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Widow of Winnie man found dead in Taylor Bayou waits for answers, appreciates help from deputies

Recently, an article published on a website called "Texas Public Corruption" criticized the search efforts, but Goodman's wife is not pointing the blame at deputies.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas — The family of a man who was found dead in Taylor's Bayou wants to clear the air.

The Goodman family still doesn't know how their loved one, Donald Goodman, 54, died weeks ago.

One thing his wife, Angela Jones-Goodman, wants to illustrate is the help Jefferson County Sheriff's investigators provided.

RELATED: Texas EquuSearch helps find body of missing Winnie man

Jones-Goodman's probate lawyer Dean Brinkley says "Angela thought that the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office did a good job and were very thorough in the investigation."

She talked with 12News the day her husband was found on February 2.  

Jones-Goodman says "I want to thank all of our Chambers County and Jefferson County law enforcement that helped with the efforts to make this day go by a lot smoother." 

Donald Goodman, of Winnie, was heading to work on January 23 when his truck broke down along Highway 73 on the Taylor's Bayou bridge. 

Goodman called his wife around 7:45 a.m. and said he'd give her a call back according to Jones-Goodman.

However, the next call she received was from deputies around 10:30 a.m. notifying her that Goodman was not at his vehicle. 

"The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office did not make her wait 24 hours before they started searching," says Brinkley. "They started searching the process almost immediately when she got down here."

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Port Arthur fire department spent days searching the area but found nothing. 

It wasn't until Texas EquuSearch got involved ten days later that his body was found floating in the water 100 yards away from the bridge. 

Recently, an article published on a website called "Texas Public Corruption" criticized the search efforts.

Brinkley says "Angela was really upset when she read the article that indicated that she was not happy with the search."

Goodman's widow still hasn't received any more clarification on what happened to her husband before he ended up in the water.

Judge Tom Gillam ordered an autopsy the day Goodman was found but has yet to release the results. 

Brinkley says the family hasn't been given a timetable for when those results will get shared.

He says a new computer program being used may be delaying things.    

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