ODESSA, Texas — Though a Union Wells High School cheerleader escaped the murderer who killed her squadmate during last November’s Homecoming celebration, residents here say they still lack peace of mind.

“I guess it’s a ray of sunshine,” said local rancher Kyle Travis, “but it don’t do nothin’ to ease my general gnawin’ sense of ennui about the way things is going.”

The sleepy West Texas community was rocked by the murder of Jackie Wilcox, 16, who had become a local hero last fall after risking her life to save firemen injured in a train crash. Ms. Wilcox’s squadmate, Claire Bennett, 15, escaped unharmed from the still-unidentified and unapprehended killer, a minor blessing that has provided the town with a silver lining to its tragedy.

Odessa has endured a number of recent tragedies. Shortly before Ms. Wilcox’s killing, Charlene Andrews, a 19-year-old waitress at the Burnt Toast Cafe in nearby Midland, was also found murdered; police believe the slayings may be related. Several months earlier, Ms. Bennett and star quarterback Brody Mitchum, 16, narrowly survived a severe car accident that left Mr. Mitchum with near-total memory loss. And just a few weeks ago, Ms. Bennett’s house was destroyed in a gas explosion, though her entire family managed to escape unhurt.

“It’s great that Claire survived,” said Rosalie Sanchez, a forklift operator at nearby Primatech Paper, where Ms. Bennett’s father also works. “But we can’t go around pretending that it makes everything all right. I’ve got a son in the middle of Iraq right now, and there’s all that stuff about global warming. It kind of makes you wish there were some superhero who could swoop down and make everything OK.”