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Austin woman missing for 40 years, one of many on site dedicated to solving cases

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Austin woman missing for 40 years, one of many on site dedicated to solving cases


The case of an Austin woman who went missing 40 years ago is still a mystery. She’s one of many on a site designed to collect information about unsolved cases called “Solve the Case.”

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Sharon McCully disappeared on December 11, 1984.

She was doing Christmas shopping that day and had left lunch with her husband. She dropped him off at his job and drove away, last seen going east on Howard Lane towards I-35.

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Her car, an off-white 1965 Volkswagen Beetle, was found two days later, unlocked and abandoned at an apartment complex on the 8600 block of Research Boulevard, about five-and-a-half miles from her last known location. Her keys and purse were gone. 

“Sharon was not believed to have had any connection with that apartment complex,” “Solve the Case” founder Aaron Benzick said. “There’s just no information to be concerned about the husband or anyone close to her at that point.”

MISSING IN TEXAS

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When her husband got home from work, she wasn’t there. After waiting and calling her friends, he reported her missing the next day. 

“Really speaks to there being an unknown factor that gets involved in this,” Benzick said. 

McCully’s story is one of many on “Solve the Case,” a place where all the facts of a case can be aggregated. 

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“With the Solve the Case platform, we’re opening up for missing persons, unsolved homicides, unidentified persons, even fugitives that are on the run, have warrants out for their arrest and haven’t been found for many years,” Benzick said.

Benzick’s day job is a homicide detective in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He got the idea to create the website after he got a bulletin about a decades-old case of someone who went to the same high school as him. 

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“Family had expressed some frustration, ‘we’ve been trying to promote our son’s missing person case, bring awareness of the case, and some of the things we’ve shared haven’t been updated, and we don’t really know what to do with that.’ That kind of inspired me to create this home page for victims,” he said. 

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Cases on the site can come from law enforcement or families. 

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“When you create the case page on Solve the Case, we’re going to walk you through. Here are the things that should be happening in your case, during a missing person investigation,” Benzick said.

For McCully’s case and so many others across the nation, “We want to build out a database of where known offenders were operating at that time,” Benzick said. “At minimum, we want to tell Sharon’s story.”

The hope is that the community can work together to solve mysteries. 

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“Through creating this platform, we’re hoping to open up this information nationwide, get families, victims, law enforcement all on the same page in a consistent way so that we can do the most good on these missing person cases,” Benzick said. 



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Austin, TX

Athletes Race at USA Triathlon Cross National Championships in Austin, Texas

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Athletes Race at USA Triathlon Cross National Championships in Austin, Texas


Austin, Texas | April 18 

1500m swim, 29k mountain bike, 10k run 

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Complete Results 

Overall Male Andy Lee, 2:25:17 

Overall Female Jennifer Schmidt, 3:08:37 

M17-19 Michael Balbin, 3:07:57 

M20-24 Ryan Chaudoin 2:39:03 

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M25-29 Adam Holomoucky, 2:46:30 

M30-34 Chase Krivo, 2:41:52 

M35-39 Andrzej Stadnik, 2:26:34 

F35-39 Kate Hector, 3:44:19 

M40-44 Kyle Grieser, 2:30:58 

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F40-44 Jessica Thiel, 3:31:57 

M45-49 Trent Niemeyer, 2:36:28 

F45-49 Jennifer Schmidt, 3:08:37 

M50-54 Andy Lee, 2:25:17 

F50-54 Erin Trail, 4:03:32 

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M55-59 Stephen Judice, 2:39:58 

F55-59 Jeanne Hoffman, 3:25:37 

M60-64 Mike Carter, 2:58:35 

F60-64 Janet Soule, 3:13:05 

M65-69 Cliff Millemann, 3:04:24 

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F65-69 Maureen Sanderson, 5:01:15 

M70-74 Ken Gibson, 3:13:21 

M75-79 Alan Moore, 3:50:08 

5k run, 29k mountain bike, 10k run 

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Complete Results 

Overall Male Jacob Hull, 2:19:49 

Overall Female Tiffany Schwartz, 2:55:45 

M30-34 Kyle Dow, 2:27:13 

M35-39 Jacob Hull, 2:19:49 

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F35-39 Tiffany Schwartz, 2:55:45 

M40-44 Derek Armer-Derner, 2:51:48 

M50-54 Jay Moncel, 3:27:42 

F50-54 Heather Anderson, 4:38:10 

M55-59 CJ Stafford, 4:57:04 

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F55-59 Yun Saksena, 4:09:05 

M60-64 Robb Reece, 3:24:41 

M65-69 Brent Peacock, 2:50:00 

M70-74 Mark Lindsey, 4:18:47 

750m swim, 12k mountain bike, 5k run 

Complete Results 

Overall Male Tavish Quinn, 1:16:29 

Overall Female Michelle Lingenfelser, 1:52:31 

M14- C. Lockett, 1:35:47 

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M15-19 Tavish Quinn, 1:16:29 

M35-39 Michael Schleckser, 1:50:47 

M40-44 Justin Young, 1:45:18 

F40-44 Laura Marinaro, 1:59:40 

M45-49 Daniel Rossi, 1:24:42 

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F45-49 Nicole Morgan, 1:54:49 

