Don Gaines Admits to Kidnapping, Murder of USPS Worker

A Houston postal worker has admitted to kidnapping and murdering a fellow U.S. Postal Service employee in a brutal, cross-state crime that ended with her body dumped in the Louisiana woods. Don Gaines, 31, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to the September 2017 killing of the 28-year-old woman, whose name has been withheld at the family’s request.

Gaines, also a USPS employee, abducted the victim after she clocked out from the Houston Distribution Center on Aline Bender Road. The two had previously been in a relationship and share two children together. According to court documents, Gaines choked her inside her car near his Houston residence. Believing she was dead, he drove her across state lines into Louisiana — but she regained consciousness en route.

When the victim woke up, Gaines steered off Interstate 10 into a secluded forested area. He parked, walked her into the woods, and shot her in the head with a firearm, prosecutors said. He left her body behind and returned to Houston the same day — driving her car, which was tracked via GPS data placing it at his home and along the interstate during the crime.

Investigators pieced together the timeline using GPS records, surveillance footage, and purchase receipts. Video evidence showed Gaines buying gas during his return trip. Forensic analysis later confirmed skeletal remains discovered in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, on October 12, 2017, were those of the missing postal worker.

“Protecting the employees of the USPS is a top priority,” said Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “When someone takes the life of one of our employees, we will stop at nothing to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”

U.S. District Judge accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for August 22, 2019. Don Gaines, 31, of Houston, faces up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine. He remains in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility. The case was jointly investigated by USPIS, Houston Police, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana law enforcement agencies, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Jocher and James McAlister.