Tuscaloosa Remains: A Third Murder Charge Filed

Case No. DHF-096 | Subject: Skeletal remains of an unidentified man found in a wooded area behind the River Road Apartments in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; De'Kendrick Crawford, 24, already charged with capital murder in a July double homicide, has been charged with murder in the unidentified man's death | Date: Thursday 12 November 2026 (remains found, per the Tuscaloosa Thread; The Tuscaloosa News dates the discovery to Friday 13 November); Friday 13 November 2026 (charge announced) | Location: River Road Apartments, Eighth Avenue Northeast, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA | Status: CHARGED

Posted: 14 November 2026

Status stamp: CHARGED

Why this file is stamped CHARGED: The stamp records only the position as it stands on 14 November 2026. On Friday 13 November 2026, the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit announced that De'Kendrick Crawford, 24, had been charged with murder in connection with skeletal remains found in a wooded area behind the River Road Apartments in Tuscaloosa. The remains have not been identified, no cause or manner of death has been determined, and the investigation is ongoing. Crawford is charged, not convicted. A charge is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. He denied involvement when investigators interviewed him, according to the Violent Crimes Unit. If the remains are identified, if the charge changes, or if any further official statement changes the position, this file will be updated, dated, and re-stamped if the facts require it — never quietly rewritten.

Image note for readers: All images in this file are original illustrations created for Dark History Files. They are atmospheric artwork, not photographs and not real evidence. No image in this file depicts the unidentified man, De'Kendrick Crawford, any member of any family, any investigator, any official, or any real person, and no image depicts any death, any injury, or any violence.

Caption: Case card for DHF-096 — the Tuscaloosa remains. Status: CHARGED.

THE FILE CARD

Case File No.	DHF-096
Subject	Skeletal remains of an unidentified man were found in a wooded area behind the River Road Apartments in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. De'Kendrick Crawford, 24, who was already charged with capital murder in the July 2026 shooting deaths of two people in Brookwood, has been charged with murder in the unidentified man's death.
Date	Thursday 12 November 2026 (remains found, per the Tuscaloosa Thread; The Tuscaloosa News dates the discovery to Friday 13 November); Friday 13 November 2026 (charge announced at a press conference).
Location	Wooded area behind the River Road Apartments, Eighth Avenue Northeast off Jack Warner Parkway, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
Status	CHARGED
Investigating authorities	Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit, led at the press conference by Co-Commander Captain Jack Kennedy; Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (examining the remains).
Victim	Unidentified man, believed by investigators to be a Black man between 40 and 70 years old, who may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze of an unknown color and may have frequented the apartments at 1821 10th Avenue in Tuscaloosa. His identity has not been established.
Charged	De'Kendrick Crawford, 24 — charged with murder in the death of the unidentified man. He denied involvement when interviewed by investigators, according to the Violent Crimes Unit. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent. He was already charged with capital murder in the July 6, 2026 deaths of Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, in Brookwood.
One-line summary	Witnesses said a man already charged with a July double murder had told them he had killed someone else first — and in the woods behind a Tuscaloosa apartment block, investigators found skeletal remains that belonged to a man nobody has yet been able to name.

THE CASE

The Woods Behind the Apartments

The River Road Apartments sit on Eighth Avenue Northeast off Jack Warner Parkway, on the north-eastern side of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Behind the apartment blocks there is a wooded area — pine trees and undergrowth, the kind of ground that hides what is put into it.

It was there, on Thursday 12 November 2026, that investigators found skeletal remains. The Tuscaloosa Thread, which covered the case in full, dates the discovery to that Thursday; The Tuscaloosa News dates it to Friday 13 November. This file follows the Thread's dating, and records the difference here rather than hiding it. What both reports agree on is the place — a wooded area behind the River Road Apartments — and what was found there: skeletal remains, partly buried, that appeared to have been deliberately concealed.

At a press conference on the Friday morning, Captain Jack Kennedy, Co-Commander of the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit, told reporters that the remains had been intentionally concealed since July and were heavily degraded. That is the whole of what the authorities have said in public about the condition of the remains. No cause of death has been stated. No manner of death has been stated. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences is examining and testing the remains, and the work of identifying the dead man has only just begun.

The Words That Led Them There

The remains were not found by chance. According to the Violent Crimes Unit, witnesses came forward during the week of the discovery and told investigators that De'Kendrick Crawford had said he had killed another man in Tuscaloosa — before the July killings in Brookwood for which he was already charged.

