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1986 Beard, Rebecca, March 1, 1986
Topic Started: Jul 6 2006, 10:04 PM (790 Views)
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Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: FRI 02/10/1995
Section: A
Page: 26
Edition: 2 STAR

Brazoria County authorities search unsuccessfully for body

By RUTH RENDON
Staff

ANGLETON -- Almost nine years after a young Freeport mother was murdered, Brazoria County authorities Thursday searched -- unsuccessfully -- for her body.

Rebecca G. Beard, 22, was reported missing by her family in 1986, but it was eight years before murder charges were filed against Paul Gayland Taylor in the case.

Prosecutor Tom Selleck said Thursday that Taylor was an early suspect, but, without a body or witnesses, police lacked proof of a murder. The decision to press the charges came after the former Clute resident -- while in prison for an unrelated conviction -- bragged about the killing, the prosecutor said.

Selleck was set to go ahead with a murder trial before state District Judge J. Ray Gayle III Wednesday, when a plea bargain that prosecutors hoped would lead to the body was reached.

Taylor, 38, pleaded guilty to murder and solicitation of capital murder and agreed to tell authorities where he left the body.

"We cut a deal with him. The deal is as unusual as the case itself," said Selleck. "We had two cases, solicitation of capital murder and murder. We agreed this week, to give him life for murder and 25 years for solicitation to run concurrent, if he would produce the body."

Taylor agreed to the bargain in attempt to avoid a longer prison term, said District Attorney Jerome Aldrich.

Taylor led law officers to a rice field where he said he buried his victim.

Authorities searched the field, but no body was recovered Thursday.
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Rebecca Jean Beard


Above: Beard, circa 1986


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: March 1, 1986 from Freeport, Texas
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: February 15, 1964
Age: 22 years old
Height and Weight: 5'5, 120 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, hazel eyes. Beard has a scar on the side of her face. Her ears are pierced. Beard's nickname is Becky and she may use the last name Lemke. Some agencies refer to her as "Rebecca G. Beard."
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A long white silk blouse with a red triangle imprinted on it, blue stirrup pants and spike heels.


Details of Disappearance

Beard was last seen leaving the Excaliber Club, a nightclub in Freeport, Texas, on March 1, 1986. She carrying a small yellow purse when she went missing. Beard has never been seen again. She was employed at a car dealership at the time of her disappearance. She left behind a young daughter.
In 1995, Paul Gayland Taylor Jr. pleaded guilty to Beard's murder and lead authorities to a rice field in Brazoria County, south of Angleton, Texas. He said he had buried her body in a shallow grave there, but a search of the field turned up no evidence. Taylor was a suspect in Beard's case from the beginning, but authorities lacked enough evidence to file charges until 1994. Taylor was incarcerated at the time on charges of driving while intoxicated, and one of his cellmates told investigators he had bragged about killing Beard. He said he shot her to death at his home in Clute, Texas. Taylor was sentenced to life in prison for Beard's murder. He was also sentenced to 25 years for solicitation to commit murder; he tried to hire someone to kill a witness in Beard's case.

Foul play is suspected in Beard's disappearance due to the circumstances involved, but her body has never been recovered.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Texas Department Of Public Safety
800-346-3243



Source Information
Texas Department Of Public Safety
The Houston Chronicle



Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004.

Last updated November 21, 2006; details of disappearance updated.

