OHP arrests suspect in 30-year-old Texas cold case

CARTER COUNTY, Okla. — Oklahoma Highway Patrol arrested Nicholas Ray Carney, a 64-year-old man suspected of allegedly abducting and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old in 1999.

In Plano, Texas on Aug. 15, 1991, an 8-year-old was abducted by an unidentified man as they were walking with another child to their neighborhood pool. The abducted child was sexually assaulted and found injured five hours later in Garland, Texas.

According to the Plano Texas Police Department, in 2023 a Plano detective alongside the Texas Rangers worked to gain leads from evidence collected in 1991 through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative project.

In 2024, the department stated they could connect evidence from this case to Carney after bringing together traditional forensics, genetic genealogy research from Bode Technology, and a crime analyst from the Plano Police Department.

On Thursday, troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol stated they took Carney into custody after conducting a traffic stop on Highway 70 in Carter County.

The Plano Police Department said Carney has been linked to a similar case that occurred in Dallas in 1999 and said they have reason to believe there may be more victims.

Detectives are still investigating and asking anyone with information about Nicholas Carney’s possible criminal activity to call the Plano Police Department tip line at 972-941-2148 or email policetips@plano.gov.