More witnesses were then found, and they did not all tell the same story. The Tuscaloosa News reports that additional witnesses told investigators Crawford had given differing accounts of the alleged killing. The Tuscaloosa Thread reports the same: each witness shared a different account of how Crawford had said he committed the murder. That disagreement is part of the record, and this file records it as the authorities described it — not as a settled account, and not as evidence that any one version is true.

Investigators then pieced together the witnesses' information, compared it with digital evidence to corroborate some of the locations and events described, and analyzed Crawford's movements. On the basis of the details Crawford had allegedly given to witnesses, they went to the wooded area behind the River Road Apartments and found the remains. That chain — a claim made to witnesses, checked against digital evidence and movements, then tested against the ground — is the whole of the public account of how the body was found. The witnesses have not been named, and the digital evidence has not been described.

Crawford denied involvement when investigators interviewed him, according to the Violent Crimes Unit. He was then charged with murder in connection with the unidentified person's death. A denial followed by a charge is not a contradiction: a charge is the authorities' decision to put an allegation before a court, and the denial is the accused's position. Both are recorded here, and the court is where they will be weighed.

The Man Without a Name

The most important person in this file has no name. The investigators believe the remains belong to a Black man between 40 and 70 years old. They believe he may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze, of an unknown color. They believe he may have frequented the apartments at 1821 10th Avenue in Tuscaloosa — though they do not know whether he lived there.

Every part of that description is qualified, and the qualifications matter. "Believed to be" is not "is". "May have owned or used" is not "owned". "May have frequented" is not "lived at". The description is an appeal, not a biography: it is the set of details the police have released so that someone, somewhere, might recognise the man and come forward with a name. The Violent Crimes Unit has asked anyone who knows of a missing person matching the description, or who has information that could help investigators, to contact the unit at 205-464-8692.

That appeal is the reason this file exists in its present form. An unidentified victim is not an abstraction. Somewhere there is a person who has not come home, whose absence may have been reported, or may not have been reported at all. The public record does not say whether he had family who do not know where he is, or no one at all. What it says is only that he is believed to have been between 40 and 70, that he may have driven a Chevrolet Cruze, and that he may have spent time around the 10th Avenue apartments.

How long he had been dead is not settled in the public record. Captain Kennedy said the remains had been intentionally concealed since July. No date of death has been established, and no formal finding on the cause or manner of death has been released. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences is working with the Violent Crimes Unit to identify the remains, and identification — through dental records, DNA, or some other forensic route — is the first step everything else depends on. Until the man has a name, there is no missing-person report to match him to, no family to notify, and no way to say when he was last seen alive.

The July Killings in Brookwood

The new charge cannot be understood without the case it follows. On Monday 6 July 2026, Brookwood police were asked to conduct a welfare check at a residence in the 12900 block of Alabama Junction Road, in Brookwood, a small town east of Tuscaloosa. The homeowner was out of the country and had been unable to contact a friend who was house-sitting at the address and caring for the homeowner's dog. Reviewing footage from her doorbell cameras, the homeowner had seen a man acting suspiciously on the back porch during the late-night and early-morning hours of July 5 and 6. She contacted her landlord, who requested the welfare check.

When officers entered the home, at about 1 p.m., they found one person dead near the front of the residence. After securing the scene, they found a second victim, a woman, dead inside a bedroom closet. Both had been shot. A dog inside the home had also been shot and killed.

The victims were Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, a father of three, and Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, a University of Alabama student. Alvarez-Duenas had been house-sitting for a friend and caring for the friend's dog. Both had worked at a Tuscaloosa restaurant, Buffalo Phil's. Investigators said Crawford and the two victims were acquaintances who had previously worked together at a local business, and that the homeowner knew them through that workplace.

The Violent Crimes Unit took over the investigation. Investigators identified Crawford as a suspect using the doorbell-camera footage, electronic devices recovered from the scene, and other evidence. A capital murder warrant was obtained, charging Crawford with the deaths of two or more people, and the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force was contacted to help find him.

Within hours, authorities found Crawford at a relative's apartment on Deerfield Drive in Northport. He refused to leave the residence, and officers secured the apartment building. After a tactical entry and search, officers found him hiding in an attic crawl space and took him into custody about ten hours after the victims were discovered. He was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on an existing warrant and on the capital murder charge, and he was held without bond.

