Casefile True Crime - Case 160: Beverly McGowan

Episode Date: October 24, 2020

In late July 1990, siblings Steve and Jane McGowan both received a letter in the mail from their sister, 34-year-old Beverly McGowan, advising that she had quit her job and was selling her condo in order to go travelling. This made no sense to Steve and Jane. --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Erin Munro Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-160-beverly-mcgowan

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. On Thursday, July 19, 1990, Florida resident Steve McGowan received a letter in the mail from his 34-year-old sister, Beverly. The siblings had last spoken on Sunday, July 15, when Steve called Beverly to see if she would like to drop by for a visit.

Beverly had declined, saying that she was too busy. Their conversation was pleasant and ordinary. Now, four days later, Steve was mildly surprised to find Beverly had sent him a letter out of the blue. The brief note contained the following message. I just want to say goodbye to you and the kids and let you know that what I am doing is the right thing. This is what I need at this point in my life, so don't worry.

When I come back, I will be a much better and happier person. Beverly was the youngest of the three McGowan children. The family hailed from Philadelphia, but had all relocated to Florida a little over a decade earlier. Beverly lived on the coast in Pompano Beach. Her sister Jane lived 11 miles north in Boca Raton. Steve resided in central Florida. Like her brother, Jane also received a cryptic farewell letter from Beverly.

It detailed her decision to make some big life changes in order to go traveling. She wrote of quitting her job and selling her condo as she had to leave right away. The letters made little sense to Steve and Jane. After working hard for a long time, Beverly finally seemed happy with both her career and home life. She had recently purchased the condo and was working two jobs to pay off the mortgage. They couldn't understand why she would suddenly give up everything and leave without a proper goodbye.

The letters were written in Beverly's handwriting from a notepad she kept in her home. Both were postmarked Wednesday, July 18 and were sent from the city of Miami, about 37 miles south of Pompano Beach. When calls to Beverly's home phone failed to connect, Jane visited a police station to report her missing. There was little they could do, as the letters indicated that Beverly had left of her own accord. That night, Steve and Jane headed to Pompano Beach to investigate the matter for themselves.

They arrived at Beverly's home, an upper-level apartment in a two-story condominium building. It was one of many similarly designed complexes that lined South Flagler Avenue. The long, quiet street was situated on the cusp of a dense neighborhood. Beverly's condo was compact. It featured two bedrooms and a balcony that overlooked the residence car park. Upon arrival, Steve and Jane noticed Beverly's red Volkswagen Fox wasn't in its usual parking spot. She wasn't home, but it didn't appear as though she had packed up and left for good.

There were dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, a nightgown had been left on her unmade bed, clothes were in the closet and strewn on the floor. Although there were also signs indicating that Beverly had no intention of returning, the telephone had been disconnected, the answering machine kept alongside it was gone, and there was no trace of Beverly's two pet cats. Steve and Jane rummaged through some drawers and discovered Beverly's address book, passport, and birth certificate were also missing. Steve contacted Beverly's employer at Glendale Federal Bank to see whether they could shed

any light on the situation. Beverly worked Monday to Friday in the bank's loans department, but also had a second part-time job at Goodwill, a non-profit organization. Steve was told that Beverly called in sick on Wednesday, July 18, the day before he received her goodbye letter. This was unusual, given Beverly's reputation as a responsible and reliable employee. During the call, she had also asked to speak to someone in the bank's mortgage department. After she was transferred through, Beverly said she no longer wanted her condo and requested

to foreclose on it. She was told that she would have to send a telegram to verify her request. A telegram was subsequently received. It also gave the bank permission to dispose of the personal belongings left in her home. Although the circumstances were strange, Steve began to believe that his sister had just left without a proper explanation. He lodged a missing persons report with the local authorities and also had Beverly's credit cards cancelled.

He hoped that cancelling the cards would hinder her travel plans and make her angry enough to reach out to her family. On the evening of Thursday, July 19, 31-year-old Jesse Moorhead and his niece went out to catch bait for bass fishing. They arrived at a wide irrigation canal located 100 miles north of Pompano Beach in a remote area of St. Lucie County. The canal is reached via a dirt track and is bordered by an unkempt grassy embankment. One side of the waterway empties out into the St. Lucie River estuary.

The other leads south to the state's sprawling tropical wetlands, the Florida River Glades. Just after 7pm, Jesse was walking alongside the canal while his niece waited nearby in his car. On the embankment, he spotted what appeared to be a bag of rags and went over to inspect them. Upon realizing what he had actually discovered, Jesse raced back to his car and contacted the police. Investigators from St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department arrived at the canal and headed

to the location described by Jesse. There, they found the mutilated remains of a female adult. She was dressed in jeans, a single white sandal and a pink floral shirt that was bunched up around her neck. She had been killed elsewhere before her body was dumped at the site. There was a gaping wound on her abdomen, though its cause was unclear. It could have been a deliberate injury or the result of post-mortem trauma to the body, as alligators populated the canal.

