Dateline: After The Dance - Who was Carla Walker and what happened to her? Disturbing death of teen girl, explored

Dateline's episode After The Dance chronicles the horrifying death of Carla Walker, a high school student, who was murdered in 1974. Her case remained unsolved for 46 years before the murderer was arrested in 2020.

Carla was abducted following a Valentine’s Day dance with her high school boyfriend. In the following two days, she suffered a terrible fate at the hands of her kidnapper, as he beat her and sexually assaulted her before strangling her to death.

Though Carla’s body was found three days after her kidnapping, investigators could not find the culprit due to a lack of technology in matching DNA samples.

When the technology finally advanced, the case was reopened 46 years later, leading to the conviction of a man named Samuel McCurley in 2020. Two years later, the story became the subject of Dateline’s After The Dance, which aired on January 28, 2022.

---

Dateline: Who was Carla Walker?

As explored on Dateline, Carla Walker was a 17-year-old high school student from Fort Worth, Texas. She was a cheerleader at Western Hills High School and was described as vibrant and full of life. On February 17, 1974, Carla went to a Valentine’s Day dance with her boyfriend, Rodney McCoy.

Following the event, they parked Rodney's car in the parking lot of a bowling alley. The evening took a dark turn as an unknown man opened the car door and attacked them.

He knocked Rodney out by hitting him with a pistol and dragged Carla out of the car as she screamed for help. When Rodney woke up, he immediately drove to Carla's house to tell her parents what had happened. Recalling the horrific incident on Dateline, Rodney said:

“I see Carla's face and she screams, ‘Rodney, go get my dad.’ And that's the last word I heard her say. That's the last time I saw her.”

Carla's disappearance triggered a massive search. Her body was found three days later in a drainage ditch in Lake Benbrook, near Fort Worth. As per her autopsy, Carla was beaten, raped, tortured, and even injected with morphine for two days.

The kidnapper ultimately strangled her to death. The incident devastated her family and shocked the local community in Fort Worth. At the time, police found some evidence, including a gun magazine dropped at the crime scene, but they could not identify the killer.

The investigators questioned several suspects, but nobody was charged. The investigation was eventually stopped and the case remained unsolved for more than four decades.

---

Carla Walker’s culprit was found 46 years later

As seen on Dateline’s After The Dance, the case was solved in 2020 due to advancements in DNA technology. Investigators tested DNA found on Carla's clothing using forensic genealogy.

This led them to Glen Samuel McCurley, who had been questioned in 1974 because he owned a gun that matched the magazine found at the scene. However, back then, he claimed his gun had been stolen, and was let go.

The police then collected DNA from McCurley’s trash and confirmed that it matched the DNA from the crime scene. McCurley, who was 77 years old in 2020, was finally arrested and charged with Carla’s murder.

He went to trial in 2021 and pleaded not guilty before changing his stance and confessing to the crime. He said he had been out drinking and randomly came across Carla and Rodney in the parking lot. McCurley was sentenced to life in prison. He remained in jail till his death in July 2023.

Meanwhile, Carla’s family finally got justice after nearly 50 years. Her brother, Jim Walker, had spent decades advocating for cold cases to be reopened so that others like his sister could get justice.

He worked with detectives and pushed for laws to fund DNA testing for unsolved crimes. Jim's efforts led to the creation of the Carla Walker Act, which aims to help affected families by providing resources for investigating cold cases.

Dateline can be watched on NBC.com.