Crawford was already wanted at that time on an outstanding felony warrant for shooting into an occupied building, stemming from a May 2026 incident near the University of Alabama campus. Investigators said he had been fired from a contractor position and had allegedly fired several shots as he drove away, striking an occupied office building adjacent to Coleman Coliseum.

No motive for the July killings had been established, Captain Kennedy said at a news conference on July 7, 2026. That remains the position in the public record. No motive has been released for the new charge either. This file states no motive for either case, because none has been given by any official source.

Two Cases, Not One

At the Friday press conference, Captain Kennedy was asked, in effect, whether the two cases were one case — whether the man already charged with two murders was now, in the public sense of the words, a serial killer. His answer, as reported by WVTM 13, was careful: the killings are being treated as separate incidents of murder, and at this time investigators do not believe the incidents are connected. The legal position is that there are two separate cases. This file follows that position, and does not use the word "serial" anywhere.

That distinction is not a technicality. It is the difference between what the public can see — one man, charged in two cases, with three dead — and what the authorities have actually said — that the cases are separate, that no connection between them has been established, and that each will stand or fall on its own evidence. The July case rests on doorbell footage, electronic devices, and a scene. The new case rests on what witnesses say Crawford told them, on digital evidence said to corroborate some of it, and on remains found where those accounts pointed.

Kennedy also said, at the same press conference, that investigators hoped there were no other victims. That hope is recorded here as it was reported — a statement by the commander of the unit, not a finding — and it is the reason the investigation is described, in every report, as ongoing.

What Is Not Known

The unknowns in this file are larger than the knowns, and they should be stated as plainly as the facts. The dead man's name is not known. The date of his death is not known. The cause and manner of his death have not been determined. Whether the Chevrolet Cruze the investigators mention has been found, or whether it exists at all beyond the witnesses' accounts, has not been stated. Whether the man lived at the 10th Avenue apartments, or only spent time there, has not been established.

The witnesses have not been named, and the differing accounts they gave have not been set out in public. Which details the digital evidence corroborated, and which it did not, has not been stated. What Crawford is said to have told the witnesses, in his own words, has not been released — only the investigators' summary of it. And the defense position, beyond the denial reported by the Violent Crimes Unit, is not known: no lawyer's statement has been reported, no plea has been entered in public on the new charge, and no court date has been announced for it.

Caption: Illustration of woods behind apartment buildings at dusk — atmospheric artwork, not a photograph of any place in this case, and not evidence.

TIMELINE

• May 2026 — De'Kendrick Crawford is fired from a contractor position and allegedly fires several shots as he drives away, striking an occupied office building adjacent to Coleman Coliseum near the University of Alabama campus. A felony warrant is issued for shooting into an occupied building. — The Tuscaloosa News, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 7 July 2026 (read in full). Weekday not stated in the reporting; no exact date given.
• Monday 6 July 2026 — Brookwood police conduct a welfare check at about 1 p.m. at a residence in the 12900 block of Alabama Junction Road and find Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, shot to death inside the home; a dog is also found shot and killed. — The Tuscaloosa News, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 7 July 2026 (read in full). Weekday verified: 6 July 2026 was a Monday.
• Tuesday 7 July 2026 — Crawford, 24, is arrested at a relative's apartment on Deerfield Drive in Northport after a multi-agency operation, found hiding in an attic crawl space about ten hours after the victims were discovered. He is booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on the outstanding May warrant and charged with capital murder. He is held without bond. — The Tuscaloosa News, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Alabama Gazette, July 2026 (read in full). Weekday verified: 7 July 2026 was a Tuesday.
• Week of 9 November 2026 — Witnesses come forward and tell investigators that Crawford said he had killed another man in Tuscaloosa before the July 6 killings. Additional witnesses are located; they give differing accounts. Investigators compare the accounts with digital evidence and analyze Crawford's movements. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full).
• Thursday 12 November 2026 — Skeletal remains are found in a wooded area behind the River Road Apartments on Eighth Avenue Northeast in Tuscaloosa. The remains are partly buried and appear to have been deliberately concealed. — Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full; the report dates the discovery to Thursday 12 November). The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full), dates the discovery to Friday 13 November; this file follows the Thread's dating and records the difference. Weekday verified: 12 November 2026 was a Thursday.
• Friday 13 November 2026 — At a Friday morning press conference, Captain Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit announces that Crawford has been charged with murder in connection with the unidentified person's death. Kennedy says the remains were intentionally concealed since July and heavily degraded, and that the victim is believed to be a Black man between 40 and 70 who may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze and may have frequented the apartments at 1821 10th Avenue. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences is examining the remains. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full); WBRC FOX6 News, 13 November 2026 (press-conference report, read via published posts); WVTM 13, 13 November 2026 (press-conference report, read via published posts). Weekday verified: 13 November 2026 was a Friday.

