Killing of Missy Bevers

Terri Leann "Missy" Bevers (née Strickland) was born August 9, 1970, in Graham, Texas. She married in 1998 and, with her husband, raised three daughters in Red Oak, Texas. Bevers worked as a fitness instructor, leading Camp Gladiator bootcamp classes normally held in the parking lot of Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas. The night before her death, she told students the next class would move indoors due to weather; a heavy thunderstorm passed through Midlothian before dawn on April 18, 2016.

Surveillance footage shows Bevers entering the church at 4:18 a.m. to set up for a 5 a.m. class, carrying exercise equipment from her truck. Shortly after 5 a.m., a student arrived, found her body inside the church, and called emergency services; Bevers was pronounced dead after police arrived. She had suffered multiple puncture wounds to her head and chest. A police warrant said the wounds were consistent with tools the suspect was seen carrying on surveillance video, and a hammer was recovered near her body, though authorities have not confirmed it as the murder weapon.

Investigators initially considered burglary as a motive but found nothing missing; the suspect left behind Bevers' purse and iPad, and warrants indicate the scene was staged to look like a burglary. Warrants also describe "creepy and strange" LinkedIn messages Bevers received from an unknown man in her final months; a person of interest who had messaged her was located and described the exchange as flirtatious rather than threatening. Investigators confirmed the alibis of Bevers' husband, fishing in Mississippi, and her father-in-law, traveling in California. A warrant reported that her father-in-law brought a bloodied shirt to a dry cleaner four days later, which he explained as blood from two fighting dogs; testing confirmed it was canine, not human.

Investigators initially described the suspect as male but later said the person's sex could not be confirmed. Surveillance video shows the suspect in SWAT-style tactical gear, including a vest marked "POLICE," a black helmet, and black gloves, walking with a distinctive gait, at times steadying against a wall and appearing to have trouble moving one leg. Midlothian police have said the gait may reflect a temporary condition. In 2021, the FBI asked an outside forensic podiatrist to study the footage; he concluded the gait was likely affected by the weight of the gear being carried and that gender could not be determined from gait alone.

Cameras outside the church were not working that morning, but interior cameras captured the suspect moving through the hallways, breaking glass, and trying doors around 4 a.m. Footage reportedly also shows Bevers walking the halls beforehand, though police have not released it. In May 2016, Midlothian police released a still image of a 2010–2012 Nissan Altima that entered a nearby store's parking lot, at SWFA Outdoors, around 2 a.m. and left minutes later; assistant police chief Kevin Johnson said the driver was not necessarily a suspect but that police wanted to rule the vehicle out. SWFA Outdoors released full footage of the vehicle in December 2016, showing the driver circling the lot and parking in a secluded spot before leaving. As of June 2023, the driver had not been identified and police had not determined whether the vehicle was connected to the killing.

A reward for information, initially $10,000, grew to $20,000 and then $50,000, reaching $150,000 as of 2021. Midlothian police have said tips continue to come in daily. Since 2022, a podcast called True Crime Broads has covered the case and maintains a billboard advertising the reward. No suspect has been publicly identified or charged.