The killer had gone to disturbing lengths to prevent the victim from being identified. Her hands had been removed and she had been crudely decapitated. The missing body parts were not found at the site. Despite this, a pivotal clue had seemingly gone unnoticed by the perpetrator. On the victim's right ankle, hidden under the cuff of her jeans, was a small tattoo of a yellow rose. A description of the tattoo was released to the local media and featured in news reports on the crime.

Steve McGowan was at home when his telephone rang at around 10pm. On the other line was a friend of his missing sister, Beverly. She'd just heard the news of the woman's body found in St. Lucie County. The victim had a tattoo of a yellow rose on her right ankle, just like Beverly. The following day, Steve and Jane drove to St. Lucie County to speak with investigators. They provided a photograph of Beverly's rose tattoo, but declined to view the mutilated body as they found the prospect too distressing. The pair were nevertheless certain the woman was their sister.

They told investigators that Beverly had another tattoo just above her waistline of a rabbit from the animated Disney film, Bambi. This tattoo's location matched the victim's abdomen wound. It appeared as though the perpetrator had cut out the rabbit tattoo to hinder the identification process, but had missed the rose tattoo. The decapitation was also imperfect, as a portion of the victim's lower jaw still remained. A dental expert compared a tooth and filling from the remains to Beverly McGowan's dental records.

Four days after Beverly's siblings received her goodbye letters, she was officially identified as the woman found by the St. Lucie County Irrigation Canal. A medical examiner struggled to establish a cause of death due to the severe mutilation. Beverly's abdomen tattoo had likely been cut out with a knife, while a chainsaw was used to remove her hands and head. It appeared as though her throat had been cut, but it couldn't be ruled with absolute certainty that this was what killed her. There was also a possibility that she had been bludgeoned or shot in the head.

There was no evidence of sexual assault. The last time Beverly was seen alive was at work on Tuesday, July 17. She hadn't mentioned anything to colleagues about going away on a trip. That evening, she phoned a friend for a chat they had every Tuesday. The next day, her employers received the call from someone they believed to be Beverly, stating that she was unwell and wouldn't be coming in. An examination of Beverly's condo failed to uncover blood or any suspicious fingerprints, fibres, or hairs.

There was no sign of a struggle having taken place. The farewell letters to her family were puzzling, as they were in Beverly's handwriting. There was no sign that they had been coerced, yet they ended with the words goodbye, Bev. Her siblings said that Beverly would typically sign off letters by simply writing her name. They had no explanation as to who would harm Beverly or why. She was quiet, independent, and mostly kept to herself. She loved and doted on her nephews and they depended on her. She wasn't wealthy and she didn't have any problematic relationships.

Beverly's life had been marred by tragedy. Her first two boyfriends were killed in separate car accidents. She started dating again to move on, but would end relationships when they became serious. Steve later heard rumours of his sister exploring her sexuality during her early 30s. He described her as someone who travelled to the beat of a different drummer and believed she was only ever looking for love. Despite her traumatic past, Steve was clear that Beverly had recently been at her most content.

He did report one concerning incident. A week before Beverly disappeared, she told Steve about an unsettling message left on her answering machine. She didn't recognise the male caller's voice. She was recorded saying, I know where you live and I can't wait for us to be together. Troubled by the message, Beverly took her answering machine into work and played it to her colleagues. Curiously, the machine was missing from Beverly's abandoned condo.

Beverly valued her privacy, but working two jobs wasn't enough to pay off her mortgage. To supplement her income, she'd rented out her spare bedroom on two previous occasions. Neither roommate worked out in the long run. The first, a woman named Brenda, had clashed with Beverly over lifestyle differences. She was replaced by a man named George. She liked George, but he left after several months to get his own place. Both Brenda and George were questioned in relation to Beverly's murder, but were ruled out as suspects.

Investigators also spoke with a painter named Mike who lived in Beverly's apartment complex. The pair had struck up a close friendship and caught up for dinner several nights a week. Mike was adamant that he would never harm Beverly. He said he was out of town at the time of the murder, preparing for a gallery exhibition. His alibi checked out, and Mike too was ruled out. He said he had spoken to Beverly two days before she disappeared. Mike called to ask if she wanted to have dinner with him that night. Beverly typically accepted spontaneous plans, but not on this occasion.