EVIDENCE & LEADS

• The remains (Thursday 12 November 2026): Skeletal remains were found in a wooded area behind the River Road Apartments on Eighth Avenue Northeast off Jack Warner Parkway, Tuscaloosa. The remains were partly buried and appeared to have been deliberately concealed. At the Friday press conference, Captain Kennedy said they had been intentionally concealed since July and were heavily degraded. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full). No cause or manner of death has been determined.
• The witness accounts (week of 9 November 2026): Witnesses came forward and told investigators that Crawford had said he killed another man in Tuscaloosa before the July 6 killings. Additional witnesses were located, and they gave differing accounts of the alleged killing. Investigators pieced together the information provided by the witnesses and compared it with digital evidence to corroborate some of the locations and events described. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full). The witnesses have not been named; the digital evidence has not been described.
• The movements analysis: After reviewing the witness statements and comparing them to digital evidence, investigators analyzed Crawford's movements and located the skeletal remains on the basis of details Crawford allegedly provided to witnesses. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full).
• The victim description: Investigators believe the unidentified victim was a Black man between 40 and 70 years old who may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze of an unknown color. Authorities also believe he may have frequented the apartments at 1821 10th Avenue in Tuscaloosa, though they do not know whether he lived there. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full, quoting Captain Kennedy). Every part of this description is qualified in the reporting; this file keeps the qualifications.
• The denial and the charge: Crawford denied involvement when interviewed by investigators, according to the Violent Crimes Unit. He was subsequently charged with murder in connection with the unidentified person's death. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full).
• The forensic work: The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will examine and test the remains as authorities work to determine the victim's identity. — The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 13 November 2026 (read in full).
• The July case (background, 6–7 July 2026): Brookwood police found Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, shot to death inside a residence in the 12900 block of Alabama Junction Road after a welfare check requested by the homeowner, who was out of the country. Bates, a University of Alabama student, was found inside a bedroom closet; a dog in the home had also been shot and killed. Investigators identified Crawford as a suspect using doorbell-camera footage, electronic devices recovered from the scene and other evidence; Crawford and the victims were acquaintances who had previously worked together at a local business. He was arrested on Tuesday 7 July 2026 at a relative's apartment on Deerfield Drive in Northport, found hiding in an attic crawl space, and charged with capital murder. He was held without bond. — The Tuscaloosa News, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Alabama Gazette, July 2026 (read in full).
• The May 2026 warrant (background): Crawford was already wanted on a felony charge of shooting into an occupied building stemming from a May 2026 incident near the University of Alabama campus, in which he had allegedly fired several shots as he drove away after being fired from a contractor position, striking an occupied office building near Coleman Coliseum. — The Tuscaloosa News, 7 July 2026 (read in full); Tuscaloosa Thread, 7 July 2026 (read in full).
• No motive released: No motive for the July killings had been established, Captain Kennedy said at a news conference on 7 July 2026. No motive has been released for the new charge. — The Tuscaloosa News, 8 July 2026 (search read, reporting the 7 July news conference); The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 (read in full).
• Separate cases: At the 13 November 2026 press conference, Captain Kennedy said the killings are being treated as separate incidents of murder and that investigators do not believe the incidents are connected at this time. — WVTM 13, 13 November 2026 (press-conference report, read via published posts). This file does not describe Crawford as a serial killer.
• What is NOT evidence in this file: any motive for either killing (none has been released); any formal cause or manner of death for the unidentified man (none has been determined); any claim about how long the man had been dead beyond Kennedy's statement that the remains were intentionally concealed since July; any claim that the two cases are connected (the authorities say they are being treated as separate incidents); any claim about what Crawford said to the witnesses beyond the investigators' summary (his own words have not been released); any claim about the identity of the victim (he has not been identified); any claim drawn from social-media commentary about the case (none of it comes from any official source and none of it is in this file).

Caption: Illustration of a quiet apartment street at dawn — atmospheric artwork, not a photograph of any place in this case, and not evidence.

