Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 4 missing men, Dance Mom star to prison, Missy Bevers update

Episode Date: July 12, 2017

The disappearance of 4 young men in Pennsylvania is an unsolved mystery. Reporter Jamie Stover updates Nancy Grace on the massive search. Abbey Lee Miller starts her prison term and ET reporter Denny Directo shares what the Dance Moms star just told him. Alan Duke discusses what Missy Bevers' husband is telling him about his wife's murder probe. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. acres. We're going through it with the equivalent of a fine-tooth comb. The search for four missing young men from Bucks County centered on a farm in Solberry Township. We're getting a lot of strong indications that this is where we need to focus. They looked for evidence of the four young men who disappeared within days of each other. It's very disturbing. Jimmy Patrick was first reported missing on Wednesday. Just two days later, Mark Sturgis, Tom Mio, and Dean Finacchiaro also disappeared. Police arrested 20-year-old Cosmo DiNardo on unrelated weapons charges, but stopped short of calling him a suspect. Mr. DiNardo is a person of interest.

Local authorities are now saying simply hang on to hope in Bucks County. I'm talking about the four young guys. They all look scrubbed in sunshine to me. Four young guys mysteriously go missing. You know, I started preparing to do this for ABC's Good Morning America and reading and reading and reading about it, listening to every scrap of evidence I could find, I ended up staying up till about two o'clock the night before getting up at four, actually, because there's just so many intricacies involved

in the disappearance of four young guys. They just seemingly disappear out of nowhere. But now, authorities are all converging at a 68-acre corn farm. Yes, out in a rural area. And developments are happening hot and heavy as the families of four young guys, some teens, are standing by. And it broke my heart to hear that a lot of their families are just standing around police vehicles at the search location. Just standing there wondering, is my son dead or alive? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for being with us and with me, special guest from WFMZ-TV, Jamie Stover, joining us from Bucks County as the search for the four missing young men stretches in to day four. Jamie, thank you so much for being with us. They've compared it to looking for a needle in a haystack. Tell me how this whole thing went down. First of all, police are trying to probe the connection between the four missing. Why are these four missing now? I know two of them are best friends. What more do we know? That's correct. Two of them are best friends. The rest, and that's what's so interesting about a lot of this, is there really isn't. Like you said, we're going now into the fourth day of

searching. It's now been a week since one of those young men was reported missing. And it's still unclear, really, how all these men knew each other, if in fact they did. And it appears, at least in the public realm, that that's what the investigators are trying to figure out. Even into day four, just yesterday, the district attorney was saying that they still need the public's help in determining what exactly the nature of these relationships may have been. They are leading to believe that they somehow knew each other. But that's really what's so interesting about this. And then you add on, you know, one of the recent developments of now having a person of interest, you add on a fifth person where we're trying to figure out what was potentially the relationship between five of these young men who are involved in this story that has

really just exploded in this part of Pennsylvania. Well, the one person that Jamie's talking about, the so-called person of interest, and they wouldn't even say that at the beginning, is the son of the owner of this large corn farm. It's Cosmo DiNardo. He's about 19 to 20 years old, and he has had mental disturbances in the past. He has been involuntarily committed in the past. He has been spotted walking around this farm in camouflage outfit with a gun. Okay, now he's not supposed to have a gun and I don't know what the restrictions on him were, but they have arrested him. They've booked him on a gun charge. Nothing to do with the

disappearance, but I want to go back to these four guys I've gone over and over and over everything two of them uh Sturgis Mark Sturgis correct and 21 year old Tom Mayo long time friends that's how those two know each other okay also they work for Sturgis's dad, Mark Potash. All right, that's how Mark and Tom know each other. Then, Dean Finocchiaro is a mutual friend of both. So, that's how he fits in. We have one more missing. That accounts for Finocchiaro, Sturgis, and Mayo. Then there's Jimmy Tar Patrick.

Nobody knows exactly how Patrick fits in, but I can tell you this. I have been reading and learned that Patrick was a Facebook friend of DiNardo, the potential person of interest. They were Facebook friends. Now, what does that mean? That may mean nothing more, Jamie, than DiNardo went online and friended Patrick. That doesn't really mean a lot. But these are the developments that I know about.

