Table of Contents
Angela Marie Housman
Angela Marie Housman was born on February 18th, 1984, in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri. A product of the union between Diana Housman and her eventual stepfather Ronald Bone, Angela, affectionately known as Angie, embraced her role as an elder sister when Ronald Bone Jr. became part of their family. Possessing an innate joy that radiated through her infectious smile, Angie’s childhood was marked by her boundless love and happiness.

By the year 1993, Angie was a vivacious fourth-grade student attending Buder Elementary School, nestled in the welcoming embrace of St. Ann, Missouri.
Disappearance
However, a fateful afternoon would forever alter the course of Angie’s story. On November 18th, 1993, as was her routine, Angie disembarked the school bus in her neighborhood. Ordinarily, watchful eyes of community parents would oversee the children’s journey home along that St. Ann street. Yet, on this particular day, circumstances diverged from the norm, as the usual guardians were occupied elsewhere, leaving the children unattended.
With eight houses spanning the distance to her own, Angie ventured past four, only to seemingly vanish into thin air. The neighbourhood children were unable to recall her subsequent steps or companions, for Angie had transitioned from a visible presence to an inexplicable absence in mere moments.
As time stretched beyond thirty minutes, anxiety began to gnaw at Angie’s mother and stepfather. Angie’s vibrant personality typically led her to engage in friendly conversations with neighbours during her homeward jaunt, a practice that had never previously elongated her return time.
Fuelled by growing concern, her parents initiated a search of the immediate surroundings. Regrettably, their efforts yielded no trace of Angie. Faced with the alarming void left by their daughter, Angie’s parents wasted no time in reporting her as missing, thus launching an intensive investigation into her disappearance.
During the extensive search operation, law enforcement garnered an influx of tips spanning the entirety of the St. Louis region. Mere days prior to Angie’s vanishing, a thwarted abduction incident had been brought to their attention in close proximity.
Remarkably, that young girl managed to escape the situation. Pertinently, authorities were furnished with a depiction of an male spotted in the vicinity, seen driving a blue car. A composite sketch was composed and disseminated, yet regrettably, these vital leads failed to yield a viable suspect or provide a breakthrough in Angie’s case.
Murder Investigation
On November 27th, 1993, a mere nine days after her disappearance, Angie Housman’s lifeless remains were discovered by a deer hunter in the August Busch Wildlife Area.
Stripped of her dignity and bound to a tree, her wrists bore the cruel marks of handcuffs, and her face, save for her nose, was covered in duct tape. A distressing clue emerged beneath the tape—a fragment of her Barbie underwear—a stark reminder of the innocence lost.
Tragically, what was initially a search for a missing person swiftly transformed into a harrowing homicide investigation. The subsequent autopsy on Angie’s revealed the horrors she endured during her days of captivity.
The young girl had suffered unimaginable torment: subjected to brutal rape, merciless beatings, starvation, and agonizing dehydration. Her hair had been ruthlessly shorn and dyed, a testament to the cruelty inflicted upon her.
In the grim days leading to her discovery, Angie’s captor held her captive, prolonging her torment before ultimately abandoning her body in the desolate woods. The autopsy’s grim findings indicated that she had likely succumbed to her nightmarish ordeal only hours before she was found. Tragically, hypothermia claimed her life, a chilling end to a week of unspeakable suffering.
Among the distressing details gleaned from the examination, a fingerprint on the duct tape covering her voiceless cries served as a forensic marker—a silent witness to the heart-wrenching tragedy that befell Angie Housman.
Initial hints during the investigation centered around a troubling statement made by Angie’s teacher. According to her, Angie had mentioned an upcoming countryside trip with her supposed uncle, even though she didn’t have an uncle.
This puzzling detail remained unexplained as none of Angie’s friends or classmates had any knowledge of this mystery uncle. The plot thickened when, just four days following the discovery of Angie’s body, another young girl went missing in Hazelwood, Missouri, a mere ten miles away from St. Ann.
The emergence of this case fuelled concerns of a potential serial predator lurking in the vicinity. These apprehensions escalated when the second girl’s lifeless body was later uncovered. However, as events unfolded, it became clear that this separate incident was resolved in early 1994 and bore no connection to Angie’s tragic situation.
The FBI meticulously profiled Angie’s assailant, portraying him as a Caucasian male aged between 20 and 45, characterized as a recluse who had recently faced unemployment and exhibited difficulties in relating to women.
This profile was disseminated publicly, prompting a deluge of leads to pour in. In the end, a staggering 500 individuals were scrutinized as potential suspects, yet each one was subsequently eliminated from consideration as the perpetrator in Angie’s case.
The authorities made efforts to link her case with various other instances of missing children within the same area. However, despite their endeavours, no significant commonalities could be identified. The investigation was hindered by a lack of leads and minimal clues, posing a substantial challenge to the authorities’ progress.
Cold Case
The haunting shadow of Angie’s unsolved murder cast a long and sombre pall over the years that followed. Tragedy deepened as two more siblings entered the world, destined to live their lives without ever experiencing the presence of their older sister. Adding to the heartbreak, in 2016, Angie’s mother succumbed to cancer, a cruel twist of fate that stole her away before justice could be served for her daughter.
However, amidst the darkness, a glimmer of hope emerged in 2018 when the authorities in St. Charles County decided to breathe new life into Angie’s case. The year that followed saw significant progress as advanced DNA testing was applied to the evidence collected from the crime scene. The focal point of this investigation was Angie’s underwear, a piece of the puzzle that, when analysed with cutting-edge technology, unveiled a crucial breakthrough: the genetic profile of a male suspect.
The shock was palpable when this DNA profile was successfully matched to a man already in federal custody. The revelation that after a quarter-century of uncertainty, the enigma surrounding Angie’s murder had been deciphered left detectives astounded. On the pivotal date of March 1st, 2019, the veil of anonymity was lifted, and Earl Cox was officially identified as the perpetrator behind Angie Housman’s tragic demise.
Earl Cox
Earl Cox’s journey began in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent his formative years. His educational milestone came in 1975 when he successfully graduated from Jennings High School. Directly after completing high school, he embraced a new chapter by enrolling in the United States Air Force. Within the Air Force, Cox assumed the role of a computer operator and found himself stationed in the vibrant city of Frankfurt, Germany.
However, this trajectory took a dark turn in 1982 when Earl Cox faced serious legal consequences. He was subjected to a court martial due to disturbing allegations of sexually abusing four young girls, all under the age of eleven, during his time stationed in Germany. The outcome of the trial was a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, accompanied by an eight-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas.
Following his parole in 1985, Earl Cox made his way back to the St. Louis region, seeking to rebuild his life after a period of adversity.
In 1989, Earl Cox was apprehended in Overland under suspicions of impropriety after accompanying two seven-year-old girls to a movie and a park, conveniently situated just behind Angie’s school. Notably, despite the grave allegations of sexual assault, these charges were later dismissed in 1991 due to insufficient evidence.
Nonetheless, this incident led to the revocation of his parole, resulting in his reincarceration at Fort Leavenworth. Subsequently, Cox regained his freedom from Leavenworth in 1992 and chose to reintegrate into the St. Louis vicinity.