STILL UNKNOWN

• Who is the dead man? The remains have not been identified. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences is examining them, and no identification has been announced.
• When did he die? Captain Kennedy said the remains had been intentionally concealed since July. No date of death has been established, and no formal finding on the cause or manner of death has been released.
• What happened to the Chevrolet Cruze? Investigators believe the man may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze of an unknown color. Whether the vehicle has been found, or whether it exists beyond the witnesses' accounts, has not been stated.
• Did he live at the 10th Avenue apartments? Authorities believe he may have frequented the apartments at 1821 10th Avenue, but they do not know whether he lived there.
• What exactly did the witnesses say? The witnesses have not been named, their differing accounts have not been set out in public, and Crawford's own words — as he is said to have spoken them — have not been released. Only the investigators' summary has been made public.
• What will the defense be? Crawford denied involvement when interviewed, according to the Violent Crimes Unit. No lawyer's statement has been reported, no plea has been entered in public on the new charge, and no court date has been announced for it.
• Are there other victims? At the press conference, Captain Kennedy said investigators hoped there were no other victims. Whether there are others is not known, and the investigation is ongoing.
• What happens next in court? No court date has been announced for the new murder charge. Whether the charge changes, and when the case will be heard, are unknown.

What would change this file: if the remains are identified; if a cause or manner of death is determined; if the charge changes; if a court date is set or a plea is entered; if the July case moves to trial; or if any further official statement changes the position, this file will be updated with the date, the source, and the new stamp if the facts require it — never quietly rewritten. Until then, the stamp stays CHARGED.

WATCH THE FULL STORY

No companion video yet. If Dark History Files' sister channel Curiozoid publishes a video on this case, it will be linked here.