That's true. We did learn a little bit more last night. One of our reporters last night spoke with friends of Jimmy Patrick and said that he went to school with DiNardo, but stopped short of calling them friends. These friends that we interviewed were actually not even familiar personally with DiNardo, and they wouldn't classify Patrick and DiNardo as friends, but it appears that they did go to school together, at least for a short time. So that is one piece of information that is starting to come out as well. But you're right, that is the only person that DiNardo, of these four men, is actually friends with on Facebook from anything we've been able to find online. The other three, there's not a clear connection to DiNardo, at least on any social media account.

You know, this is, I come from a very rural area and it reminds me of that. This is, many people have said, out in the middle of nowhere, Jamie. And it's a beautiful country. It's Sulbury Township, Pennsylvania. It's not far from upscale Bucks County. And these parents, I mean, one of these kids is 19 years old, never been in a day of trouble in his life. One said their son likes to sit at home and play the guitar. They talk about their dreams of what they want to do when they, quote, get out of college and go on.

And now the FBI, along with six other agencies, are involved. They just disappear in the twinkling of an eye. And now authorities have brought in, quote, heavy equipment. I'm talking backhoes, bobcats, cranes. It's not good, Jamie Stover, when they're looking for you with a backhoe, all right? That ain't, there's nothing good about that. Well, and the district attorney added yesterday, I mean, he has not gone as far to say that, you know, that this is going to be a grim reality in the end of it.

He's quoted multiple times, as I'm sure you've been reading, saying that they are still holding on to hope. But he did, in fact, say yesterday that in addition to that heavy equipment that you're speaking of, if you've seen any of the surveillance video or excuse me, the the overhead video of that property showing them digging, they did bring in cadaver dogs as well. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Jamie. Jamie, wait.

Alan, are you with me? With me, Alan Duke joining me, my buddy and colleague. Alan. Yes. Oh, I just thought about it. You can't find your kid. You can't find your son. And you see them bringing back hoes. Oh, dear god in heaven can you even imagine what these parents are going through they're all clustering around a cop car no at the scene every day just standing there watching bringing in

bobcats and backhoes oh Wanting answers. Wondering. It's the most painful thing a father or mother could go through, I would imagine. Jamie Stover with me from WFMZ-TV, joining me from Bucks County. Jamie, we know this as well. This is a sprawling family property there in Sulbury Township. We know that it's about 30 miles north of Philly, six other agencies involved in addition to the FBI. We know that one cell phone has been tracked to this area. I think it's Finocchiaro's cell phone was tracked there. And then not only that places him there somewhere in that area.

Then one car has been found parked in a garage, kind of a hidden. I can't imagine what it's like. You may know better than me. And they've just found the car. Another car was of the boys was found in a nearby shopping area in Peddler's Village. Whose car is where, Jamie Stover? So the first car that you spoke of, that has not been confirmed on our end by anybody in official capacity. I do believe that has been reported elsewhere. The second car that you're speaking of is Mark Sturgis. And I did speak with his family.

And according to his family, his car, like you mentioned, was found at Peddler's Village, which is less than a mile from that property where they've been searching now for four days. And what stood out to the family about where that car was parked, Peddler's Village, is it's a shopping center that they would not anticipate seeing their son shopping at. It's more of a family facility. It's not somewhere where, you know, a 20-some-year-old kid would just pop in and, you know, to quote them almost exactly, you know, they don't picture him stopping in and just getting an ice cream cone and walking around. So that's another piece of the puzzle that we're still waiting, as many of these pieces,

we're still waiting on to really get a clear image of what exactly happened here. But that seemed very out of character to that family, in addition to him not coming home at all, not calling and then not showing up for work the next day, in addition to his best friend who also worked for that construction company, as you mentioned just a little bit ago you know my fiance was murdered working for a construction company out in the middle of nowhere on a hot summer day and it's really made me think about that a lot these guys working this summer for a construction company belonging to one of the dads i've got a lot of questions for you i wanted to establish the facts pretty much as we know them right now. The search is up and going right now again, day four, for these four young guys.

