A view along Buffalo Bayou of I-69 and downtown is shown during a boat tour with Art & Environmental Architecture in Houston Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.

Houston's bayous serve as a quiet reminder that we live in a city built to flood. They protect us when the rising waters have nowhere else to go.

But when bodies begin to surface in the bayous, we are forced to ask: how safe are they, really?

White Oak Bayou in Houston, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025.

A view along Buffalo Bayou where the redevelopment of Interstate 45 and highway expansion of I-69 will cross the bayou near a railroad bridge is shown during a boat tour with Art & Environmental Architecture in Houston Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.

This year, 28 bodies have been pulled from Houston's bayous. It's a grim tally that has fueled rumors of a serial killer and stirred fears of safety around the waterways.

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The issue is complicated by the fact that there's no single entity responsible for the waterways, and no one........

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