Tracie McBride

### Died

19 February 1995 (aged 19)Texas State Highway 277 (Coke County), Texas, United States

### Killed by

Louis Jones Jr.

**Tracie Joy McBride** (May 27, 1975 - February 19, 1995) was a 19-year-old American soldier who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by Louis Jones Jr. in 1995.

## Events

### Backstory

Tracie McBride was a recent graduate of Centennial High School in Circle Pines, Minnesota. McBride joined the United States Army after her high school graduation, intending to fund her university education; she hoped to have her degree completed prior to the end of her tour of duty. She aspired to become a music teacher.

### Murder

On February 18, 1995, 44-year old Louis Jones drove onto Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, and kidnapped Private Tracie Joy McBride, a 19-year old from Centerville, Minnesota. Jones was looking for his ex-wife, but instead decided to kidnap McBride. McBride was on the telephone with a friend, and in a laundry facility when she was abducted.

Jones took McBride to his house, raped her, and held her in a closet. He forced McBride to use hydrogen peroxide on herself, washed McBride's clothes, and forced McBride to walk on towels; these efforts were part of an attempt to conceal the crime by hiding any fibers and other possible evidence. He then drove McBride to a remote area and beat her to death with a tire iron. McBride died under a bridge, off Texas State Highway 277 in Coke County, Texas, about 27 miles (43 km) north of San Angelo.

### Investigation

McBride had been hit in the head at least nine times. Dr. Jan Garavaglia, who was at the time of the murder an associate medical examiner in Bexar County, examined McBride's body at a local morgue. Garavaglia stated that the trauma to her head was "worse than most high-impact car wrecks." Jones likely forced McBride to walk to the point where she was killed; only mud was found on her boots, and no scuff marks were present.

Jones was arrested on March 1 by the San Angelo Police Department for sexually assaulting his ex-wife, Staff Sergeant Sandra Lane, after she filed a complaint with the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations (OSI). OSI agents made an inquiry to Jones on whether he was involved in McBride's abduction, and Jones confessed to killing her; he then led authorities to McBride's body.

### Aftermath

Jones, indicted in March 1995, was tried in federal court in Lubbock, Texas, since he had kidnapped McBride from a military base. McBride's family supported the prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty for Jones.

Louis Jones was given the federal death sentence.

On March 18, 2003, Jones was executed at USP Terre Haute, making him the third federal prisoner executed since federal executions resumed in 2001. McBride's family and a friend attended the execution.

McBride was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota. The Tracie Joy McBride Scholarship Fund and its associated event, Tracie’s Night, were named after her; the fund is primarily managed by her sister, Stacie McBride-Cox.

## News

*For news articles on Tracie McBride, see here.*

## External links

* Pvt Tracie Joy McBride • Find a Grave
* Louis JONES Jr. • Murderpedia
* Murder of Tracie McBride • Wikipedia

## In popular media

### Podcast

* Texas Chicks Who Talk Murder - *Army Soldier Tracie Joy McBride* (12 May 2022)

### Television

* 1990s: The Deadliest Decade – *Soldier of Misfortune* (3 December 2018)
* Dr. G: Medical Examiner – *Life Interrupted* (14 December 2007)