Dallas police solve missing persons case after 52 years
Dallas police solve missing persons case from 1973
Dallas police said they have solved a decades-old missing persons case, giving the family answers to some of the questions they've had for more than 50 years.
DALLAS - A Dallas family finally has closure after a decades-old missing persons case was solved.
The Dallas Police Department said that at the end of 2025, it finally had a breakthrough after 52 years.
A new lead sparked movement in the cold case, and a veteran Dallas detective was able to connect two seemingly separate incidents.
The backstory:
Family members reported 16-year-old Norman Prater missing on Jan. 14, 1973.
The teenager was last seen in East Dallas walking with friends. But he never made it home.
Six months after Prater’s disappearance in July of 1973, an unidentified white male was killed in a hit-and-run in Rock Port, Texas, near Corpus Christi.
Despite police and local news outlets pleading for public assistance, the body was never identified.
What's new:
At the end of 2025, the Aransas County Medical Examiner’s Office found a new photo of the unidentified body and passed it on to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
That new photo made its way to Dallas Detective Ryan Dalby’s desk. He, along with a forensic analyst with the Texas Rangers, agreed it was highly likely that this newly obtained photo was of Prater.
Prater’s older brother in Lewisville was contacted and shown the photo. He also made a positive identification.
With no DNA evidence or fingerprints to compare, that new photo was crucial in closing the case after 52 years.
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What they're saying:
"He just looked at me and goes, ‘That scar right there on the lip. That’s where he got bit by a dog. That scar on the eyebrow, that is where he got into a fight. That is my brother. We can close the case now,’" said Det. Dalby. "To bring closure to a family member who has been waiting 52 years, I really can’t describe how I feel."
What we don't know:
Det. Dalby still doesn’t know how or why Prater was near Corpus Christi. He suspects the teenager was hitchhiking in the early 70s.
And as for the hit-and-run, that investigation remains unsolved. But with an identity, authorities down there have a chance to solve it.
Dig deeper:
Prater’s case was the longest cold case missing persons investigation in the history of the Dallas Police Department.
The Source: FOX 4's Peyton Yager gathered information for this story by interviewing Dallas Police Detective Ryan Dalby.