Kriti Mehrotra
It was early in the morning of December 31, 1999, when everything turned upside down for the Surles family as 10-year-old Krystal Surles was attacked by heinous serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells. The truth is, as explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Live to Tell: Krystal’s Courage,’ both she and her 13-year-old friend Kaylene “Katy” Harris were attacked as they slept, but only the former survived. What many don’t know is that one of the former’s younger sisters was actually on the property at the time, but the killer didn’t even come close to her despite having seen her.
Krystal Surles Was More Than Just a Sister For Marques and Amber Surles
While it’s true that the Surles family has always had a lot of love amongst them, even though the parents had drug problems and had separated by the mid-1990s, Krystal was the glue. After all, for both Marques as well as Amber, their earliest memories actually revolve around her elder sister, who essentially took over the role of their parents at the age of 6/7 when their mother left to get clean and their father continued being involved with narcotics. According to Mark Surles’ own accounts, he couldn’t quit no matter how hard he tried, so all responsibility fell on Krystal’s shoulders.
“I just remember Krystal taking care of me,” Marques said on the CBS show. “She was there always. She was the backbone in our family for a really long time. She was the strong one, and she was little.” To this, Amber added, “Krystal took on the mother, the father, the everything role… She always did everything. She cleaned the house and cooked for us, and she always cared about us more than she cared for herself.” That is, until Pam Surles returned upon getting clean and took them in her care. Still, by this point, Krystal had undoubtedly grown to be quite independent.
Marques Surles Vividly Remembers the Fateful Night
According to Marques and Krystal’s statements, they had been residing with family friends in their trailer home for a while in late 1999 as they waited for their Mother to move there with them. In other words, Kansas-based Pam had sent her elder two daughters to the trusted Harris family in Del Rio, Texas, as they prepared for their move down to the Lone Star State, unaware of what would transpire. The truth is Marques was supposed to sleep in the same room as Krystal and Katy, albeit on the floor, but the two older girls had her sleep in another room directly across the hallway from them.
Little did either of them know this actually ended up saving her life because Tommy Lynn Sells broke into the property in the early morning of December 31, 1999, to fulfill his darkest desires. As per his own confession, he had scoured the home first and checked both the rooms before going towards Katy on the lower bunk bed to sexually assault her, stab her, and slash her throat. He was moving away when he suddenly noticed Krystal with her head up from the bed watching him, so he slashed her throat, too, before fleeing the scene.
Thankfully, Krystal survived by crawling on her hands and knees to a nearby property to ask for help, unaware the rest of the Harris family and Marques were left unharmed. So, the then 7-year-old only woke up as the sun rose, and a strange lady handed her fresh clothes while saying, “Put this on. We got to go.” All she saw then was “just a stream of blood” down the hall, only to be told what had transpired later on. Nevertheless, even though she was young, she did her best to support Krystal through her trauma in every way she could, with Amber also helping.
While Marques Surles Sadly Passed Away in 2023, Amber Surles Remains a Proud Family Woman
While the events of the 1990s affected all the Surles sisters, the fact they had one another helped them deal with the emotional and mental trauma of it all, bringing them quite close. It even likely played a role in Krystal reconciling with her father following his release from prison on drug-related charges after years of being angry at him for choosing his vice over his daughters. In fact, it turns out that the family had reconnected to such an extent that the three girls had settled down in Boise, Idaho, close to their father by the time the late 2000s rolled around.
From what we can tell, that’s where Amber, as well as Krystal, remain to this very day – Marques had built a life for herself here, too, right along with a partner and children, but she sadly passed away on May 6, 2023. The cause of her death is unknown. As for Amber, like both her elder sisters, she has evolved into a devoted family woman, too, and she actually even tied the knot with the love of her life in March 2024. Together, they are raising two young daughters, all the while she and her eldest sister are also spreading their wings as podcast co-hosts. In early 2024, they actually launched ‘Mommas with Traumas’ to open up about their childhood and discuss a wide array of topics like addiction, grief, death, and true crime.
Read More: Pam and Mark Surles: Where Are Krystal Surles’ Parents Now?
