00:00:04
[Music]
00:00:15
This picture of my mom and dad at my
00:00:19
cousin's wedding. It looked really happy
00:00:22
here.
00:00:26
I'm reminded of how gracious and kind
00:00:28
she was.
00:00:30
always willing to jump in, help anyone,
00:00:34
and make things happen.
00:00:39
We had such a good relationship that you
00:00:41
don't always expect to come from your
00:00:43
mother-in-law,
00:00:45
but she was truly one of my best
00:00:47
friends.
00:00:49
The last time that I saw my mom was on
00:00:52
the Sunday and we met at a church
00:00:56
service and I remember
00:01:00
how happy my mom seemed that we were all
00:01:06
there together as a family.
00:01:10
[Music]
00:01:16
I received the call about 1:00 in the
00:01:19
morning. We had a missing woman, the
00:01:20
realtor that was showing a house.
00:01:23
>> When I heard that she had disappeared
00:01:25
and wasn't around, immediately I was
00:01:27
concerned. The last text that came
00:01:30
through was not her. She was not someone
00:01:34
that stayed out late. We knew that that
00:01:37
wasn't her on the other end of the text
00:01:39
message. Over the weekend, crews and
00:01:42
volunteers searched for Carter with
00:01:44
authorities asking land owners to search
00:01:46
their property.
00:01:48
>> Having no idea if she was in pain or if
00:01:52
she was out and exposed to the weather,
00:01:55
it was crippling and it was torture.
00:02:00
>> Beverly was a true victim. She was
00:02:02
prayed on. I did promise Beverly's
00:02:05
husband that I would find her, but it's
00:02:07
not the way that I wanted to.
00:02:09
I don't remember saying goodbye what I
00:02:13
wouldn't give for just one more time to
00:02:16
give my mom a hug. But I never saw her
00:02:20
again.
00:02:27
[Music]
00:02:48
My mom and dad met each other at a very
00:02:52
young age. My dad was 19 years old. My
00:02:56
mom was 16. And they suddenly found
00:02:59
themselves with an unplanned pregnancy.
00:03:03
And that was me.
00:03:07
I was fortunate when I was growing up
00:03:09
because my mom was at home with me and
00:03:13
so I had a wonderful childhood. I had
00:03:17
lots of time with her and in some
00:03:20
respects we kind of grew up together.
00:03:26
My parents had three sons.
00:03:30
I'm the oldest of three boys.
00:03:33
my brothers Chris and Chad and we're all
00:03:37
spaced about three and a half years
00:03:38
apart.
00:03:40
Although she was very sweet and short in
00:03:43
stature, she could get all three of us
00:03:46
boys in line very quickly.
00:03:52
Carl's relationship with his mom was
00:03:55
they were very close.
00:03:58
They probably talked two, if not more
00:04:00
times a day. I mean, he called her for
00:04:03
advice. He called her to tell her
00:04:05
something funny. He called her just to
00:04:08
see how she was doing or how her day
00:04:09
was. They were probably the closest I've
00:04:12
seen a mother son be.
00:04:16
>> Hey, you. I just got home and got this
00:04:19
beautiful present in the mail.
00:04:22
>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love
00:04:24
it. Love it. Love it.
00:04:25
>> You're so sweet. I love you very much.
00:04:28
Thanks. Bye.
00:04:30
[Music]
00:04:39
Tragically, we lost my middle brother
00:04:43
Chris in an automobile accident in 2003.
00:04:49
My mom really, really struggled with the
00:04:53
grief of the loss of my brother.
00:04:55
Understandably, she wanted change. She
00:04:57
needed something different.
00:04:59
and she had always had the interest in
00:05:03
homes and home design.
00:05:06
So for her it was a very natural fit to
00:05:09
go into this completely new career path.
00:05:15
She just really threw herself into the
00:05:19
real estate profession.
00:05:22
>> If there was an award to be won, Beverly
00:05:25
won it. I think the top award is diamond
00:05:29
and I'm fairly certain she won that
00:05:31
numerous times.
00:05:34
>> Beverly was my best friend. When I moved
00:05:37
to the North Lorac office, we just
00:05:38
started being buds, you know, it was
00:05:40
just automatic. It wasn't anything we
00:05:42
had to work on.
00:05:45
As a professional, she was just
00:05:46
topnotch.
00:05:48
In 2012, we went and did our educator's
00:05:51
license so that we could teach real
00:05:53
estate.
00:05:55
In 2014, Little Rock was growing. Lots
00:05:58
of construction, lots of new houses
00:06:00
being built, and so we were very active
00:06:02
working with buyers and sellers. So, we
00:06:04
were really, really busy that year.
00:06:07
Little Rock, even though it's the
00:06:09
capital city of of our state, it still
00:06:13
very much has a small town feel. It's a
00:06:16
tight community. You can't go anywhere
00:06:18
almost without, you know, someone
00:06:19
knowing you.