She rejected Mike's offer, explaining that she was going to spend a time with a potential new roommate named Dallas. In early July, Beverly told several acquaintances that she'd placed an advertisement for a new roommate in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel newspaper. Applications came through, and Beverly interviewed several candidates in the week prior to her murder. When searching her home, investigators found a notepad with a list of applicants' details. Each entry featured a full name, a phone number, and an appointment time to view the condo.

There was one exception. One entry only included a first name. She read, Alice, Tuesday, 6.30. After meeting Alice, Beverly spoke about her enthusiastically to others. She was from London, was well-dressed, drove an impressive car, and worked for the multinational technology company IBM. Alice was moving to the area because she had been placed on temporary work duty at the company's Fort Lauderdale office.

Beverly chose Alice as her new roommate. She told a friend that Alice was moving in around Friday, July 20. Beverly's brother, Steve, also knew about Alice. Although he hadn't met her, Beverly reassured him that she was trustworthy. Beverly was not the type to be suspicious of others and gave everyone she met the benefit of the doubt. Beverly also mentioned that Alice had introduced her to numerology. Followers of this belief assign numerical values to letters, names, and birth dates.

They used these values to calculate when certain events might occur for an individual. Alice offered to predict Beverly's future using numerology and created a rudimentary chart for her. To complete it, Alice required various numbers significant to Beverly's life. Beverly reportedly supplied them. They included her birth date, as well as her social security, passport, and driver's license numbers. Alice ascertained that Beverly would meet a man she would marry at the age of 40 and

would come in to great wealth. She also provided a warning. There was a man and a woman in Beverly's life who were going to deceive and hurt her. Overall, Beverly was pleased by Alice's predictions and shared them with some of her friends. Alice's full identity remained a mystery. Beverly hadn't kept note of anything other than her first name. Furthermore, there was no evidence indicating that Alice had moved in or even visited Beverly's condo.

Investigators reached out to YPM and were told that the company had no English employees working in the South Florida area. They didn't even have an office in Fort Lauderdale. Examination of Beverly's financial statements revealed that on the same day her body was found, someone withdrew $795 from the $800 in her bank account. Her visa credit card was then used 22 miles from her home to purchase women's clothing and books from the upscale Aventura Mall in Miami. The retail assistants who served the customer using Beverly's card described her as a striking

blonde woman with an English accent. The description conjured images of a tall blonde woman who was currently at the center of a national media spectacle. Eight years earlier in 1982, Laurie Bembenik was sentenced to life in prison for the shooting murder of her husband's ex-wife. The dramatic case became a tabloid sensation. Bembenik's glamorous appearance and status as a former model made her something of a celebrity.

Years before Beverly McGowan was killed, Bembenik had escaped her Wisconsin-based prison. When shown a photograph of Laurie Bembenik, the retail assistants at Aventura Mall identified her as the woman who had shopped using Beverly's credit card. But theories that Beverly might have crossed paths with the convicted killer were soon dashed. Bembenik had actually fled North to Canada. She was not in Florida at the time of Beverly's murder. The identification of Bembenik at Aventura Mall was declared a mistake and the lead dismissed.

On Friday, July 20, the day after Beverly's body was found, her credit card was used again in Miami, this time at a travel agency called Thunderbird Travel. The card's holder appeared to be a man dressed as a woman. They wore oval-shaped eyeglasses and a cheap-looking short black wig with a fringe, described as a Cleopatra-style cut. They spoke with an English accent and introduced themselves as Sam. Apparently, Sam claimed to be headed to London in two days' time on British Airways Flight 292 and used Beverly's credit card to buy an Avis car hire voucher for Heathrow Airport.

Records from Beverly's home phone number revealed that someone had called Avis' Heathrow office the day before the voucher was purchased. Investigators were unsure whether this Sam person was the blonde suspect's accomplice or the same person wearing a disguise. Then there was Alice, Beverly's mysterious roommate. It was believed she had played a role in the plot. Her numerology exercise was thought to be a scam to obtain Beverly's personal details and steal her identity.

This theory was supported by the killer's efforts to prevent Beverly's body from being identified. Sam, the wig-wearing man in possession of Beverly's credit cards, had said he was flying to London on July 22. If he had caught the flight, then he'd already escaped overseas by the time investigators uncovered his involvement in the crime. Sergeant Dave Brooks of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department later described the rapid pace at which the bizarre investigation unraveled. He said it felt as though police were just a step or two behind the killers.

