I don’t, I also don’t like country music and I’m edujemacated too.
Lubbock hasn’t always had a lot of crime, but in the last 15-20 years it has been increasing each year. Murders, Aggravated Assaults, Burglaries and Intoxicated Manslaughter seems to have become the norm.
I moved around a lot as a kid, we lived everywhere from California to New Hampshire. People always said we were “behind the times” because we were from W. Texas. I wonder if this is what they meant.
Back then, we lived in a bubble, we didn’t lock our doors, we didn’t worry about playing outside and we talked to all of our neighbors and helped out when someone needed help. Still today, if a farmer gets sick and can’t plow his field’s everyone jumps in and does it for him.
I look at this blog as a way to have the victim’s stories heard and to make sure as many people as possible know who the victimizer is. This story carries the same message, however, I also see it as a memorial and as a testimony of a town that came together and never gave up hope.
Peggy Brown Merimon, 61, was married to Gearl Merimon. She had 7 children and 23 grandchildren. Peggy would have given the shirt off her back if she thought for a moment you needed it. Although she was once a single mother of 6 she paid sports registration fees for another child. She was far from rich but she helped anyone that needed it. She also coached basketball and baseball.
Louetta Kay Harrelson (known as Kay), 50, was the wife of Daniel (Danny) Harrelson and the mother of one son, Chris. If she wasn’t tanning or at work she was usually at home with her family.
Peggy and Kay were both from Lubbock, TX and employed by the Texas State School as clerks.
Peggy and Kay disappeared on August 9th, 2006 and although it’s been several years now no one has forgotten these two ladies, I don’t think anyone will ever forget.
Peggy and Kay were seen leaving at lunch with an unidentified man. They were expected to return that day but never did. Sgt. Jeff Baker said they left belongings behind that they would have normally taken with them if they were going to leave for the day.
Sgt. John Gomez said Peggy had a medical condition that could require attention.
Both of the ladies vehicles were left in the parking lot.
An APB was sent out that police were looking to question a man with gray hair, gray beard and glasses. He was driving an old, rusty, four door (possible) Buick. A sketch of the man was released to the press.
Peggy Merimon’s family tried to remain positive but were increasingly becoming worry-some. It was not like her to stray from her daily routine.
The police called for the assistance of The Texas Rangers and a $25,000 reward was offered by Peggy’s family for the safe return and conviction of the person that took Peggy. They were in the newspaper and on the news nearly everyday and the whole city was talking about it.
On August 16, 2006, Kay Harrelson’s family made an appeal to the news offering a $25,000 reward for the safe return of Kay and conviction of the person who had her. Mr. Harrelson fought back tears as he begged for Kay’s kidnapper to just let her come back home. The two had been married for 27 years.
Mr. Harrelson said:
“We’re completely devastated and we want her home and pray that everybody focuses on getting her home safely.” “Chris and I are in uncharted waters and we feel lost and helpless. We continue to do everything the police ask us to do and we do everything we know to do.”
At this point it had been a week and the police nor the Texas Rangers were any closer than the first day the ladies disappeared.
Then on the 17th a report stated that police were “extensively interviewing one person” but were also interviewing others and following up on other multiple leads as well. The police also had a vehicle impounded but they weren’t saying much more.
On August 20, 2009 the family requested volunteer’s to help in conducting a search for any clues that may lead to the women. 140 people canvassed the area around the State school. They looked in abandoned buildings, ditches and open fields. The volunteer’s used horses, ATV’s and cars as well as searching on foot. This would be the first of many volunteer search parties.
Sadly, it was the news no one wanted to hear, one of the search teams found Kay’s body west of Shallowater, a small town right outside of Lubbock, near the intersection of FM 179 and CR 6000. She had been decapitated and her head was found a few feet away. She was wearing blue underwear and a t-shirt. Animals had destroyed her remains and the medical examiner was never able to determine the cause of death.
At this point it had been almost 2 weeks since Kay and Peggy had disappeared. I would be lying if I said people were shocked to find Kay, very hurt and disappointed but not shocked. I can’t begin to imagine the pain her family went through when they were given the news. As a city, everyone grieved her death and was calling for the blood of her murderer.
Kay was finally laid to rest. Her family asked for privacy and the date of her funeral was never printed out of respect. A year later Mr. Harrelson and his son ran a memorial in the paper that read:
“You were taken from us too early in life. Each passing day is a constant reminder of just how much you meant to each of us. You are missed by so many, not just family and friends, but a whole city. We will always love you and will never forget what a great person you were to everyone. Love, Danny and Chris”
Police then began to focus their search on Peggy’s body in the same area. The clues seemed to have stopped.