SOURCES

• The Tuscaloosa News, 13 November 2026 — "New murder charge filed against Tuscaloosa suspect" (https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/crime/2026/11/13/tuscaloosa-suspect-charged-in-new-murder-case/92762699007/): De'Kendrick Crawford, 24, charged with murder after unidentified skeletal remains were found partially buried behind River Road Apartments on Eighth Avenue Northeast off Jack Warner Parkway; the discovery followed a witness telling authorities Crawford had claimed he killed an unidentified man in Tuscaloosa before the July 6 killings near Brookwood; additional witnesses gave differing accounts; investigators pieced together the witness information, compared it with digital evidence, analyzed Crawford's movements and located the remains on the basis of details Crawford allegedly provided to witnesses; the remains appeared deliberately concealed; Crawford denied involvement when interviewed and was subsequently charged; investigators believe the victim was a Black man between 40 and 70 who may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze of an unknown color and may have frequented the apartments at 1821 10th Ave., though it is not known whether he lived there; the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will examine and test the remains; tip line, Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, 205-464-8692; Crawford was previously charged with capital murder in the July 6 deaths of Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22. Read in full on 14 November 2026.
• Tuscaloosa Thread (WTUG), 13 November 2026 — "Human Remains Found in Tuscaloosa Connected to Brookwood Murders" (https://wtug.com/ixp/993/p/dekendrick-crawford-tuscaloosa-murder/): witnesses came forward this week saying Crawford told them he had committed another murder before the July 6, 2026 double homicide in Brookwood; investigators corroborated the statements with additional witnesses, each sharing a different account; after reviewing the statements and comparing them to digital evidence, investigators analyzed Crawford's movements and located skeletal remains in a wooded area behind River Road Apartments on 8th Avenue Northeast on Thursday, November 12; at a Friday morning press conference, Co-Commander Jack Kennedy said the remains, intentionally concealed since July, were heavily degraded and the victim has not been identified; Kennedy is quoted: the victim is believed to be a Black male 40–70, who may have a vehicle, an unknown-color Chevrolet Cruze, and may have frequented 10th Ave Apartments, though it is unknown if he was a resident; Crawford has been charged with the murder of the unknown victim; the Alabama Department of Forensic Science is working with the VCU to identify the remains; tip line 205-464-8692. Read in full on 14 November 2026.
• The Tuscaloosa News, 7 July 2026 — "Man charged with capital murder in Brookwood deaths" (https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/crime/2026/07/07/brookwood-shooting-suspect-charged-with-capital-murder-in-deaths-of-2/90832753007/): two people found shot to death inside a Brookwood-area home July 6 after a welfare check at about 1 p.m. at a residence in the 12900 block of Alabama Junction Road; the homeowner, out of the country, had been unable to contact a friend house-sitting and caring for a dog, and had reviewed doorbell-camera footage showing a man acting suspiciously on the back porch in the late-night and early-morning hours of July 6; one victim found near the front of the residence, the second, a woman, in a bedroom closet; both shot; a dog also shot and killed; victims Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, a University of Alabama student; investigators used doorbell-camera footage, electronic devices recovered from the scene and other evidence to identify De'Kendrick Crawford, 24; Crawford and the victims were acquaintances who had previously worked together at a local business; capital murder warrant for the deaths of two or more people; U.S. Marshals Service Task Force contacted; Crawford found at a relative's apartment on Deerfield Drive in Northport, refusing to leave, then found hiding in an attic crawl space and taken into custody about ten hours after the victims were discovered; already wanted on an outstanding felony warrant for shooting into an occupied building stemming from a May 2026 incident near the University of Alabama campus, in which he had been fired from a contractor position and allegedly fired several shots as he drove away, striking an occupied office building adjacent to Coleman Coliseum. Read in full on 14 November 2026.
• Tuscaloosa Thread (WTUG), 7 July 2026 — "UA Student Among Two Killed in Brookwood; Suspect Arrested" (https://wtug.com/ixp/993/p/brookwood-murders-arrests/): Crawford, 24, charged with capital murder; taken into custody Tuesday after a multi-agency operation ending with officers finding him hiding in an attic crawlspace at a Northport apartment complex on Deerfield Drive, roughly ten hours after the victims were discovered; victims Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and Bates, 22; the victims, Crawford and the homeowner all knew each other through a shared workplace; the home's primary resident was out of the country with a friend housesitting over the holiday weekend, and after being unable to reach the housesitter she saw a suspicious figure on her back porch in the late-night and early-morning hours of July 5 and 6 on doorbell camera footage; Alvarez-Duenas found immediately on entry, Bates in a back bedroom closet, both fatally shot, as was a dog; Crawford already had an outstanding felony warrant from May 2026 for shooting into an occupied building after being terminated from a contractor job on the UA campus, striking an occupied office building adjacent to Coleman Coliseum, and had been actively evading law enforcement in that case; booked on his outstanding warrant and two counts of capital murder. Read in full on 14 November 2026.
• Alabama Gazette, July 2026 — "Suspect Captured In Attic Crawlspace After University Of Alabama Student, Friend, And Dog Found Shot To Death In Brookwood" (https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2026/07/01/news/suspect-captured-in-attic-crawlspace-after-university-of-alabama-student-friend-and-dog-found-shot-to-death-in-brookwood/11736.html): Crawford, 24, arrested on a capital murder warrant on Tuesday after a tense, hours-long tactical standoff in Northport; held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond; Alvarez-Duenas, 31 and a father of three, found near the entrance, Bates, 22, in a closet, both died of gunshot wounds; the homeowner's dog was also killed; motive remains unknown. Read in full on 14 November 2026.
• The Tuscaloosa News, 8 July 2026 — "Tuscaloosa restaurant mourns two employees shot in Brookwood" (https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/crime/2026/07/08/buffalo-phils-wings-restaurant-mourns-two-employees-killed-in-brookwood/90849011007/): Alvarez-Duenas and Bates worked at Buffalo Phil's in Tuscaloosa; Alvarez-Duenas was house-sitting for a friend and caring for the friend's dog when he and Bates were killed; at a July 7 news conference, Captain Kennedy said no motive for the killings had been established; Crawford is being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a capital murder charge. Read via search results on 14 November 2026; cited only for the Buffalo Phil's employment and the no-motive statement, both corroborated by the full reads above.
• WBRC FOX6 News, 13 November 2026 (Instagram post, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfsM4F9j-bK/ Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/reel/1766504881129013/): "Now at 11" report on skeletal remains found in Tuscaloosa tied to Crawford; Captain Jack Kennedy explains investigators believe the remains belong to a Black man aged 40–70 who drove a Chevy Cruze, whose body was hidden and buried since July; Crawford faces an additional murder charge; tip line 205-464-8692. Read via published post summaries on 14 November 2026; cited only as corroboration of the press-conference account, which the two full reads establish.
• WVTM 13, 13 November 2026 (Instagram post, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfsOZBHGbX_/ Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/reel/1826990901782248/): breaking-news clip of the press conference; Kennedy announces Crawford, already charged with capital murder for the July double homicide, has now been charged in a separate murder investigation; new witnesses came forward saying Crawford had personally told them he committed another killing before the July murders; investigators searched wooded areas and located skeletal remains; Kennedy says the cases are being treated as separate incidents of murder at this time, with no evidence they are connected, and that investigators hope there are no other victims. Read via published post summaries on 14 November 2026; cited for the separate-incidents statement and the hope-no-other-victims statement, both attributed to Kennedy at the press conference.
• AL.com, 13 November 2026 (Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/aldotcom/posts/pfbid02KsHFUdAfrudFZsEUfb7Esf3FfrwPDDjidEV6eq2KGGKuk5EPpcHrFphNTFVEUc4dl): "Man accused of third murder after remains found near Tuscaloosa apartments." Read via the published post summary on 14 November 2026; cited only as corroboration of the third-charge framing. The AL.com article page itself was not returned by search, so AL.com is not relied on for any fact beyond that headline.
• Alabama's 42, 13–14 November 2026 (Instagram post, https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dfs3sCKswNo/ Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/reel/1643396007271478/): local report on the human remains found in Tuscaloosa and the press conference, with the victim description and the July double-murder background. Read via published post summaries on 14 November 2026; cited only as corroboration.
• Social scan, 14 November 2026: news-vertical searches plus social.search (Instagram/Threads/Facebook, recency-ranked, since 11 November 2026) returned the Tuscaloosa third murder charge of 13 November 2026 as the freshest qualifying trending true-crime story of the day — The Tuscaloosa News, the Tuscaloosa Thread, WBRC FOX6, WVTM 13, AL.com and Alabama's 42 all carrying the same 13 November 2026 charge and press conference within hours of each other. The story was considered and passed over in the 13 November 2026 run as resting on a single local report; by 14 November it is carried by six outlets and a full press conference, so that objection no longer holds. No competing trending candidate qualified: the Koa Sharp infant case is DHF-078 (an update to that file is due, not a new file); the Deep Ellum Halloween shootings new arrest is a development of DHF-091; the North Hollywood Metro crash murder charges are a development of DHF-089; the JonBenét Ramsey items are a 1996 case with fresh coverage and fail the latest-only rule; the Matthew Alfaro case (Greeley, Colorado) is a 16-year-old found dead with the cause undetermined and no one charged, and is skipped under the sensitivity locks; the Madison Allen case (Malibu) carries evidence of suicide and is not a crime file; the Harris County intimate-partner homicide and the Thunder Bay second-degree murder charge rest on single local reports with thinner records than the Tuscaloosa case. The trending call for this pick rests on that news record plus that social record, stated honestly here. No claim in this file rests on a social-media post alone. No search-volume numbers are stated anywhere in the draft, because no tool returned any.
• No competitor article text or image is reproduced in this file. Facts are stated in Dark History Files' own words, with official material attributed to its source. No source beyond those listed above was relied on for facts in the draft. No search-volume numbers are stated, because no tool returned any.