What time of the day, and I know a lot of these answers may not be clear right now, just throwing you some rapid-fire questions, that means something to me after thousands of investigations of missing people and homicide investigations. Jamie, what time of the day do we think they disappeared? Some of them were spotted before they disappeared. What do we know? That's another question that we don't have a lot of answers on. I can speak the most to Mark Sturgis, whose family reported him missing the following Saturday because he didn't show up to work and he never came home and he lived with his parents. But it's

not really clear exactly when he went missing. You know, the shopping center where his car was left, I've spoken with family, I've asked prosecutors. You would think there would be some sort of surveillance video that they could get a timeframe on. Did he walk from his car? Did he, did someone come up to his car? What time did that happen? When did he arrive? And, you know, investigators have really been keeping this very, very tight to the vest and have not even established at least least publicly, that they have that video. They really are not giving as much. Well, are there video cameras in Peddler's Village? Certainly one of the shops has to have something. I would think so, given the size of that facility.

Now, whether or not there's cameras pointing to exactly where his car is, that I don't know. I know that that is questions that uh his family has asked we don't know where he was parked in the parking lot was anybody was he spotted were there any sightings of him that's information again that we have not been privy to the the investigation has been uh for as for as public and wide reaching as this has been the details have come out pretty sparingly, pretty sparingly. I mean, it was from the onset, they did call it a criminal investigation, but they stopped short of identifying anyone or even, you know, confirming

the property they were on. And then it comes out that, yes, we have a person of interest, and that person, as we've already talked about, is Cosmo DiNardo. His parents' property is the subject of this massive search that's going on right now where you see this heavy equipment, you see sifting equipment out there. He was locked up on an unrelated offense stemming from back in February, a charge that actually was refiled in the midst of this investigation. Jamie, that's another issue I wanted to talk to you about because the gun charge that DiNardo, this is the fifth person. They're referring to him as the fifth person, but what he is is a person of interest in the disappearance of the four boys. DiNardo had been involuntarily committed a while back, and he had a gun charge,

and what he had was a shotgun and ammo. That's from which the gun charge stemmed. It was a Savage Arms 20-gauge shotgun and ammo, and it was dropped. Now, this is why I'm saying he's very much a person of interest because after they dropped the gun charge against him a while back, in the recent days, they decided

to refile it so they could arrest him and post him a million dollar bail. Look. Which last night he posted. Yeah, because that's a hundred grand. You only have to put down ten percent. Whoa. So. Yeah, because that's 100 grand. You only have to put down 10%. Whoa.

So he's out. That's a development. A million dollar bail on a gun charge is unheard of. Usually on murders, you get a million dollar bail. And also the fact that he posted it, according to Jamie, Jamie, guys, Jamie Stover is joining us from WFMZ-TV. That means his family's got money if they can come up with $100,000 cash or collateral. So he's out. But my point on that is they trumped up the charge.

It's a legitimate charge on this gun, the Savage Arms 20 gauge. But they had dropped it. Then they revive it in order to get him behind bars. But they reinvigorated. They refiled that charge now. And they didn't have to do that. So that's why they did that. Hey, you know, question to you, Jamie.

And Alan, you as well. Sturgis and Mayo last seen Friday. Finocchiaro was last seen, according to reports, being, quote, picked up by a fifth person who is not missing. Whoa, that's got to of DiNardo's, was picked up by a fifth person who was not missing. So it's got to be. That's certainly possible that it was, that it was. DiNardo.

That it was him. That possible. It has not been confirmed. That has not even been hinted at. So we don't know who the fifth is. Friends that came by, friends that came by to the scene, you know know interested or wanting to know what happened to their friend of of finocchi ario uh earlier this week said that he did not drive so it uh had made sense to them that he would have had somebody pick him up somewhere um because he he was not driving

i got it. The fact that he doesn't drive means that anybody could have been giving him a ride to get to that location, not necessarily that DiNardo picked him up. See that one little tidbit that he didn't drive changes the landscape. Another issue. Investigators, according to sources, execute a search warrant at a nearby home in Solbury. That home also belongs to DiNardo's family and find Mayo's car in the garage, according to sources. Sturgis' vehicle was there at Peddler's Village, not too far away, according to his dad. They are now saying foul play is definitely suspected. Here's my question.