Detectives pursuing the Sam lead obtained passenger logs from British Airways Flight 292 as well as other flights en route to Heathrow on July 22. Beverly McGowan's name wasn't listed on any, confirming Sam hadn't used her passport to board. A search of the surrounding area led to the discovery of Beverly's red Volkswagen Fox in the parking lot of a nearby motel. It had been there for five days. Fingerprint powder failed to uncover anything worthwhile, but four hairs from a synthetic

black wig were found inside. British Airways Flight 292 arrived at Heathrow Airport on Monday, July 23, London time. After the plane landed, a passenger with short black hair and oval-shaped eyeglasses approached the Avis Hire Car service counter. They had reserved a car under the name Beverly McGowan and handed over Beverly's driver's license to confirm the booking. Beverly had dark, shoulder-length hair and wore glasses. The person standing at the desk looked like her.

The Avis Clerk requested a credit card to pay for a fuel deposit on the vehicle. The customer handed over Beverly's visa, but the payment failed and the card was declined. She explained that she must have overextended her limit and paid for the deposit with cash instead. In actuality, Steve McGowan had cancelled Beverly's credit card by this point. By the time detectives in Florida learned of this failed transaction, the customer pretending to be Beverly was long gone. As the credit card was no longer functional, its transactions couldn't be used to track

them. Investigators were certain that the customer was the suspect from the Miami travel agency going by the name Sam. Though, there were discrepancies between witness reports as to whether Sam was a man or woman. Sam's arrival in the UK meant they were out of the jurisdiction of American law enforcement. The Florida detectives phoned the London Metropolitan Police's Criminal Investigation Department for help. Detective John Cornish agreed to assist with the foreign investigation.

He spoke with Avis and ordered staff to direct the suspect to their nearest office should they get in contact. Police would then be dispatched to the location to await their arrival. Later that week, Sam contacted Avis. They requested to extend their lease and were told to visit a nearby Avis office. Police staked out the location, but Sam never showed. A backup plan was devised, wherein officers would lie in wait at Heathrow Airport on the date the car was due to be returned.

The day arrived and Metropolitan Police waited in position. Once again, Sam didn't appear. Around mid-morning, Sam's hire car was discovered abandoned several miles away from the airport. It had been wiped of fingerprints. The police realized they were dealing with a criminal who knew exactly what they were doing. Suspecting that Sam was fleeing back to the States, Detective Cornish ordered his team to board every America-bound flight that day to inspect the passengers.

No one matching Sam's description was cited. They had lost their only lead. Little progress was made in the case over the following year. On November 13, 1991, Beverly Story was featured on an episode of the NBC television program Unsolved Mysteries. Steve McGowan appeared on camera and made a personal appeal for information. The Unsolved case was taking its toll on everyone involved. Sergeant Dave Brooks had been investigating Beverly's murder from the outset.

He went out of his way to keep Beverly's loved ones updated on the investigation's status, but was burdened by its roadblocks. One night, he visited Steve McGowan and broke down in tears. The languishing investigation was eventually scaled down. Some of those involved continued to look into the case whenever possible to try and develop new leads. The biggest clue to date was the passenger manifest from British Airways Flight 292, which left Miami on July 22, 1990, at 6.30pm.

The suspect, known only as Sam, had not used Beverly's passport to board the flight, so must have booked a ticket under a different name. Investigators looked into the flight's 248 passengers, but ran into jurisdictional issues when examining individuals who did not reside in Florida. They sought assistance from the US State Department in Washington, DC to identify the non-Florida passengers. Every passenger name that couldn't be traced was submitted to be run through their system. They had to be compared with passport details, and the process would take years to complete.

Five years after Beverly McGowan's murder, a Florida detective named Rena Craning Shield was assigned to the case. Beverly continued to look into the passenger manifest alongside Nora Pfeiffer, an investigator for the state's attorney. Nora had been involved in the case for years, and remained motivated to see it solved. In January 1996, the women received a name from the US State Department that they had identified as significant. Sylvia Ann Hodgkinson was a British citizen who occupied seat 18C on Flight 292.

Her passport photo showed an adult woman with dark hair and eyebrows. Her birth date was listed as July 22, 1964. Sylvia's origins were traced to Lewisham, a borough in South-East London. Her beginnings were humble, and she had received very little education. She later married a dairy worker, but he passed away in 1985. Sylvia then lived in a shelter for women experiencing homelessness. Less than a year after her husband's death, a passport was issued in her name. Investigators suspected that someone else applied for the passport after stealing Sylvia's

identity. As they were unable to find Sylvia's current whereabouts, they feared that she had been killed as well. The State Department determined that the alias Sylvia Hodgkinson was associated with two other names, Charlotte Ray Cowan and Elaine Antoinette Parent. The three identities were tied together following an incident that occurred almost one year after Beverly McGowan's murder. On Wednesday, May 22, 1991, police in North Miami approached a woman in a rental car.

The vehicle had been laced to more than six months earlier in Los Angeles, California. It was flagged as overdue for return, and was fixed with a stolen license plate to conceal its origins. The car's female occupant was a tall redhead. She identified herself as Charlotte Ray Cowan. She provided officers with official documentation to verify her identity. It was clear Charlotte had been sleeping in the car with her two dogs. There were several wigs in her possession, as well as a diary.

She also carried multiple ID cards. They displayed her photograph but featured the names Sylvia Hodgkinson and Elaine Parent. Police took Charlotte into custody on the charge of failing to return a laced vehicle. She was held overnight and posted bail the following day. A court session was later held on the matter. One of the arresting officers was in attendance. When it came time for Charlotte Cowan to face the judge, a woman stood. She had short, straight red hair and was aged in her 30s.

The arresting officer was stunned. The woman answering the summons was not the same person he had taken into custody. He immediately informed the judge. Charlotte was confused. She had received the summons to appear in court that day, but was not responsible for the crime it alleged she had committed. Charlotte asked the police officer if the person he had originally arrested for the offense was a tall redhead.

When he replied yes, she said she knew exactly who it was. Almost a decade earlier, during the mid-80s, Charlotte Cowan was drinking at a bar in the city of Orlando. An immaculately dressed woman with an English accent approached her. She had short, straight red hair like Charlotte's and striking blue eyes. The woman introduced herself as Anne Tramont and offered to buy Charlotte a drink. Anne seemed too sophisticated for the bar they were in and Charlotte was surprised that she caught the attention of such a glamorous person.

Nevertheless, she accepted the drink. The pair chatted and after a while, Anne raised the subject of numerology. She told Charlotte that she would love to create a numerology profile for her, then asked for Charlotte's birthday. Charlotte supplied the information. She also provided her time of birth, her social security number, and her driver's license details. Anne wrote everything down on a napkin and made positive predictions about Charlotte's

future. In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, Charlotte later stated, She had the most sophisticated manner. She was so persuasive. Anne didn't talk about herself much. She did say she was mending a broken heart after a relationship with a former girlfriend ended badly. At one stage, a blonde-haired man entered the bar.

Anne told Charlotte that he was her brother and said she had to go. Before leaving, she asked for Charlotte's phone number. Anne called the next day and the pair arranged to meet up for lunch. Charlotte's mother was present for the meal and was equally impressed by Anne. Several dates followed and Charlotte eventually met Anne's brother. He was as nicely dressed and well-mannered as his sister. Over time, contact between the women faded until they fell out of touch altogether. A couple of months later, Anne called Charlotte to say that her aunt died and had left her

a significant inheritance. Anne was required to split the money with her brother. She claimed that he'd had her committed to a mental health hospital so he could keep the entire amount. Approximately a month after this call, Anne appeared on Charlotte's doorstep at 3am. She was wearing a fake mustache, a wig, and a man's shirt and tie. Distraught and sobbing, Anne explained that she escaped from the hospital where her brother had her admitted.

She was now on the run from her family and needed Charlotte's help to get away. Anne begged to borrow Charlotte's birth certificate so she could create a new identity for herself. Anne initially refused but relented when Anne grew increasingly distressed. Anne promised to return the certificate soon. Several weeks passed with no word from Anne. Charlotte began to worry. Then a letter arrived with her birth certificate enclosed and a note from Anne apologizing for the delay.

Charlotte never heard from her again. A few years later, in mid-1991, Charlotte received a summons regarding a traffic violation in Miami. Baffled, she went to court to resolve the matter. It was quickly discovered that the error was due to the actual perpetrator stealing Charlotte's identity. Charlotte knew the person responsible was the woman she knew as Anne Tramont. Now that two of their suspect's identities were found to be stolen, investigators turned

their attention to her third alias, Elaine Antoinette Parent. Like the others, Parent was a real person, though little could be found about her early life. She was born in the New York City borough of the Bronx on August 4, 1942. Her mother was French-Canadian while her father was American. The couple had no other children. By the time she was an adult, Elaine Parent was five foot seven inches tall with naturally dark hair and blue eyes.

