Tina Marie Beebe (1964 - c. January 21, 1981) was a teenage girl who was found murdered in Loxahatchee, Florida, in late 1982. She was identified in July 2013.
Case[]
Tina Marie Beebe, whose family recently moved from Fort Myers, Florida to another town in southern Florida, was last seen on January 20, 1981. She told her sister, Marth, that a man had offered her a job as a model. No further details on the day she disappeared are available.
On May 29, 1982, her skeletal remains were found in a green nylon bag in a shallow grave in the vicinity of the 300 block off of F Road, just north of Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee, Florida. Although how she was murdered is unclear, it was known the killer(s) sliced off her fingerprints, suggesting they knew her well and were worried they would be linked to the crime if the body was identified. Investigators looked at over a thousand missing persons cases across the country, but none of the cases could match.
Reconstruction
Meanwhile, investigators were considering that Beebe's disappearance might have been gang-related. She was apparently friends with Harvey Michael McElroy, a drug enforcer and escapee who was murdered and burned a day after Beebe disappeared, possibly by three members of the Cravero gang. Police speculated Beebe worked as a sex worker for McElroy. They also believed the Cravero gang could have killed two similar-looking other girls during that time period, Mary Opitz and Mary Hare, as well as four witnesses to the McElroy case.
In July 2013, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office announced the Beebe's remains were identified as hers via dental records and her trait of having a asymmetrical face. Her burial details are unknown.
Although her murder is officially unsolved, it is speculated Christopher Wilder (AKA the Beauty Queen Killer) killed Beebe, as well as Opitz and Hare.
Between February and April 1984, Wilder, a photographer with a history of sex offenses since 1962, went on a cross-country crime spree where he charmed, raped, tortured, and killed eight young women in the United States before committing suicide when confronted by police in New Hampshire. Since his death, he has been considered a suspect in several cases of rape, murder, and disappearances across the United States and his home country of Australia.
Several aspects of Beebe's case fit Wilder's modus operandi. Like Beebe, Wilder's victims were White or Hispanic teenage girls or young women who were killed after being offered a modelling job. Additionally, months after Beebe's body was discovered, the body of Leona Keller was located nearby. Their locations of discovery were close to property owned by Wilder.
Others who have been speculated to be victims of Wilder include Lori Kearsey, Tammy Leppert, Colleen Orsborn, and Shari Ball.
Characteristics[]
- Dark, shoulder-length hair.
- Petite build.
- Cervical rib is present.
- Fifth lumbar vertebra is completely sacralized.
- Facial asymmetry is present; left side slants downward.
- Wormian bone present.
- Schmorl's nodes and depressions on 6th and 7th thoracic vertebrae.
- Small fracture of nasal bone.
- Dental work performed on six teeth.
- Third molars unerupted.
- Tooth #19 is misaligned.
- Carabelli's cusp on tooth #3.
Accessories[]
- Digital watch.
- Pair of handmade post-type earrings, made from United States.
- Pennies minted in 1979.
Sources[]
- Tina Beebe at the Doe Network
- Tina Beebe at Find a Grave
- Dayton Beach Morning Journal
- The Encyclopedia of Kidnappings by Michael Newton
- Christopher Wilder on Wikipedia
- Palm Beach County SheriffPOSTMORTEM WARNING (archived)