Do you know who murdered Earl Ashfield?
In the autumn of 1989, the city of Tyler, Texas, a regional hub known for its vast rose-growing industry, was marked by a crime that has remained a troubling mystery for decades. The case concerns the death of Earl Thomas Ashfield, a local taxi driver whose life was cut short in a violent and disturbing manner. Little is publicly known about the man himself—his age, his family ties, his life story—but his final hours left an indelible mark on the community and the local police department. His homicide is a cold case, a puzzle of fear and fire that investigators are still hoping to solve.
The last day of September, a Saturday, began with a sense of unease. Mr. Ashfield was working his shift as a driver for a local taxi company. At some point that morning, the owner of the company reported to police that both Mr. Ashfield and his company vehicle were missing. Most chillingly, it was reported that just before he vanished, Mr. Ashfield had communicated a sense of dread to a company employee, indicating that he believed he might be in some kind of trouble. This ominous message was the last anyone heard from him.
The search for the missing driver came to a horrific end later that same day. The Tyler Police Department was called to the scene of a vehicle fire. Inside the burned-out shell of the taxi, they made a grim discovery: the body of Earl Thomas Ashfield. The evidence at the scene pointed not to a tragic accident, but to foul play. An investigation was immediately launched into his homicide, a complex case from the start due to the destructive nature of the fire.
The work of a taxi driver has always carried inherent risks, and in the 1980s, before the widespread use of GPS, in-car cameras, and cashless payments, those dangers were even more pronounced. Drivers often worked alone, at all hours, and were frequent targets for robberies as they were known to carry cash. They navigated the city streets, picking up strangers and relying on their street smarts and intuition to stay safe. Mr. Ashfield’s foreboding final communication suggests he was aware that a particular fare or situation had crossed a dangerous line, but the specifics of that threat were lost with him.
For more than three decades, the investigation into who killed Earl Ashfield and why has continued. The Tyler Police Department has kept the case file open, hoping for the one crucial piece of information that could break it open. Detectives have revisited the evidence over the years, but without new leads, the trail has remained cold. Who did Mr. Ashfield pick up that day? What happened in the final moments of his life that led to his taxi being set ablaze? These are the questions that haunt his case file.
As of March 2019, the homicide of Earl Ashfield was one of 24 cold cases on the books of the Tyler Police Department, a collection of unsolved tragedies dating back to 1979. The department maintains that its mission is to seek justice for all victims and continues to ask for the public's help. Investigators believe that someone, somewhere, may hold the key to understanding what happened on that September day.
The case of Earl Thomas Ashfield remains an open and active investigation. Authorities urge anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward. Individuals with potential leads are encouraged to contact the Tyler Police Department at (903) 531-1000 or to provide an anonymous tip through Tyler Smith County Crime Stoppers at (903) 597-2833. A small detail could be the missing piece that finally brings closure to this long-standing mystery and delivers justice for a man who died in the line of his work.