Her weight varied between 140 and 150 pounds. At age 30, she relocated to Florida where she initially lived in an apartment in the village of Balharba. She later moved into a house in Dade County. For a time, Parent worked as a registered real estate agent. In 1976, Parent was arrested in Fort Lauderdale for shoplifting. As a result, her fingerprints were collected and stored on the police system. Then in 1985, she stole approximately $40,000 worth of jewelry from an elderly woman she

knew. This was around the same time Parent became acquainted with Charlotte Cowan. Parent's fingerprints were compared to those taken from the woman apprehended in 1991 for failing to return the hire car. They were a match. The woman pretending to be Charlotte Cowan was indeed Elaine Parent. She was released on bail, but never appeared for her day in court. There was nothing to indicate that Elaine Parent was a stolen identity like Sylvia Hodgkinson

and Charlotte Cowan. Investigators believed Parent was the true identity of the elusive suspect in the Beverly McGowan case, known previously as Sam. Parent's criminal history aligned with the circumstances leading up to Beverly's murder, the numerology scam, the stolen personal documents, and the use of a disguise. Yet, Beverly's case was the only known instance in which Parent had apparently killed the person whose identity she stole. Investigators were confident Parent was the woman named Dallas, who Beverly accepted

as her roommate days before her death. But, they had yet to directly link Parent to Beverly's murder. The evidence in the McGowan case file was re-examined to find a connection to Parent. This included the farewell letters Beverly had sent her siblings. They were penned on a notepad from her condo. The handwriting was hers, and they didn't appear to have been written under duress. The decision was made to carry out forensic testing on the notepad itself. An electrostatic detection device, also known as Zesta, is a piece of equipment that can

reveal indentations in paper that may not be visible or legible to the human eye. These indentations are made when someone has written on another piece of paper that was previously on top of the paper being examined. Esther testing of Beverly's notepad revealed that it had been used to compose other pieces of writing. The hidden messages were painstakingly replicated, revealing handwriting that was not Beverly's. It appeared as though the author was writing to a woman whom she'd been in an intimate relationship with, but they had since parted.

The messages were hostile in nature, with one excerpt reading, You will feel the repercussions, I guarantee it. After your treatment and abandonment of me, I have no remorse in tearing down what, in truth, I created anyways. Give me back my life. The letters were compared to samples of Elaine's parents handwriting, and they matched. A forensic psychologist named Dr Barbara Kerwin profiled parent for law enforcement. She later told the makers of the documentary The World's Most Wanted Woman that the letters

were consistent with a rage-filled and highly manic psychiatric state. The letters parent wrote were addressed to a woman in London. She was the senior executive for an international blue-chip company. Upon this discovery, Detective John Cornish of the London Metropolitan Police rejoined the investigation. It had been about six years since Cornish had tracked the suspect, now known as Elaine Parent, after her arrival at Heathrow Airport. He had almost intercepted her, but she managed to evade his capture.

Detective Cornish interviewed the woman parent had sent the scathing letter to. In order to protect her identity, she was given the pseudonym Witness X. Witness X said she'd met parent on a trip to Miami during the 1980s, and the pair had struck up a romantic relationship. In 1985, after parent was sought by police for stealing jewelry, she fled to London and moved in with Witness X. The couple's relationship soon deteriorated. Parent was prone to aggressive mood swings.

She could quickly change from being calm and easygoing to violent and temperamental. She threatened Witness X's life and attempted to emotionally blackmail her. The couple broke up in 1990 and parent returned to the United States. To Witness X's surprise, parent returned to London a short while later, at the end of July. She was driving an Avis hire car. Parent persuaded Witness X to rekindle their relationship, but things quickly soured again. When they split for a second time, parent placed an advertisement in the Personals column

of London's Time Out magazine. She wrote that she loved wine and was a gourmet cook who owned an excellent collection of copper cookware. Three months after returning to London, parent kidnapped Witness X's two dogs and flew back to the US. Back home, parent sent Witness X a death threat made of letters cut out from newspaper articles. She also tried to demand a ransom for Witness X's two dogs. These were believed to be the same dogs found in her possession when she was arrested in

Miami in May 1991. Witness X's information allowed investigators to fill in numerous gaps in parents' history. Investigators now understood that she must have met Sylvia Hodgkinson within her first year of living in London. Somehow, she managed to obtain enough information about Sylvia that she could take out a passport in her name. It was suspected that parent had stolen the identities of other vulnerable and unsuspecting persons.

She had also learned to imitate a convincing English accent, allowing her to trick people into thinking she was British. By the end of 1996, Florida's State Department had filed charges of passport fraud against a lame parent. But they had no idea where she might be hiding. Her name was released to the media in an effort to generate leads, though investigators stopped short of naming her as a suspect in Beverly McGowan's murder. St. Lucie County Sheriff Bobby Niles told journalists.

The sheriff's office believes she may have vital information about the disappearance and the murder. She may even have first-hand knowledge. No viable tips emerged, but investigators were still managing to unravel parents' history. There was evidence that she had moved to the state of New Mexico in 1991 and worked there as a restaurant manager. Afterwards, she moved to Tennessee with a female friend and got a job at a Sears department store.