M50-54 Angel Martinez Ineriano, 1:31:35 

F50-54 Michelle Lingenfelser, 1:52:31 

M55-59 Stephen Schwarze, 1:25:14 

M60-64 Curtis Miller, 1:40:54 

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F60-64 Nancy Hopf, 2:07:36 

M65-69 Mark Drangsholt, 1:46:218 

F65-69 Gunilla Gard, 2:10:15 

M70-74 Steve Cole, 1:36:54 

F70-74 Susan Griffin-Kaklikian, 1:57:23 

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2.5k run, 12k mountain bike, 5k run 

Complete Results 

Overall Male Saxby Stradinger 1:09:25 

Overall Female Monica Doval, 1:38:49 

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Overall Clydesdale Trevor Horton, 2:23:56 

Clydesdale 0-39 Trevor Horton, 2:23:56 

Clydesdale 40-59 Bramer Owens, 1:47:40 

M15-19 Callen Quinn, 1:34:58 

M30-34 Brian Scheel, 1:43:43 

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M35-39 Saxby Stradinger 1:09:25 

M40-44 Bryce Fluker, 1:11:52 

F40-44 Morgan Aldridge, 1:39:23 

M45-49 Michael Szermer, 1:34:03 

F45-49 Monica Doval, 1:38:49 

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F50-54 Anonymous, 2:04:11 

M55-59 Travis Wales, 1:19:48 

F55-59 Lupe Nelson, 2:08:03 

M60-64 Steve Smith, 1:14:18 

F60-64 Kim Wagner, 2:23:41 

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M65-69 Joseph Swartz, 1:46:33 

F65-69 Christine Knight, 1:57:14 

M80-84 Bill Arnerich, 3:30:30 



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Central Texas aquifers could see slight boost after week of rainfall

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Central Texas aquifers could see slight boost after week of rainfall


This week’s rainfall across Central Texas could help to bring a much-needed boost to the region’s aquifers, which have been operating at dangerously low levels.

The backstory:

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On Tuesday, the Austin area saw over an inch of rain while Georgetown received close to six inches, as the San Gabriel River rose over six feet throughout the day.

But the heavy downpour was a welcome sight for Shay Hlavaty, the communications and outreach manager at the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District. 

Created by the state of Texas in 1987, the District oversees segments of the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers, stretching from South Austin to southern San Marcos. 

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In total, the portions of the aquifers they oversee provide water to around 100,000 people.

“Groundwater is a significant water source, you know. It’s kind of the unsung hero of Texas,” says Hlavaty.

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But over the last few years, the region’s groundwater levels have been in decline.

“Since January 2022, we are missing over a year’s worth of rainfall. So, in the Austin area, we get about 32 to 34 inches a year. And so over that time, we have, you know, a 30-plus inch deficit,” says Hlavaty.

Since October, the District has been under a stage three exceptional drought. Those conditions are determined by two indicators: spring flow at Barton Springs and groundwater levels at the Lovelady Monitor Well. 

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If either of these locations drops below a drought threshold, the District could declare a more intense drought stage.

By the numbers:

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Some of the latest data shows that Barton Springs isn’t performing as it needs to support the ongoing growth of the region.

To put it into reference, the average since about 1978 at Barton springs is 60 CFS. That’s cubic feet per second. And one cubic foot is about the size of a beach ball, an average beach ball. So, 60 beach balls of water coming out every second from Barton Springs. Before this rainfall, we were closer to 12 CFS, so only 12 beach balls coming out every second, so that’s less than a quarter of average,” says Hlavaty.

That same data also shows that the Lovelady Well is 453.8 feet above mean sea level. That’s only 5 inches above the Stage 4 Emergency Response Threshold.

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“This isn’t something that’s going to go away. Even if we busted this drought and get out of it, the next drought is going to be around the corner,” says Hlavaty.

Dig deeper:

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But this week’s rain did provide a small boost, helping to prevent the district from potentially falling into a deeper stage of drought.

So, we’re still in that stage three exceptional level, and this rainfall will help us stay out of that stage four emergency,” Hlavaty told FOX 7. “It’ll help stabilize, if not increase groundwater levels and spring flow.”

The total rainfall for the Austin area in April so far is 4.14 inches, well above the typical total average for the month, which is 2.42 inches. But that sort of above precipitation must continue if there is to be any chance of drought levels decreasing.

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“We really need to have above average rainfall for months, if not years, to bust this drought,” says Hlavaty.

What you can do:

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As May approaches, which typically brings the most rainfall throughout the year, Hlavaty urges people to cut back on water use when they can, especially watering their lawns, which can consume large amounts of drinking water. 

And as Central Texas continues to see a boom in population, combined with hotter than average temperatures for February and March, conservation is as important as ever.

“It’s important to remember that a little bit of rain here, a little bit of rain there, isn’t going to best the drought. So, we all have to do our role to help conserve resources in the meantime,” says Hlavaty.

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The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Marco Bitonel

AustinEnvironmentWeather



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Judge Albright, who oversaw patent litigation boom in Texas, to resign

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Judge Albright, who oversaw patent litigation boom in Texas, to resign


U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, who before relocating to Austin, Texas, last year helped transform a tiny courthouse in Waco into a hub for much of the patent litigation in the United States, ​plans to resign, a person familiar with the matter said.



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