On the 22nd, Sheriff’s Captain Don Carter said they had a person of interest they have been investigating and interviewing. The only details they would release were that he was a 56-year-old male who worked at the State School and they have searched his vehicle and home. They also said he was the last person seen with Kay and Peggy. He stated that he went home sick for the day around 12:30 or 12:45 yet surveillance showed him getting home at 12:03 with a passenger in the front seat.
On the week of the 27th, the Merimon’s asked for more search volunteer’s. This time hundred’s of people showed up to look for Peggy. They looked every day. People were taking off of work to help in the search. The message was loud and clear, everyone wanted Peggy back. The family said they had high hopes, but, they wanted to just bring her back either way.
In December the Merimon Family called for another search. This time Olton and Post residents showed up along with Lubbock residents. Again, there were hundred’s to search the area again. The family was still holding on to a small amount of hope that they would find clues that would lead to Peggy and she would still be alive, unlike Kay.
No one really ever gave up on finding Peggy Merimon. There was alway’s a small amount of hope. For a year, the investigator’s had a person of interest that they had been keeping tabs on, interviewing and even went as far as impounding his car and getting a search warrant for his home.
His name was never publicly released but everyone knew he was an employee of the State School. The Lubbock State School put him on PAID leave for almost an entire year before they let him go. This man was able to roam free, do whatever he chose and get paid to do absolutely nothing because there was not enough hard evidence to hold him.
Our State Rep. Delwin Jones sent a note advising that he should not be getting a paid vacation and to either fire him or put him to work. Obviously, they fired him. The State School paid out between $44,000-$48,000 while this person of interest was sitting at home doing nothing or doing everything that we knew nothing about…
The Merimon family asked this man to take a polygraph test. They publicly said if he passed it they would do everything they could to help clear his name and get his job back. He never submitted to the test.
On August 5, 2008, just a few days short of 2 years that Peggy had been missing and Kay had been found dead, the Merimon and Harrelson family filed a wrongful death suit against Mickey Patterson. Finally, there was an official name attached to the sketched face of evil. The people of Lubbock finally knew the name of the man they hated for the last two years. The families waited until the last minute to file before the statute of limitations ran out and was hoping putting Patterson’s name out into the public would make people come forward. Still, no one came forward.
Kay Harrelson had been dead for a little more than 3 years and Peggy Merrimon was still missing when the news broke Mickey Patterson had been arrested. It was on September 23, 2009 that Mickey was taken into custody in Bend, Oregon. Natosha Davis, Peggy’s daughter said “We’d always hoped we’d get this far, but we never really thought we would,” adding they’d lost almost all hope.
He was arrested on two charges of murder. His only comments were that he was innocent and “He’s sorry for their families”. He was then given a bail amount of $10,000,000.
It was May 13, 2010, I think everyone took a deep breath and sighed in relief as they read in the Lubbock AJ “The search is over. Peggy is finally home.”
I live in Amarillo, about 2 hours away, I remember going to work that morning and it being the only thing we talked about.
Her skeletal remains were found in a NW Lubbock field. The family said they could finally have some closure. The death of Peggy and Kay affected thousands of people. We all grieved, we all hurt, we all felt vulnerable as a community. These families will never be the same again. Even after 4 very long years, there were still searches going on, the family and community never stopped looking for Peggy. The weekend she was found there were plans to go out and search a new area. The family and the community alway’s held onto a little bit of hope that they would get Peggy back alive, they continuously offered rewards as high as $100,000. When the news came that it was Peggy’s remains it felt like our Angel cam back home. Peggy and Kay both are Lubbock’s Angel’s, they touched so many lives and they will never be forgotten.
Peggy was laid to rest on July 3, 2010.
Mickey Weldon Patterson’s trial was intially scheduled to start on June 1st, 2010. It has been delayed without a reason and a trial has not rescheduled. It’s my guess that it was delayed due to finding Peggy’s remains. Patterson has always maintained that he is innocent and has never spoke of Peggy or Kay. Personally, I’d like to see him get the death penalty, I’d even volunteer to flip the switch as would hundreds of other Lubbockites.
About the Author
Unforgotten Angels started out as Facebook group that I founded to raise awareness of child abuse/child sexual after learning about a case of a little girl named Audrina Claire Hepburn. Audrina was beat to death by her mother and still walks free today waiting for her day in court along with her boyfriend. I was so disturbed after learning about all of the details that I knew I could no longer close my eyes and look the other way. As a writer I know this is my calling, I will write about as many cases of abuse as possible to raise awareness of abuse.
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