The sketch of the suspicious man in the area at the time of Angie’s disappearance on the left. Earl Cox in 1993 on the right
On November 18th, 1993, Earl was driving to his sister’s house, which conveniently was situated in proximity to Angie’s bus stop. His car was experience mechanical issues, so he stopped to look under the hood. He said that he saw the school bus and watched as Angie Housman exited the bus.
When Angie walked past, he asked the little girl if she was hungry. Angie said she was cold and hungry and agreed to get in Earl’s truck. He took her to Burger King and bought her food. He then drove around with the girl and eventually took her back to his home.
In 2002 Earl Cox was was tried in a federal court and sentenced to ten years in prison in 2003. Along with Cox, over sixty men internationally were arrested for their participation in the sexual abuse ring.
In October of 2012, Earl Cox was set to be released from federal custody. However, a judge determined that Earl was a sexually dangerous person and civilly committed him under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
Earl Cox remained under civil commitment until 2019, when the DNA evidence linked him to the rape and murder of Angie Housman.

You will rot in a lonely jail cell — no family, no friends and most importantly, no more victims
Victim Impact Statement
Originally, St. Charles County prosecutor Tim Lohmar had intended to pursue the death penalty in the case of Angie’s rape and murder. However, a different course of action emerged when Earl Cox confessed to the crime. Providing a detailed account of his actions pertaining to Angie, this confession led to an agreement to remove the death penalty as a potential sentence.
In August of 2020, Earl Cox was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for his crimes. In March of 2021, Cox plead guilty to sodomy of another young girl and received additional time. Earl Cox will die behind the prison walls in Missouri. He is currently sixty-four years old and is housed at Southeast Correctional Centre in Charleston, Missouri.
Cox’s guilty plea helps to honor the memory of Angie Houseman and to honor the still-living victims of this predator
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell