ELLIS COUNTY, Texas - Police in this small Ellis County town are investigating their first homicide in a decade after a fitness instructor was murdered early Monday morning at a local church.
Terri Leann "Missy" Bevers, 45, arrived at Creekside Church of Christ on Highway 287 about 4:18 a.m. Monday.
She was there to set up for an early morning "boot camp" class for Camp Gladiator, said police spokesman Capt. John Spann.
The person suspected of killing Bevers was already roaming the church halls dressed in tactical gear similar to what SWAT officers would wear. The uniform featured "Police" patches front and back.
"His intent was to look like a police officer," said Midlothian police Chief Carl Smith.
Bevers was still unloading equipment from her gray F-150 pickup truck when she was killed inside the church building. Police would not reveal how they think she died.
Motion-activated surveillance footage from the church shows the suspect inside for the first time at about 3:50 a.m., almost 30 minutes before Bevers arrived.
Detectives said they did not see a weapon on the suspect in the video, aside from a tool that they believe was used to break out windows and gain access to the building. It is unclear if the suspect was armed with anything else.
Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m., the Dallas County Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy to determine Bevers' exact cause of death.
"She was actually found by one of the boot camp participants who got there a little bit early and waited outside for a while until others got there," Spann said. "They went in the building where they located her."
"I'm so sad about it. She was doing something she loved. She did it to help people," said Kelli Herron, Bevers' friend. "It was her passion."
Bevers was married and the mother of three girls. She and her family lived in neighboring Red Oak.
The motive for her murder remained a mystery on Monday evening.
Nothing had been stolen from the church, Chief Smith said, so detectives are uncertain whether Bevers interrupted a burglary or might have been targeted after posting the time and location of the workout on her Facebook page.
"It certainly is a strange occurrence for a church to be burglarized this time of morning," Smith said. "It certainly looks like... it's just an odd, random situation."
The church did not have a security alarm, but cameras inside captured the grainy images of the police impersonator walking around. Investigators believe the perpetrator left shortly after murdering Bevers.
A friend told WFAA that Bevers was "a woman of God who loved her husband, children, and friends."
Oak Farms Dairy has offered a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and indictment for the person responsible for Bevers' death. If you have any information, please contact Midlothian police at 972-775-3333 or Ellis County Crime Stoppers at 972-937-7297.
