After a prolonged investigation into a homicide case that lay dormant for years, Houston authorities have arrested Donny Soundara Daosavanh, 37, charging him with the murder of his mother, Amnoun Sayphanya, back in 2014, according to a news release from the City of Houston. The charges against Daosavanh, which also include unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, were filed in the 184th State District Court.
The investigation, which only recently culminated in a formal charge, began to unravel when Houston Police Department Homicide Division received tips back in 2017 that Daosavanh had admitted to a relative he had committed the grisly act against his mother with whom he lived and upon whom he financially depended; he also reportedly confessed to the police when he was arrested on an unrelated warrant, but spitefully withheld the location of her remains.
Sayphanya, said to be 60 at the time of her disappearance, is a ghost in this tale of loss, her body has remained missing despite the efforts made by authorities to locate her remains. In the absence of a physical body, investigators pieced together a picture stark enough to establish the occurrence of the murder at the apartment shared by Sayphanya and her son on 827 Oak Street, as detailed in the report by the City of Houston.
Authorities followed the trail of evidence and, on August 1, a warrant paved the path for Daosavanh's arrest; he was subsequently apprehended by members of the Northeast Patrol Division Crime Suppression Team and now resides behind the bars of the Harris County Jail. The Houston Police Department continues their search and is actively seeking any information that could aid in the discovery of Sayphanya's remains, inviting tips through their hotline at 713-222-TIPS or through anonymous dialogue with Crime Stoppers at the same number.