Alan, how could Cosmo DiNardo, a 20 year old son of the property owners, subdue and or kill but at least subdue four strapping young teen boys? How could he

do that? Now one is I think 21, but they're very young, never been in trouble before. Several live with their parents. How could he do it? Guns. Using firearms. You put a gun on me, I'm going to get in your car. I'll remember that. Probably. If I can't get away. A gun makes a big man little and a little man big. I've used that in a million closing arguments. You're right. You're absolutely right. And he was known, DiNardo, for marching around the property

in camouflage with a gun. But how did he lure them there? Keep in mind, we're not allegedly dealing with a normal man. He has a history of mental illness. He was involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. That's why he couldn't have that shotgun. Whether the disappearances are linked. The four men knew each other, but it's not definitively known whether their disappearances are related. You know, I can answer that right now. Yes, they're related. Why are they missing? Family and friends say they don't understand.

They don't know of any reason they would have gone missing. Now, Cosmos DiNardo connection, what is that? He's called a person of interest. When did that development occur, Jamie? That came out yesterday. His name came out Tuesday, or Monday, no, today is, it came out the day before when that, when that charge came out. That's when people started hearing that name started wondering okay what's what's what's the potential connection here but the actual explicitly explicit characterization as a person of interest was out yesterday from the district attorney's office in the area they were not in a group though jamie you've got, two of them possibly in a car together. You've got an additional car and then you've got a fourth wild card.

They weren't, they didn't, he didn't get them all together in a group and hold a gun on them and march them to this area. That's not how it went down. How were they lured? Well, what's so interesting about that. What? How were they lured? or last seen Friday. So there's a two day gap there between one person who went missing and then the other three. So this idea that maybe where they all grouped together in some way, you know, perhaps, but it wouldn't seem that way because of the gap in when they went missing. So that's another piece that has a lot of reporters and I another piece that, you know, has a lot of reporters,

and I'm sure investigators, you know, scratching their heads wondering, you know, how did this all happen? What was the sequence of events? What exactly did happen? I mean, at the end of the day, this is still a criminal missing persons investigation. At least that is what the district attorney is willing to say publicly at this point they have not really progressed or changed how they're characterizing this investigation since this started unfolding. Right now we know that cadaver dogs have been brought in, heavy construction equipment including a backhoe, and a very careful examination of land. Not to miss the tiniest piece of evidence, according to the county's district attorney. So far, no human remains have turned up. Question Jamie, can they still be alive? I mean, look, there was the Elizabeth Smart case. There's the D dugard case there are cases where the person or people are found alive it can happen

jamie well that is what the bucks county district attorney is at least holding on to and and he has far more information certainly than than anybody in anywhere in the press would have at this point um and and he's not willing to to take that off the table that they may be found safe, may return to their homes and to their families, which of course, you know, you have a lot of people hoping and praying for. And he has basically said, we are going to hold on to that until it is no longer possible. And at this point, they are holding on to that as a possibility. Praying and hoping and thinking about their families all clustered together, wondering what happened to their children.

I mean, you know, I thought I was happy before I had the twins. I had no idea what happiness really is for me anyway and then you have the child and you pour in all your love all your energy last night I lit for the first time for John David Sparklers and you would have thought the world had just stopped he was so thrilled riding in the air with sparklers. And I think about him and my sweet girl Lucy growing up. I can't imagine what these parents and family are going through. Our thoughts and prayers with the four boys and their families now as they continue with cadaver dogs and bat coves on that 68-acre cornfield. Jamie Stover with me.

From WFMZ TV. Thank you so much for being with us. Sure. And now to Abby Lee Miller. So many people. Right now are addicted to. Reality TV. They think the people.

On the reality TV shows. They're not reality. They're scripted. But you think because you see them in your home that you know them and they have become like family members or actual friends. It was a big shock to Dance Mom aficionados, the reality hit show when Abby Lee Miller was ordered to a federal penitentiary. The former Dance Moms star, and there's no doubt that she did it because she finally pled guilty when a judge had caught her red-handed. Abby Lee Miller, Dance Mom reality star, in prison, heads to prison today and joining me right now is a star in his own right from et reporter danny directo you know danny what's so amazing is as recently as this past week she has been yucking it up and cracking jokes with paparazzi and all of her flunkies

laughing about going to a federal penitentiary. I don't get it. You just spoke to her. What's funny about the pen? That was exactly what I was thinking when I first chatted with her. This was just this past weekend on Saturday. And first of all, let me tell you the event I caught up with her at. That'll give you a sense of where she's at right now as far as her headspace before she

heads to prison. I caught up with her at the Marvel Universe Live premiere. I mean, it was the last place where I imagined talking to Abby Lee Miller before she starts her prison sentence. I mean, alongside Captain America and Iron Man, you know, but yeah, she would, I did not get the sense that this was a woman who was nervous about checking into a federal prison. She was very lighthearted, made jokes about the fact that she would be heading into prison and even referred to her time there as me time. She mentioned that she's always put others before her, especially the young girls she taught in dance malls, always trying to... Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay,

Danny, as much as I love you, as handsome and wonderful as I think you are, could you please repeat what you said? Because either you miscommunicated or I need a hearing aid. Are you saying the Dance Mom star, Abby Lee Miller, she's the one that hit the lady, she slapped the other lady or yanked her hair and started all these fights. She was the villain. And then she lied to the federal government, hiding all sorts of money, including asking friends as they return from an out-of-country trip to hide cash and money, as I recall, so she would not have to declare it. Are we talking about the same lady? And you said, Danny Directo, she always was self-sacrificing? She put everybody else first?

What about that $100 hundred grand she stuffed down her underwear? I mean, help me out here, Danny. You know, I have the exact quote here for you. Your hearing is not off. She says, quote, I've always put everyone else's child first before my own health, before my own outfit, before my own time frame. You know, everybody else was dressing out the door and looking perfect. And I was running around trying to find a clean towel to take a shower with. So I think this would be a little neat. Wait, is this about clothing? Wait, because she did not dress to the nines? That was her self-sacrifice?

Well, she won't have to worry about that in the penitentiary because guess what? They'll have a jumper in just her size. Let's talk about what the crime was. She's been seen as late as this the past 48 hours. She heads to the penitentiary today flashing a huge smile while out to dinner at a posh LA restaurant. You could tell me about that Alan Duke. But let's talk about why is she heading to jail. The thing about the hundred100,000 stuff down the underwear, I don't know the exact amount of money she hid while coming back into the country. But what really got her in trouble, and help me, Danny, because it's a tangled web,

she had been in front of a bankruptcy judge, as I recall. She had been in front of a judge and was poor-mouthing. So the judge goes home and he believed it. He goes home and he sees that she's got a show, a spinoff show in the works, all sorts of money-making ventures, and he felt duped and lied to. That's one thing you don't do is lie to a judge. That'll get you in a whole heap of trouble. So what exactly are her charges, Danny? She pled guilty to bankruptcy fraud and basically for defrauding the government out of, and I do have the exact amount, $750,000. Now what's funny. Okay. Sorry, I had to choke on that for a moment. $750,000.

$750,000. Yes. And funny enough, when I talked to her, when I asked how she's spending her last few days before prison, she's hanging out with friends at Pittsburgh, and then she made the joke that they will be reminiscing about old times and also gossiping about who the heck has that money. Because as she claims, and she said this to me on camera, I sure don't have that money. I wonder where it is.

So the jury is still out. I just wonder where it is. So she is now saying, even after pleading guilty under oath to fraud, money fraud, she's now saying, no, that didn't happen. I don't know what happened to the money. Am I hearing correctly? You are. So even now she's going down with a ship that's what she says and she told paparazzi last night at that hollywood hot spot that her attorneys know that she's taking the fall on this one so she claims so she alleges wait she's taking the fall for other people is this the same lady i saw slap another woman or yank her hair? That's correct.

