LONGVIEW — UPDATE (Jan. 2nd): Funeral arrangements have been set for former Texas Ranger Glenn Elliott.
Elliot died on Monday at his home in Longview at 86 years old.
Visitation services will be held 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 3, at Rader Funeral Home on Judson Road in Longview.
The funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 4, 2013, at the Worship Center of Alpine Church of Christ, Loop 281 in Longview, with interment following at Lakeview Cemetery.
According to his obituary [1], Elliott was born in 1926 in Fannin County, TX.
He served in World War II before entering his law enforcement career.
During his 38-year long career with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Elliott worked on several high profile cases, including the KFC murders in 1983 and the strike at the Lone Star Steel plant.
He was featured in The New York Times and Texas Monthly. His Texas Monthly photo was voted one of the top 100 photos in the publication's 25 Years of Photos.
Elliott also wrote several books, including "A Ranger's Ranger", which covered his career in law enforcement.
Radio commentator Paul Harvey said of Elliott: "if you had to pick one [Texas Ranger] to represent the best of the best, that one would be Ranger Glenn Elliott".
ORIGINAL STORY (Dec. 31st): Glenn Elliott, longtime Texas Ranger, and resident of Longview, died on Monday, Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt tells KETK.
Elliott had worked with the Texas Department of Public Safety, and was promoted to Texas ranger in 1961.
Elliott retired from the Texas Rangers several years ago, but not before leaving his mark on important cases in the East Texas area.
One of the biggest cases he worked were the KFC murders in 1983.
In 2008, Elliott testified in court 25 years after the murders, saying that he saw two key pieces of evidence -- a blood-stained napkin and a cash register tape box -- at the KFC restaurant in Kilgore.
His testimony was used to connect Darnell Hartsfield and his cousin Romeo Pinkerton to the deaths of five people.
In October of 2011, a baseball field at Longview's Lear Park was dedicated to Elliott, in recognition of his achievements in law enforcement.
Elliott was also the focus of an exhibit at the Gregg County Historical Museum in 2012, and had written two books about his career.