CCPD does not consider Caleb Harris case a murder

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For several months, people have been anxiously awaiting news from Corpus Christi police regarding the Caleb Harris investigation. The 21-year-old's remains were found in July after a Corpus Christi city employee discovered them at the Perry Place sewage lift station near Ennis Joslin Road.

Since the shocking news, not much has been shared with the public about what investigators know. KRIS 6 News reporter Alexis Scott spoke with CCPD Assistant Chief Todd Green about what investigators have discovered since the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student disappeared in March and what might happen next in their search for answers.

“Not much has changed since we got the autopsy results,” Chief Green told Scott.

Green began his conversation with Scott by saying that CCPD investigators meet with the Harris family almost every week to give them an update on the case.

Due to the state of decomposition of the remains, the Nueces County Medical Examiner sent them to forensic analysts at the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI). After concluding that the remains were indeed Harris', they returned to Corpus Christi, where the Nueces County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death “undetermined.”

Since that tragic day in March, many people have been wondering if any arrests have been made. However, Green said the CCPD is not treating the case as a homicide, with one particular factor standing out.

“In order to arrest someone, there has to be a crime, and we can't even prove that a crime was committed,” Green said. “We don't have a crime scene, we don't have weapons. The autopsy didn't show any serious injuries, and that's why no one has been arrested because there's no evidence that anyone was involved.”

The Harris family recently offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides information that can help lead to an arrest in this case.

“We identified a few people that we thought might have been involved,” Green said. “We looked through phone records, cell phone dumps, geofences, were able to identify the people who were in the area that night and surveillance video and were able to rule them out as being involved.”

Social media conversations have also been a hot topic surrounding the case, with misinformation spreading across several Facebook groups about theories and beliefs about what happened to Harris the night he disappeared. Green encourages people to only discuss details provided directly by law enforcement, rather than word of mouth from the community.

But the question remains: How exactly did Harris' body get into the sewage pumping station?

“The evidence we have collected shows us that the body got into the pumping station through the sewer pipes. How the body got into those pipes… well, we're back where we started,” Green said.

Green also added that the department will continue to review tips and calls from Crime Stoppers to gather as much information as possible about what happened to Harris.

He expects investigators to meet with the Harris family again next week.

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