2010-07-29 Thomas Ray Vaughn

July 29, 2010 Man Identified In Supply Store Murder

AMARILLO, TEXAS - Amarillo police released the name of a man found dead outside of his supply store in northeast Amarillo.

At about 2 p.m. on July 29, 2010, Amarillo police were dispatched to the Ft. Williams Military Surplus and Supplies Depot at 703 N Williams Street for a suspicious death.

When they got there, they learned that a witness had found one of the surplus store's co-owners by the fence line, dead from blunt force injuries to his upper body.

Special Crimes Unit was called to investigate the scene.

Justice of the Peace Debbie Horn ordered an autopsy to be performed in Lubbock, Texas.

The deceased man was later identified as Thomas Ray Vaughn by Amarillo police.^[1]

July 2, 2020 Amarillo police arrest Louisiana woman for murder

On June 26, 2020, detectives with Amarillo police said they had a suspect in the cold case of the murder of Thomas Ray Vaughn in 2010.

A criminal complaint was filed on 54-year-old Bobbi Jo Fruge of Lake Charles, Louisiana on June 26, 2020.

Investigators traveled to Lake Charles to take her into custody on July 2. Fruge was brought back to Potter County to await further court proceedings.

She was released from Potter County Detention Center a year later (June 29, 2021) on the CSCD program, which is a program that allows low-risk offenders with no monetary resources to be on released from custody pending further legal proceedings.

An examining trial was requested on May 14, 2025. The outcome of the examining trial is unknown.

The murder charge against Fruge was dismissed on July 7, 2025.