Is that her? That's her, same person. Okay. Abby Lee Miller, reality star, initially indicted in 2015 on 20. That's right, 2-0 charges of fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets, false declarations. She pled guilty for that in 2016. Danny Director, where is she serving her sentence? She'll be serving her sentence in Victorville, California, where she'll begin starting today

a one-year and one-day sentence. So that's 366 days that she is expected to be in a prison facility. I asked her, what are you most nervous about in serving your sentence and ready for your mind to be blown? She said, I guess it's the bra thing. She said from her research, she could try on a hundred bras and none of them will fit right. And they're just going to hand her one that's going to be perfect. She doesn't know, but she's most concerned about that, apparently. Okay, I'm not understanding that because, you know, I've been in so many penitentiaries and jails for various reasons, and they're horrible unless this is a minimum security.

I do know, Alan Duke is also with me, Alan, that she requested a particular jail, and her request was granted. She is headed to the correctional facility in Victorville, near Victorville, California, to start 366 days. So she was charged with 20 counts, right, Alan, and she pled to one count? Right, they pled it down and she has also to pay a $40,000 fine and I think $120,000 judgment. Victorville, by the way, is really Los Angeles. It's like the road just as you get outside of L.A. on the way to Las Vegas.

So it's centrally located for her to resume and keep her television career going. Now, I want to ask Denny this. Denny, did she say what her television career future looks like? Well, first of all, let's not forget that today when she surrendered to the federal prison, lifetime cameras were there rolling. I asked her why it was important to have the crew there to shoot this moment, and she said it wasn't up to her. She has signed a four-year contract with a four-year option, meaning it was not up to her. It was important to lifetime to shoot her surrendering.

Now, as far as what happens after prison, I mean, I would not be surprised if she gets her own special. But, you know, the thing is, she could have surrendered in secret if she had wanted to. She did not have to have Lifetime cameras there. She could easily have surrendered in secret. She could have gone in the middle of the night, but she wanted this to be on camera.

I'm telling you, you do not have to surrender in public. That is absolutely not true. So this is part of her, I guess, her master plan. And I believe that because I follow up. Yes, absolutely. I asked her, I said, well, well, then you will you be getting paid for this? And she says, sure, somewhere down the line. So I'm sure retro you will you be getting paid for this? And she says, sure, somewhere down the line. So I'm sure retroactively she'll be getting paid for them rolling as she surrenders into prison. So I'm not I'm not surprised by it. You know, it's amazing.

Danny, Danny joining me from E.T. Danny, you know, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars is more than most people will see their whole life. I mean, I remember my dad going to work for the railroad every day, even when he was having chest pains. I worked 43 years plus for the railroad and never missed a day except when he was in the hospital, ever. Same thing with my mom. She'd be gone when I woke up and wouldn't get home till late in the evening from work. And most people, most working class Americans, and I know, never see that amount of

money in their life. And to think that she hid that amount of money, that was like nothing to her. And now is pretending like it didn't happen. See, that makes me mad, to go in front of a judge and plead guilty and then pretend that somehow you're the victim, Danny. It's mind-boggling. I couldn't believe it myself. Do you predict, Danny, that she's going to land right back on TV? I mean, that's how I feel. I think Lifetime would be remiss if they did not follow up

to check in on Abby Lee Miller after she completes her sentence. I mean, it's a ratings hit. It writes itself, really. Wouldn't you guys want to see how she came out of all this? Imagine if Martha Stewart. Well, you know, Danny, I hate to rain on your parade, but I've never seen Dance Moms. I've never seen The Kardashian Show. I don't have time to watch reality TV.

I don't have time to watch TV, period. I'm working, and I'm trying to raise two twins, and I certainly would never let them watch my show, for Pete's sake. Occasionally, they could see it on mute for about three minutes and then have to get off, okay? But no, no, I've never seen her on TV. I don't have a burning desire, but I have seen clips of her yanking that lady's hair

and yelling at a bunch of little girls who were in dance class. That's what I know. And I know this. Don't mess with the tax man. Uh-uh. You find that money and you pay the tax man and don't lie to a freaking federal judge.

