It has been over two decades since 34-year-old Kim Langwell disappeared and former Beaumont, Texas, Detective Joe Ball still relives those early days of the investigation time and time again. Det. Joe Ball: “This case, even after I retired… This case has haunted me because I couldn’t find her.” Det. Joe Ball: “I felt like I had failed. Peter Van Sant: And you felt that you failed the family? Det. Joe Ball: Yes. And her.
The haunting case of Kimberly Langwell
On July 10, 1999, a day after Kim Langwell failed to arrive home, Ball was summoned to a strip mall parking lot in front of an Eckerd Pharmacy. Tiffani McInnis: “My mom’s car is there and nobody’s checked it out. We need to see what’s in the car.”
Kim’s daughter, Tiffani McInnis, who was just 15 at the time, and Kim’s sister, Susan Butts, had already arrived at the scene.
But no one could recall seeing anyone get in or out of Kim’s car. Esther Randall: “I do know that they said to me, maybe she just went off. Maybe she just had started a new life. And left her child? No, she didn’t. She didn’t do that.”
Esther says Kim had shared her fear of Terry Rose well before her disappearance. Esther Randall: “I’m afraid he’s gonna kill me. If I leave, he’s gonna kill me.”
McCormick began sending Kim love letters – dozens of them. He also sent disturbing photo collages. Grainy copies were given to “48 Hours” by investigators.
Esther said that Kim was upset about McCormick’s bizarre behavior. But she didn’t report him for fear of retribution.
Detectives say, despite McCormick’s obsessive behavior, he had an alibi. Around the time Kim disappeared, he told investigators he was at a “grocery store” to “buy some chips” for a poker game. And he had the receipt to prove it.
After decades of investigation, in 2023, the TV program “Cold Justice” chose to investigate the unsolved case and the Beaumont Police Department appointed detectives to work alongside them. Det. Heather Wilson: “When I got assigned the case… we set… the bar pretty low.”
Detective Heather Wilson became the lead investigator working alongside Lieutenant Mitch Sliger and Detective Jesus Tamayo. They began by looking at all the original suspects once again – like Kim’s last boyfriend, Ken Weatherford.
Weatherford declined an interview with “48 Hours.” He was actually with Tiffani around the time Kim went missing, so investigators ruled him out.
So they focused on Terry Rose, Kim’s ex-boyfriend. Rose had dated and lived together with Kim for about six years. Tiffani McInnis: “I do know that she kept a… friendly relationship. He would help her do things.”
In fact, the night Kim disappeared, Kim had stopped by Terry Rose’s house on the way home from work.
Just two days after Kim’s disappearance,
