July 4, 2025, marks 23 years since 4-year-old Dannarriah Finley was reported missing to the Orange Police Department. The child, barely out of her toddler stage, was taken from her home, the family told police, from a bedroom where she was sleeping with other children in the wake of a holiday celebrating the nation’s independence.
Days later, the beaten and ravaged body of a small child was recovered from an industrial ditch in Port Arthur, partially decomposed, partially fed-on by water-dwelling wildlife; police quickly identified the remains as that of the missing 4-year-old girl.
Finley was last seen alive sleeping in a bedroom at her mother’s house; in the same bedroom were siblings and cousins, approximately five, according to witness statements to police noted in the hours after the child’s disappearance. According to reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Finley disappeared from her home July 4; July 8, her body was found partially decomposed approximately 27 miles away, near a dredge pipeline ditch off State Highway 82 in Port Arthur, known as Pleasure Island. Physical evidence found the 4-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted and strangled before being wrapped in a flowered bed sheet.
According to a report from 2007, Orange police distributed a picture of a flowered bed sheet in hopes that information would come forward soon after Dannarriah’s body was found. As a result, police were reportedly able to collect new leads, some of which proved to be beneficial; others led to dead ends. Even at the time of death, the bed sheet pattern like the one that Finley’s body was wrapped had been discontinued and would hopefully prove a crucial piece of evidence.
But, after 23 years, no arrests have been made.
Retired Orange Chief of Police Sam Kittrell, who spent years invested in the crime’s investigation, recalled the horrible crime and its effect on him and the community.
“How can I feel anything else,” he said of the horror he still recollects instantly. “It was a 4-year-old child. The circumstances in which she was found down on the island, and what that little girl had to have gone through, … I felt terrible about it in every sense, not just then. This is the one case that was unsolved that still haunts me. That’s the part that carries on. Even speaking from a retired perspective, it has not been forgotten.”
In the decades since Finley’s death, the case has been maintained by the Orange Police Department, but no recent updates are available, stated current staff. According to Lt. Stephan Ward, the last update was years ago when DNA technological advancements allowed for additional testing.
“There were some DNA technological developments in the past that had been deployed, but no new testing has been done recently,” Ward told The Examiner. “There was new DNA stuff that had come out…that our evidence was qualified for…and we did send some off to be tested at that point, but that was probably two, maybe even three years ago.”
“My heart goes out to Dannarriah, especially as we get to the anniversary every year. That brings it home,” said Kittrell, who worked the case decades ago and still longs for justice.
“Although I’ve never lost a child, it reminds me of what it must be like for parents who have and that’s not lost on us as police officers.
“We have hearts and we care, too.”
The circumstances and suspect(s) involved in the death of 4-year-old Dannarriah Finley remains unsolved. Anyone with details regarding the homicide is urged to contact the Orange Police Department at (409) 883-1026 or (409) 883-1095. Tipsters can also call the Port Arthur Police Department at (409) 983-8624 or (409) 983-8638.
Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $3,000 to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of the person/s responsible for this crime. All tips are anonymous and the tipster will receive a Texas Crime Stoppers Tip Number. To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters must contact Crime Stoppers by using one of the following two methods: Texas Crime Stoppers Hotline: 1-800-252-TIPS (8477); or by submitting a tip online through https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=650#. On the tip form, select Cold Cases Featured- Texas Rangers Website- Up to $3,000 in Rewards.