If you can help identify the man: The Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit is asking anyone who knows of a missing person matching the description — a Black man between 40 and 70 years old, who may have owned or used a Chevrolet Cruze and may have spent time around the apartments at 1821 10th Avenue in Tuscaloosa — to contact the unit at 205-464-8692. Do not send money to anyone who claims to have information about a missing person, and do not share personal details with anyone other than the police.

Reader question: A man has been charged, but the person he is charged with killing still has no name — and the witnesses who led police to the remains do not agree with each other. Until the remains are identified, what is the most important thing the public can do, and what should readers refuse to decide before the forensic work and the court have spoken?

RELATED FILES

• DHF-095 — Malden Sister Murder: He Called 911, Then Was Charged — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/malden-sister-murder-called-911-then-charged.html
• DHF-093 — Tara Sinchuri Murder: One Arrested in New York — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/tara-sinchuri-murder-one-arrested-new-york.html
• DHF-090 — Bullhead City Desert Killing: Couple Charged — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/bullhead-city-desert-killing-couple-charged.html

Previous file: DHF-095 — Malden Sister Murder: He Called 911, Then Was Charged — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/malden-sister-murder-called-911-then-charged.html

Next file: DHF-097 — Pompano Beach: Mother and Daughter Shot Dead at Home — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/pompano-beach-mother-daughter-shot-dead.html

This file is based on public reporting and official statements available as of 14 November 2026. Read how every file is built on the About page (https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/p/about.html), or request a file via the Contact page (https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/p/contact.html).