The last confirmed sighting of parent took place around Easter in 1994. A former colleague from Sears spotted her on a road just south of Nashville. In 1998, the television program America's Most Wanted aired a segment about a lame parent. It was accompanied by a photograph of her with short black hair. She was dressed in a crisp white shirt and fine gold jewellery. A resident from the Florida City of St. Petersburg was watching television at home when the show aired. The moment she saw a lame parent's image, she immediately recognized her.

Patricia Nevins was a church minister who knew parent as a bleached blonde by the name of Sandra Little. Although the woman shown on America's Most Wanted looked quite different to the person Patricia knew, she had the same chic sense of style. Patricia met a lame parent, masquerading as Sandra Little in 1992. Parent was destitute and living in a St. Petersburg shelter for people experiencing homelessness. The city of St. Petersburg is on the opposite side of the state from the Atlantic coast where parent had previously lived.

Patricia offered to let parent stay in her spare bedroom and the pair lived together for almost a year and a half. During this time, parent, as Sandra Little, filed a civil negligence lawsuit against the state after she slipped in a restaurant and injured herself. She won and was awarded an undisclosed amount in damages. This evening's were spent watching both the local and international news. Once a week, she watched the latest episode of America's Most Wanted. Patricia described several peculiar incidents that occurred during her time living with

parent to the makers of the documentary, The World's Most Wanted Woman. Parent had once told her that the only way she could have a proper life would be if she had another identity. Then during a dinner party, parent mimed cutting off a guest's hand to obtain his gold bracelet. Patricia arranged for parent to speak with a psychiatrist. He later informed Patricia that parent was an extremely intelligent, budding sociopath who would leave Patricia's life as quickly as she arrived. This prediction came to pass when the two women parted ways in 1993.

Five years later, Patricia saw a lame parent's photograph on America's Most Wanted. Following the television appeal, a strange letter was delivered to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office. This envelope bore a London post stamp and it contained a postcard. The image side featured a print copy of an oil painting. It depicted an older version of a lame parent. She was wearing a blue and green one-piece bathing suit and pearl earrings. Her hair was grey and styled in the same short, quaffed manner that parent often chose.

She was shown climbing out of a swimming pool. The back of the card featured a typed message that read, Your Chameleon, an oil sketch by Piper, Best Wishes. An illegible signature was scribbled alongside the message. The postcard coined the title a lame parent would come to be known as The Chameleon Killer. Forensic psychiatrist Dr Barbara Kerwin later told the Telegraph newspaper that parent craved the attention of the authorities as much as she feared it.

The oil painting is very theatrical. I believe she sent it to law enforcement as a way of thumbing her nose at them, of sort of teasing them by saying, I'm alive, I'm well, look out for me, but you'll never find me. In February 1999, the case featured on the television show World's Most Wanted and it soon garnered international attention. Unconfirmed sightings of parent were reported across the world, in places like Turkey, France, Australia and South Africa.

The press dubbed the fugitive, The World's Most Wanted Woman. In April of 2001, St. Petersburg resident Patricia Nevins was preparing a special dinner to celebrate the Easter holiday. She headed out to a Sam's Club supermarket in the nearby town of Clearwater to purchase ingredients. The store was part of a member's only chain that required customers to register their details in order to shop there. As Patricia made her way through the store, she spotted a woman she recognized. It was her former roommate, a lame parent.

She had gained weight since Patricia had last seen her almost a decade earlier and her hair was longer and darker. Aware there was a global hunt underway for parent, Patricia's heart began to race. She drew closer to parent and for a moment, Patricia quickly looked away. When she turned back, parent was gone. Patricia reported the sighting and the supermarket's member database was examined for a lame parent's details. The information didn't exist and parent eluded investigators once again.

One year later, in April 2002, parent featured on another episode of America's Most Wanted. After the program aired, a number of calls were made to the show's tip line from Panama City in far northwest Florida. Multiple callers claimed that parent was living in Panama City's affluent neighborhood of St Andrew's Bay. They identified themselves as neighbors of hers and were able to provide her address. A representative from America's Most Wanted promptly informed authorities. Three police officers headed to the address. They arrived at a modest single-story house and knocked on the front door. A middle-aged brunette woman answered.

She was dressed in silk beige-colored pajamas. The officers provided a cover story, telling the woman that they'd received a 911 call from the address and were following up to make sure everything was all right. The woman introduced herself as Darlene Thompson and provided a military ID that featured her headshot. She looked nothing like the photographs of a lame parent that the officers had seen. They thought that the tipsters might have been mistaken. She was asked to accompany them to the station for questioning anyway, just to be certain. Darlene agreed and asked if she could get changed first.

