Two men were found dead inside a minivan at an auto body shop in north Harris County, Texas, on Saturday morning. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed that the discovery was made after employees at the business reported a foul odor coming from the vehicle, as detailed by ABC13.
Deputies responded to the 13600 block of Reeveston Road to investigate the scene. The minivan had reportedly been delivered to the shop on Friday afternoon by a tow truck, after the new owner purchased the vehicle at an auction outside of Harris County and sent it in for repairs because it was wrecked and not in driving condition.
Sgt. Michael Ritchie said deputies believe the bodies had been decomposing for more than 24 hours before they were discovered. Authorities have not released the identities of the two men, and there is no information yet on how they died.
A wrecked auction vehicle becomes the center of a death investigation
Detectives are now focusing on the logistics of how the van reached the property. It comes amid a string of unrelated cases that have drawn similar scrutiny to chains of custody, including one where investigators traced skeletal remains found at a foreclosure back through a property’s ownership history.
Ritchie noted that investigators want to speak with the tow truck driver who delivered the vehicle on Friday, since that person is considered a priority for understanding where the van came from and whether anything unusual was noticed during the transport.The Harris County Sheriff’s Office continues to work on identifying the victims and determining how they died.
Investigators are also reviewing records from the auction house where the van was purchased, a process that has run alongside other ongoing efforts to explain unidentified remains, such as the pattern of unexplained deaths tied to Houston bayous that officials have said are largely unconnected. For now, the investigation centers on the tow truck driver and the auction records tied to the vehicle.
Published: Jun 23, 2026 07:45 pm