At the Austin Police Department another detective, Joseph Wayne "J. W." Thompson, began to get more involved in the Colleen Reed Case. At the time, he shared a cubicle with Sonya Urubek, and she often discussed elements of the case with him. Sonya suggested to the captain of the Assault Unit that J. W. would make a great addition to the Reed Case.
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J. W. had grown up in the Big Thicket in a small town called Sour Lake near Beaumont, Texas. He graduated from MacArthur High School in San Antonio. Like Chuck, he is a Vietnam Veteran, but J. W. was on the ground with the U.S. Marines. He smiles and shakes his head when Chuck grins and says "I flew over J. W." He is a patient, methodical, steady detective with little in the way of a professional ego. As the McDuff case grew, with more and more jurisdictions required to work and get along with one another, J. W. blended in with the McDuff posse quite well. He never tries to impress anyone; he does his job and is just as averse to publicity as his good friend Chuck Meyer. He, too, has been involved in some of Central Texas's most high profile crimes. He will discuss them in public only if he is in a courtroom and under oath. Otherwise, it is "no comment."
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APD detective J. W. Thompson (left) and ATF Special Agent Charles Meyer
(right), who tirelessly searched for Colleen Reed after her disappearance. They also
helped to establish that McDuff knew nothing about Austin's Yogurt Shop Murders.
Author's Collection.
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