For one family in the town of Orange, Texas, the Independence Day holiday would be a time not of celebration, but of unthinkable tragedy. At some time on the night of July 4th, 2002, someone crept into the Finley home and spirited away a four-year-old girl named Dannarriah, who was asleep in her bed. She was only weeks away from her fifth birthday.
Residents of the close-knit community were shocked, and a frantic search for the child ensued. Sadly, though, four days later, the little girl’s body was discovered in a ditch near State Highway 82 on Pleasure Island, approximately 27 miles from her home. She had been raped and murdered.
Despite the valiant efforts of law enforcement, the case quickly stagnated, and no arrests were ever made. In 2022, on the twentieth anniversary of the crime, police made a renewed plea to the public, doubled the offered reward money, and told the media that they believe more than one person may have been involved in Dannarriah’s abduction. They further asserted that improvements in DNA technology gave them confidence that the murder would finally be solved.
As of this writing, though, there have been no further developments.
Crime Immemorial 