January 23, 2014 - Charges have been filed against a suspect arrested in the death of a woman at 8200 Broadway about 2:10 a.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 21).

The suspect, Luan Hoang Vu (A/m, DOB: 2-12-94), is charged with capital murder in the 351st State District Court.  He is accused in the killing of a woman found in Sims Bayou on Wednesday evening (Jan. 22).  A photo of Vu is attached to this news release.

The identity of the female victim is pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, but it is believed to be Vy Ngoc Bao-Pham, 17.

HPD Homicide Division Sergent A. Versluis and Senior Police Officer D. Shorten reported:

On Tuesday, an officer was dispatched to an apartment at 8200 Broadway regarding the kidnapping of a female, Ms. Bao-Pham.  According to the reportee, Bao-Pham left the apartment on Monday to visit her boyfriend (Vu), who resided in the same apartment complex.  The family became worried when Bao-Pham did not return home and they called Vu to ask if she was still at his apartment. 

Vu told the reportee that Bao-Pham left to visit a friend at 8250 Park Place.  Later, the reportee received a text message on her phone, which indicated Bao-Pham's family should pay $50,000 for her safe return.  The message stated if the money was not paid in two weeks, Bao-Pham would die.  The reportee forwarded the message to Bao-Pham's friends, in hopes they were with her or had heard from her. 

The HPD Homicide Division coordinated the investigation into the kidnapping and interviewed all of Bao-Pham's friends, family, and her boyfriend, Vu.  An Amber Alert was activated and a Missing Persons report was generated.  The investigation later produced evidence that the kidnapping message was sent by a phone connected to Vu. 

Vu voluntarily returned to the Homicide Division for a secondary interview, at which time he confessed to his role in Bao-Pham's killing and directed investigators to where her body was located. The body was recovered from Sims Bayou at 4100 Broadway and matches the description of Bao-Pham. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences will determine her cause of death.