The three officers waited outside her bedroom as Darlene headed inside. While she was gone, one of the officers examined Darlene's ID more closely. P had a military background and was familiar with the appearance of their identification cards. Darlene's ID was missing a crucial stamp to verify its legitimacy. The officer knocked on Darlene's bedroom door to address the matter and she called out, I am getting dressed. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The officers raced into the bedroom and found Darlene lying in a pool of blood.

There was a wound in her chest and a 357 magnum revolver in her hand. She died at the scene. Darlene's fingerprints were collected and on Monday, April 8, it was confirmed that she was indeed a lame parent. It emerged that the house where parent had been living belonged to another woman. Parent had been renting her spare bedroom since August 2001. Her roommate described her as somewhat hyper with a passion for cooking gourmet food. Parent had told her that she worked at a telecommunications company downtown. The roommate had a Pecanese poodle cross named Molly that parent walked twice a day.

She said parent would take the dog to nearby parks and chat to other women as she strolled. In contrast to this description, a neighbour told reporters that parent kept to her to herself and made no effort to be friendly. Quote, I would greet her and she acted like she wouldn't acknowledge me. I knocked on her door one time to warn her about a man wandering around offering to do people's yards and she wouldn't come to the door. A search of the St Andrews Bay house uncovered a counterfeit Florida driver's license with parents' photo but the name of the woman she was living with. Investigators also found a number of passport applications. Parents' closet was packed full of wigs and both men and women's clothing.

There was a book on learning French and another about stage makeup. Some of parents' acquaintances mentioned that they often saw her working on a laptop but the device was never recovered. Nor was the diary that parent had in her possession when arrested more than a decade earlier as Charlotte Cowan in 1991. A notepad contained information about a man from the nearby city of Lynn Haven including his social security number and credit card details. A desktop computer contained data useful for making fake IDs. There was also an FBI Most Wanted poster that parent appeared to have crafted herself. It showed her passport photo with the name Antonia Rays Ormond. It noted that she was wanted for murdering a government official in a Washington DC hotel room.

Panama City Police Commander Mitch Pitts later speculated that parent created the poster to intimidate someone. Many unanswered questions remained following the death of a lame parent. Law enforcement agencies believe she had up to 20 different identities that she used around the globe including the United States, the UK, Turkey, Israel, France and South Africa. Some suspect she murdered more than once, though no victims aside from Beverly McGowan have ever been named. Three years before parent's death, investigator Nora Pfeiffer told The Guardian, The brutality of the McGowan murder and the way in which the body was cut up leads me to think that a person capable of committing something like this has already done the same thing in the past or may do so in the future. A birth certificate for a lame parent has never been found, suggesting that a lame parent could have been another fake identity. Opinion has been divided as to whether parent worked alone or with an accomplice.

Some speculated that parent could not have killed Beverly, then mutilated and disposed of her remains without help. Charlotte Cowan met a blonde man who parent had introduced as her brother. In the days after Beverly's murder, her credit card was used by an individual in a black wig and eyeglasses. Some witnesses described this person as male, while others thought they were female. Others were certain this individual, known initially as Sam, was a lame parent donning a disguise to look similar to Beverly. A number of investigators who have studied parents' actions don't believe she would ever collaborate with another person. Harvard psychologist Maria Conocova has written extensively about con artists and says that they commonly exhibit psychopathic and narcissistic traits. This analysis is consistent with forensic psychologist Dr Barbara Kerwin's profiling of parent.

She has theorized that parents stole identities to, quote, fill up the emptiness of her own personality. She described parent as a consummate con artist, highly adept at reading her victims and targeting their individual and personal vulnerabilities. Elaine parents' living victims expressed relief upon hearing of her death. For almost two decades, her former partners, Witness X and Charlotte Cowan, lived in fear that parent would harm them. Investigators couldn't say why parent killed Beverly McGowan and none of her other known victims. In the documentary The World's Most Wanted Woman, Beverly's brother Steve explained that he carried guilt for cancelling her credit cards before her body was found. At the time, he believed that he was doing the right thing, thinking it would prompt his sister to reach out. Yet, he inadvertently cut off a viable means of tracking her killer.

Occasionally, Steve's grief would overwhelm him. It could be brought on by minor things, such as hearing a particular song on the radio while driving his car. This sorrow and the lack of closure remained long after Beverly's murder, quote. It's been 11 years of wondering why. I mean, you do see stories in the newspaper and you read them and think, what a tragedy, but that would never happen to me. It could never happen to my life. And then it does. And boy, does it wake you up.