UNLV student found murdered in Texas

Friday, April 5, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

LIBERTY, Texas -- A UNLV student home for spring break was found murdered in the Trinity River, about 12 hours after she left her parents' home to get her car washed.

A passing fisherman found the body of Myra Elisabeth "Lisa" Allison about 7 a.m. Thursday, said Hugh Bishop, a Liberty police spokesman.

The 21-year-old daughter of Liberty City Council member Mike Allison was found in the river, about two miles south of U.S. 90, Bishop said.

A cause of death had not been determined and an autopsy was ordered Thursday by a justice of the peace.

Her car, a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass, was discovered Thursday afternoon, about eight miles east of the crime scene, in nearby Ames. There was blood in the car and other evidence, which Bishop did not elaborate on.

Allison was last seen Wednesday about 8:30 p.m. when she left her parents' home to go to one of four nearby car washes. Bishop said police do not know if she ever made it to a car wash, and are following up on leads from witnesses who may have seen her shortly before she disappeared.

"We're treating this as a homicide and theft of a car," Bishop said. "She left with only the keys to the car and enough change for the car wash. That change wasn't in the car when it was recovered."

Allison was found fully clothed, with bruises and scratches around her neck, head and face, Bishop said.

When reached at their home Thursday, Allison's parents declined to comment on their daughter's death.

Bishop said Allison was well-liked in her hometown of Liberty, a small town of about 10,000 residents halfway between Beaumont and Houston.

She had graduated a year early from high school in Liberty before attending UNLV, where she was majoring in hotel management.