I mean, really? Oh, and then the judge goes home and gets his popcorn and catches Abby Lee Miller on her spinoff show. Okay, Danny Directo. Incredible. And I think you're right.

I think she will end up on television. Danny Directo from E.T. What a story. And I've got a feeling you're going to be there in 366 days when she walks out of the CI. Danny, thanks for being with us. Thank you for having me.

When I hear the name Midlothian, Texas, I immediately, like so many people, think of Missy Beavers. Can you believe it's been a little over a year since this beautiful mom and Texas fitness instructor was brutally murdered inside a Midlothian church. Midlothian only has a couple thousand people. Let me check on that. Alan Duke with me on Missy Beavers. We've been rounding around. I remember that we got a couple of angry calls when we didn't have the population right. How big is Midlothian? It's a suburban area from Dallas, Fort Worth of about 14,000, but there are other towns near. The bottom line is there's rural and there's city all put in there together. Yeah, that sounds a lot like where I grew up in Macon,

Georgia. Exactly. She was teaching an early, early morning aerobics class, a gladiator class at Creekside Church of Christ. And she was brutally beaten in the head, the neck, the face, and stabbed there in the church. And, of course, as in all homicide investigations, the first person people look at is the spouse, the boyfriend, the lover, the ex. Amazingly now, from out of nowhere, her husband, Brandon Beavers, has spoken out to our Alan Duke.

Alan, I'm amazed because he's really kept a very low profile, really played the whole thing very close to the vest. What did he tell you? Well, I've been talking to him now for some time, but he just doesn't want to go on microphone. But he did take the time out to write this very long explanation of what's going on in his life with his family and the investigation. And he asked that we print it word for word, totally unedited. It's on the Crime Online website and you can read it. And it really shows you what goes on in the mind of this husband who lost his wife to this incredibly crazy crime with this guy or woman or whoever walking through this church with a hammer beating her to death. A claw hammer. Yes.

And what's so amazing, Alan, is that the perp is caught on video. There's no doubt in my mind that this was a targeted attack. This person was not there to steal the audio video equipment or the money that may have been left from the Sunday before. No, you don't show up in full police SWAT outfit, including what looks to be a motorcycle helmet to conceal your face. Even your hands are covered up. And then you show up, you know, very shortly before Missy Beavers comes in alone to set up for exercise class. You take nothing. Nothing is stolen. You kind of wander around until Missy gets there. He killed her. I'm saying he, and then leave. No vehicle was parked at the church, and the case remains unsolved. What was the gist of Brandon Beaver's comments?

What was in the letter? What has he been saying to you, Alan? He expressed the frustration of not having any answers, but then also the pain toward him and personally by people who don't know him, who are pointing the finger at him and questioning him. In fact, this is one of the sentences. The social media has been about this, has been about the craziest thing I've ever witnessed. Oddly enough, I've never engaged anyone on the social media platform to defend myself. He says, the social media impact has driven me to the darkest reaches

of my soul. He said for about three months, he was emotionally, spiritually rendered to a point where he could barely function. As much of this impact had, he said, I consider it a fictional reality. In other words, he's now decided not to let it get to him. He's moved beyond it. You know, this reminds me of your interview that you did, your incredible interview with Amanda Masner in Georgia, who went through the same thing, and she just eventually decided to let it go. He did tell us some news about the investigation,

and I found this interesting. Brandon said that the Midlothian police investigators, stumped after a year, have now sought outside help. They've taken all of the evidence down to Austin, Texas, the state capitol, and presented it to a panel of other investigators, experts, to get their opinion on him. They spent four solid days presenting the case, and they've not told him what came out of that. But the investigation goes on. You know what kind of broke my heart in his letter?

He says, we all wake up every day hoping and praying this person will come forward so we may finally have closure, particularly our children. That's not going to happen. But he thinks it may happen. And that just, that breaks my heart that he thinks this person, this horrible killer is going to come forward. That is not going to happen. Right now, that killer seems to have gotten away.

