Opal Zacharias
Real Name: Opal Lee Zacharias
Nicknames: No Known Nicknames
Location: Houston, Texas
Date: March 6, 1987
Case[]
Details: At 8AM on March 6, 1987, sixty-four-year-old Houston, Texas resident Opal Zacharias entered her garage after getting ready for work when two men suddenly attacked her, planning on robbing her. However, a struggle ensued and one of the men shot Opal. Then, for some unknown reason, they ran over her body with her own car. She was killed as a result of being run over. One of the suspects was seen fleeing and climbing over the fence, while the other took Opal's car and later abandoned it.
The two suspects fled and tips soon identified one of the men as thirty-year-old Houston resident Dang M. Le, whose fingerprints were found in her garage and on her car. For unknown reasons, he was released without being tried for her murder. A year later, tips also led to the identification of the other suspect, the alleged triggerman, Lance Bedgood, who is still at large.
In 2000, cold case detective Roben Talton was assigned to find Bedgood. She was able to discover that three of Bedgood's relatives had post office boxes that were registered to them and paid for by a fourth, and she believes that he is using them as a mail drop. Roben also believes that his relatives are helping to hide him from the law.
Suspects: Lance Bedgood and Dang Le are believed to be the two men who killed Opal. Bedgood is 5'8", weighs 140 pounds, has brown hair, blue eyes, tattoos on his arms and legs, a scar above his left eye, and was born on April 16, 1944. He is considered armed and dangerous and is wanted for the murder of Opal Zacharias.
Extra Notes:
- This segment originally aired on the August 12, 2002 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
- This case was previously profiled on America’s Most Wanted.
Results: Unsolved
Links:
- Woman Slain, Run Over By Own Auto - March 8, 1987
- 'Unsolved Mysteries' assisting local HCSO detective - May 23, 2002
- Channelview officer featured on Lifetime - July 25, 2002
- Prime suspect in murder mystery still on the run 30 years later - May 10, 2017
- Opal Zacharias at Find a Grave
- Opal Zacharias at Coldcaseworld.com