Dateline NBC: Where is Steven McDowell now?

The murder of the Texas realtor and mother of two, Crystal McDowell, at the hands of her ex-husband, Steven McDowell, has become the focus of the latest Dateline episode. Crystal had disappeared under mysterious circumstances as she was on her way to get her children from Steven's home on the eve of Hurricane Harvey.

However, her disappearance was interrupted by the rain and storm till the investigations picked up the location of her car. Armed with incriminating footage, the Chambers County police officers cornered their suspect, Steven, and received a confession that sent him behind bars for 50 years.

Steven McDowell is currently serving his sentence at the H. H. Coffield Unit in Anderson County, Texas. The official synopsis of the Dateline NBC episode titled Before the Storm reads:

"A Texas mother of two vanishes as Hurricane Harvey barrels down on the Houston area. As Dennis Murphy reports, Crystal McDowell was not a victim of the storm, but something far more sinister."

The upcoming episode airs on May 3, 2024, at 9 pm EST on NBC exclusively.

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How was Steven McDowell arrested?

The 34-year-old realtor from Baytown, Crystal McDowell, was last seen leaving her boyfriend, Paul Hargrave's home around 7:30 am local time in her black Mercedes Benz. According to Oxygen, she was on her way to her ex-husband's place where she was temporarily residing with her two children—Madden and Maui.

As reported by ABC News, even though her husband of 10 years, Steven McDowell, lived 12 minutes away from Hargrave's place, Crystal became unreachable via calls and texts. As Crystal's close ones began to worry, Steven denied receiving Crystal on the morning of August 25, 2017.

As Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Crystal's cousin Jade received a text about her missing Mercedes. Three days later, Chambers County authorities found the car parked poorly and with its keys inside it seven miles away in the parking of the local Motel 6—almost as if it had been set up for theft.

The detectives from Chambers County found incriminating surveillance footage that showed the Mercedes being parked around 6:37 am local time the day after Crystal disappeared. Steven was spotted five hours later, checking in on the car in his Mustang.

The authorities found evidence of a hooded man riding off on a bicycle in the rain as well. As per Oxygen, Chambers County District Attorney Cheryl Lieck said:

“When we saw him riding a bike, we said, ‘That’s what he did. He walked across the interstate to Walmart. He bought the bike, a Red Bull, and a pack of cigarettes.”

The authorities additionally found out about Steven having threatened Crystal with murder-suicide as she tried to separate from him. Armed with enough evidence, the authorities pressed for Steven for a confession, which eventually led to his conviction for first-degree murder in June 2019.

Steven led the authorities to Crystal McDowell's body in exchange for putting the death sentence off the table. He confessed to strangulating Crystal, wrapping her body in a blanket, and then placing it inside the Mercedes' trunk.

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Where is Steven McDowell now?

As the officers found the decomposed remains of Crystal McDowell, Steven McDowell was taken into custody and found guilty of the first-degree murder of his ex-wife in June 2019, as per ABC13 Houston.

At his trial, the youngest daughter testified through video of her watching her father choke her mother to death in the middle of an argument related to another man. Steven McDowell was sentenced to 50 years in prison and is serving his time at the H. H. Coffield Unit.

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Catch the upcoming episode of Dateline for more details on the murder.