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http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/MPCH/mpdetail...13:52:37PM'

Texas Missing Persons Clearinghouse Online Bulletin
Missing Person Details
Date Picture Updated: 10/12/2001

Name: Rebecca Jean Beard
AKA: Rebecca Lemke Beard, Becky Lemke
Case Number: M8607004
Case Type: Endangered - Foul Play Possible
Last Seen in: Freeport (Brazoria County)
Last Seen on: 3/1/1986
Height: 5' 5 "
Weight: 120 lbs.
Age Missing: 22
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Blonde
Date of Birth: 2/15/1964
Race: White
Sex: Female
State Missing From: Texas
Country Missing From: USA
Circumstances: Ms. Beard has a one inch scar on the side of her face. She was last seen at the Excaliber Club. She was wearing blue stirrup pants, a long white silk blouse with a red triangle, spike heels and carrying a small yellow purse.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can contact the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at :

Missing Persons Clearinghouse
Texas Department of Public Safety
P O Box 4087
Austin, Texas 78773-0422
Phone: (512) 424-5074
Helpline: (800) 346-3243
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Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: SAT 02/18/1995
Section: A
Page: 33
Edition: 2 STAR

Only a wreath for birthday

By RUTH RENDON
Staff

AS any mother would, Linda Barnes used to have fun making her daughter's birthday as happy as possible, with a cake and all the other things that go into a celebration.

On Wednesday she marked the occasion by placing a wreath in a Brazoria County rice field.

Authorities searched the field for days recently after a man pleaded guilty to Rebecca Beard's murder and said he had buried her body there. The search was suspended without finding Beard's remains.

Beard, who would have turned 31 on Wednesday, has been missing since March 2, 1986, when she failed to return home from a nightclub.

"We never had a memorial service because I wouldn't," Barnes, 50, of Freeport said. "I was always determined that I would have a funeral for Becky."

She may never get to have the funeral, but now she does plan to have a memorial service soon.

Police were led to the rice field in southern Brazoria County by Paul Gayland Taylor after he pleaded guilty to murdering Beard. His admission was part of a plea bargain in which he agreed to take investigators to the site where he said he had dug a shallow grave.

Taylor, 38, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. He also was sentenced to 25 years for solicitation of capital murder for trying to hire someone to kill a witness who was to testify in the murder case.

At the time of her disappearance, Beard had a 2-year-old daughter. The girl, now 10, lives with her father in Lumberton, near Beaumont.



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Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: WED 02/15/1995
Section: A
Page: 24
Edition: 2 STAR

Body search suspended in 9-year-old case

Staff

ANGLETON -- The search for the body of a Brazoria County woman missing since 1986 has been suspended.

Officials from several law-enforcement agencies had been searching in a rice field just south of Angleton since last week for the body of Rebecca Beard, who was 22 when she disappeared.

"We've suspended the search efforts," said Tom Selleck, an assistant Brazoria County district attorney. "We've dug up half of southern Brazoria County."

Authorities were led to the rice field by Paul Gayland Taylor, who last week pleaded guilty to murdering Beard, a Freeport resident who had a 2-year-old daughter and worked for a car dealership. Taylor showed authorities where he thought he buried Beard in a shallow grave.

Selleck said the search for Beard's remains will continue only if Taylor is able to give authorities a better idea of where he buried the body.

Murder charges were filed against Taylor, 38, last year -- eight years after he is accused of shooting Beard. Prosecutors were able to get an indictment against Taylor after he bragged while in prison on unrelated conviction to having killed Beard at his Clute home

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Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: THU 06/23/1994
Section: A
Page: 30
Edition: 2 STAR

Inmate is indicted

Staff

ANGLETON -- A Lake Jackson man already serving a prison sentence has been charged with the murder of a woman whose body was never found, Brazoria County prosecutors said Wednesday.

In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Paul Gayland Taylor Jr., 37, is accused of murdering Rebecca Beard, 22, of Freeport. Taylor, a former chemical plant worker, was brought to the Brazoria County Jail Tuesday and is being held without bail.

Beard disappeared March 2, 1986 after leaving a Freeport night club.

The indictment was returned June 9 but remained sealed until Taylor could be transferred from a state prison in Huntsville, where he was serving 35 years for two Brazoria County driving-while-intoxicated convictions in 1991.

Investigators said they were able to get a murder indictment without a body because of information provided by informants and witnesses. Taylor becomes eligible for parole in July on his current sentence.



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