Steven McDowell

In late August 2017 the southern portion of the United States, in particular the states of Texas and Louisiana, was preparing for Hurricane Harvey to hit land. Houston Texas resident Crystal McDowell would last be seen on August 25^th, just hours before Houston would be plummeted by the storm. The following day Crystal's uncle, Jeff Waters, who had raised her since the age of eleven, reported her missing.

Crystal and Steven McDowell had been married close to ten years when they divorced in June of 2017. Reports of exactly where Crystal was living at the time of her death, two months later were a bit sketchy. Almost all of the information stated that not only throughout the marriage, but also after the divorce, Crystal, who was now a real estate agent working for a family company, had been the breadwinner and had been supporting Steven. But, while some reports claim that she was living in her own townhouse that would be searched after she was found to be missing, other reports claim she was still living (or had moved back in) with Steven. The couple had two children, ages five and eight, that they shared custody. What is known is that on the night of August 24^th, the children had been with Steven.

Crystal was last seen in the early morning hours of the 25^th when she left the home of her boyfriend, Paul Hargrave. She told Paul that she was going to Steven's to pick up the children; Steven claimed she never arrived. On the following day her uncle, Jeff Waters, would report her missing. It was said that investigators would feel that along with the hurricane which was preparing to make land, and would do so in the next few days, Waters also made their job more difficult. One report stated that Waters and other family members had gone to Crystals townhouse and did a search, tainting any evidence law enforcement would possibly find. However, as I stated above, I am unsure about this because another report stated that Crystal still lived with Steven and I will go into later as to why I think this seems to be more of a possibility. It was also said that Waters hired a private investigator to work on the case. The latter would probably not have been as big of an issue if it had not occurred as fast as it did. It was not clear whether the private investigator learned anything that law enforcement did not find on their own or if they shared that with law enforcement. Jeff Waters would offer a $10,000 reward and Paul would offer $5,000 for information in the case.

Of course both Paul Hargrave and Steven McDowell were questioned about Crystal's disappearance. It appeared that both men were being cooperative. Initially law enforcement officers were told that the divorce between Crystal and Steven was amicable. Later they would say that it was not as amicable as had been described. While it was said that Crystal was still supporting Steven, at least in some manner, it was also said that Crystal had planned to put an end to that. The family, apparently extended family, was planning a cruise of some sort. Strangely, both Paul and Steven had been invited to the cruise. Paul would say that he declined because he believed it would be awkward with Steven there so Crystal had decided to basically “un-invite” Steven. Crystal had allegedly told Paul that Steven had not taken the new well. But, more than whether this had all occurred, the whole situation seems odd.

Aside from the fact that a divorced couple was still planning to go on vacation together is a tad on the bizarre side, it was said that Crystal had not even told Steven that she was dating Paul at all. So, it seems odd that she would have invited both men to the cruise in the first place, but secondly it seems odd that she would do so without Steven being aware of Paul. There were rumors that despite their recent divorce that Steven had intended on asking Crystal to marry him again. It was said that this was one of the probably many reasons that Steven had been upset at being un-invited to the cruise.

A few days after Crystal's disappearance, and the flood waters had receded her car was found in a parking lot of a motel. It was unlocked and the keys were in the console. Investigators would be unable to obtain any forensics from the vehicle due to the flooding that had occurred, but they also believed that the car had been left there on purpose and in essence staged. While the investigation was ongoing and it appears that law enforcement may have begun to focus on Steven, he would confess to his oldest daughter, Krysta, Crystal's stepdaughter. On the following day, September 9^th he would tell his story to the investigators and would lead them to Crystal's body. He had tied her body up, placed it in trash bags, then in Crystal's vehicle where he dumped the bags in a wooded area.

Aside from his confession, law enforcement had been able to obtain video that showed someone who resembled Steven leaving Crystal's car in the motel parking lot. They also found video of someone, again simply resembling Steven, going to a nearby Walmart, buying a bike and riding it out of the store. Whether he had admitted to these things in his confession is unknown but is important to the investigation. While the fact that he not only confessed but led investigators to Crystal's body would make it harder to say the confession was coerced, something we see often, it was still important that the investigators had as much information as they could to prove that Steven was responsible.

Apparently in his confession he claimed that he had strangled her during a fight over the fact that she had been out all night. At his trial he would claim that the strangulation “was a result of a spontaneous hug that spiraled out of control.” Prosecutors would claim that it had all basically occurred because of Steven's obsession with Crystal. They had learned that while the marriage between Steven and Crystal had lasted nearly ten years that around their first anniversary Crystal had filed for divorce. She had decided not to go through with it because Steven had threatened to kill himself if she went through with it. One of Crystal's aunt was quoted as saying “He had such a passionate love for her. It was almost unhealthy.” Reading that and knowing that Steven would eventually kill her leaves one to wonder about abuse within the marriage. And, while we can argue that his threats of suicide early in their marriage do in fact equate to at the very least emotional abuse, there did not seem to be any other reports of abuse. I am going to play devil's advocate a bit here. While I am not advocating any abuse, emotional or otherwise, we all did things that were not the smartest things would could do, especially when quite younger. We also do not know for a fact that these threats were actually made and would not have been allowed to be entered into court. To add to this to simply say that he had a “passionate love” for her, even to the point that someone believed it to be “unhealthy” does not necessarily mean that it was, nor does it or should it automatically equate to being a bad thing. My husband and I have often spoken of our own relationship, almost in this manner. While we are absent the question of abuse we have been very emotionally attached for the majority of our twenty years together there have been times that even I have questioned the healthiness of this especially through the times we are currently going through. I am not making excuses for what he obviously did in the end but I am uncertain that we can claim that there was abuse in the relationship.

I also must point out something else that bothers me about the situation, but it is something that I often struggle with attempting to communicate correctly. I am bothered by the fact that while there is all of this talk of possible abuse and Steven's obsessiveness over Crystal and yet she was at the very least keeping her relationship with Paul a secret. This is also where I question exactly where Crystal was living at the time of her death. There seemed to be no dispute over the fact that Crystal had been at Paul's home until the early morning hours of August 25^th. This was confirmed by Paul himself and later in Steven's confession. It seems odd to me that if she was living in her own place that she would have picked the children up at Steven's at such a late hour. This would have entailed waking the children in the middle of the night, but it would could also arouse Steven's suspicions and reveal her relationship with Paul before she was obviously ready to do so herself. Not that my opinion in the matter, matters, and again I am not making excuses for Steven's actions, but, regardless where Crystal lived her actions of returning to Steven's home so late in the night was not the smartest thing she could have done. In his confession Steven would say that an argument ensued between the two due to her coming home (or to his home) so late. We often say that no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors and this is true, and while Crystal may have never anticipated that Steven would go as far as committing murder, it still bothers me that she would “push” him in that manner.

Steven's trial would last five days and the jury would take three and a half hours to deliberate his fate. They would find him guilty and on June 12, 2019 he would be sentenced to fifty years. According to the Texas Department of Corrections he will first be eligible for parole in September of 2042 with a max end date in 2067.

A friend of Crystal's obtained custody of the couple's two children.