And I would never have believed it, Alan. The killer is caught on video for Pete's sake. I've never seen anything like that where you see this person they don't really say if it's a man or a woman you think it's a man some people say maybe it's a woman because the person is about five foot seven this is where Brandon is right now he says he has found peace now for the first time that has allowed for him to grieve her loss properly without outside interference. So he's kind of built a wall around him so that he and his family can have peace. And that's why we're not hearing from him anymore other than in this letter. Well, the reality is,

as harsh as it is, that when there is a homicide the first place police look whether they admit it or not is at the husband the lover the ex the spurned boyfriend then they go to those spouses and beyond to see if there was a hit or a a murder for. All the motives are unearthed, and a lot of things come out in the investigation you wish had not come out. For instance, in their search warrants, they said that one or both of the partners, husband and wife, Missy and Brandon, one or both, we don't know to this day who they're talking about,

had had an intimate romantic relationship with somebody else. Now, see, right there represents a love triangle, according to the search warrant. Did her murder have anything to do with that? I mean, and remember, this could have been something that happened years and years and years ago. You know, we don't know, but I can only imagine. Think about it, Alan. Think of the, don't say it out loud for Pete's sake. Think of the worst thing you've ever done. Hold that thought and then imagine losing your spouse and having all of your private matters on tv and a public search warrant everything you've ever done wrong is now out there or your your spouse or anything that's ever been intimated is now public fodder and your children find out about it. It's just awful. And add to that that these

are search warrants that were published in the early days of the investigation when police didn't know everything. These were justifications to go and search something, to look for something in their investigation. And maybe they found out in the course of that that it wasn't quite accurate, but it was what they believed at the time. But we don't get the record corrected, and it's still hanging out there. That's the kind of pain that the family and the people who are close to a murdered individual suffer. You know another thing, Alan? In marriages, in relationships, people have lapses. You say things. You do things that looking back you wish you had never done. Or at the time when you do it, you do it never thinking you're going to break up your marriage over it.

You know, I mean, people go, they have an affair to make their ego feel better, to make themselves feel better. For what a myriad of reasons. I mean, what's it with men in this middle age fit they seem to have anyway there's a million reasons people say and do the things they do in a relationship but I guarantee you they don't necessarily want to throw the marriage down the crapper you know know, it just, no. And you see they were still together at the time of her death. I just, that family has been through.

He was on a fishing trip. Yeah, that family has been through hell. And the fishing trip apparently has been corroborated. A yearly fishing trip he goes on every year with a group of people. And this time, wasn't it like in Mississippi? Yes, it was on the Gulf Coast. Now, there are these sleuths, amateur sleuths,

who might want to say, well, maybe he could have done this, that, and that. But the police don't believe that's the case. You mean hire a hitman? Yeah. You think a hitman could keep his mouth shut? Not likely. Whenever there's a conspiracy, it all goes to H-E-double-L in no time. Somebody talk.

This is the thing that sums it up for me that he wrote in this letter. That, again, people go to CrimeOnline.com and you'll find it. Or Google Missy Beavers and Crime Online. One of my children commented to me during this whole experience, I would rather the social media stuff aimed at you go away than have mom's murder solved. That's how difficult this is for those little children. I mean, they're left with just their dad, their mom's gone, and they see their dad suffering. And that just must be brutal on the children. And they're going to be scarred with this the rest of their life. You know what, Alan? I pray for peace for them.

I pray for peace and that her killer be found and brought to justice. I mean, she was a beautiful woman on the inside and out and a very loving mother. In fact, the reason she taught that gladiator class, I've been told so early in the morning, I mean, it started at 5. So she could get home and help her girls get ready for school and take them to school. I mean, you know the things we working moms go through to try to be with our children. I know that just always struck me, what she would go through to just get to take them to school or be with them in the morning. Missy Beavers, case unsolved. The husband reaching out to Alan Duke and Crime Online

to really bear his feelings about what he and his family have been living through. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.