00:06:21
>> It's a very safe community. You don't
00:06:23
hear much about like domestic crimes or
00:06:30
home breakins or, you know, it's not
00:06:32
typically
00:06:34
uh something that happens very often
00:06:36
here.
00:06:37
>> It's a great place to raise a family.
00:06:40
And of course, my mom working in real
00:06:42
estate, she was a part of so much of
00:06:44
that excitement and people pursuing the
00:06:46
American dream of moving and buying a
00:06:49
home and joining, you know, this this
00:06:52
vibrant community,
00:06:53
[Music]
00:07:04
Thursday, September 25th. I remember it
00:07:08
being an absolutely
00:07:10
beautiful day.
00:07:14
I went for a run in my neighborhood and
00:07:17
running past two homes that my mom had
00:07:21
listed for sale just thinking that I
00:07:24
needed to just call her and check on
00:07:26
her.
00:07:28
It's around 4:30 and Beverly and I was
00:07:30
in my office. We were sitting there
00:07:32
talking, making plans for Saturday and
00:07:34
Sunday. When we both stood up to leave
00:07:36
to go to our appointment, we said
00:07:37
goodbye, but we didn't give each other a
00:07:40
hug. And if I'd known, it was the last
00:07:43
time.
00:07:47
Sorry.
00:07:50
Sorry.
00:07:58
My mom called my dad and told him that
00:08:01
she would be showing a property to a
00:08:04
couple from out of town, a couple that
00:08:07
she had talked to him about prior to
00:08:09
even that day.
00:08:12
Nothing was out of the ordinary. I got
00:08:15
home probably around 6. Around 8:00,
00:08:19
Carl and I got into bed to like turn on
00:08:21
TV and watch a show or something.
00:08:24
Around 8:30, my father-in-law called
00:08:27
Carl, which is not normal. They didn't
00:08:31
talk on the phone often, so there was a
00:08:34
little concern. Carl answered the phone
00:08:37
and just like, "Hey, Dad, what's going
00:08:39
on?"
00:08:41
>> He explained that he had been trying to
00:08:44
call and to text my mom and she wasn't
00:08:47
replying.
00:08:49
and he just kept going on about this
00:08:52
being weird and that he was worried
00:08:55
about her. And he really wasn't letting
00:08:59
it go.
00:09:01
I didn't think anything else of it cuz I
00:09:03
really did think I guarantee you she is
00:09:07
at a house sitting at a kitchen table
00:09:11
signing a contract. Her phone is
00:09:14
probably in her car. But when he called
00:09:17
back, that's when I think it shifted a
00:09:19
little bit.
00:09:21
>> I told my dad that I would go to her
00:09:24
office and I encouraged my dad to go to
00:09:28
the house that she would be showing that
00:09:31
afternoon and that we would find her at
00:09:36
one of those places.
00:09:38
Upon arriving to my mom's real estate
00:09:40
office, it was immediately evident that
00:09:43
no one was there. The building was just
00:09:47
completely dark, not a single light on
00:09:49
in the parking lot. It was just empty.
00:09:54
>> I remember at that moment something felt
00:09:56
wrong. I could I could just feel it.
00:09:59
And as we're sitting there, my dad calls
00:10:02
me and he said that he had arrived to
00:10:05
that house on Old River Drive and that
00:10:08
my mom's car was parked in front of it
00:10:12
and the front door was open, but that my
00:10:16
mom was gone.
00:10:18
I told my dad that we needed to contact
00:10:21
law enforcement. And so we made the call
00:10:24
to report my mom missing and started
00:10:26
making my way out to that home to be
00:10:29
with my dad.
00:10:32
>> Once the police arrived, everyone was
00:10:34
looking around the property. A few of
00:10:37
the sheriff's deputies started going
00:10:39
door to door to see if anybody had any
00:10:42
information.
00:10:44
The later it got, the more concerned I
00:10:47
became because even with all of the
00:10:51
ideas that we had come up with for
00:10:53
reasons why we might not be hearing from
00:10:55
her, they just didn't fly anymore.
00:11:00
And we really had to begin facing the
00:11:04
fact that something truly may have
00:11:06
happened to her.
00:11:08
[Music]
00:11:17
I enjoy helping people.
00:11:20
Being a homicide detective, you get
00:11:21
closure for people. I was actually off
00:11:24
on call uh when I found out about
00:11:26
Beverly. Initially, I was just told that
00:11:28
she went to show a house and the husband
00:11:32
found her vehicle and was not able to
00:11:34
find her. When I went inside the house,
00:11:36
you could tell that the house had been
00:11:38
vacant. There was a lot of dust and you
00:11:40
could tell there were disturbances in
00:11:42
that dust where somebody had walked
00:11:44
outside of the house. I saw tire tracks
00:11:46
that looked like they had backed all the
00:11:48
way to the front door. I noticed that
00:11:50
her car was locked, but her purse was
00:11:52
inside. When I realized the purse was in
00:11:55
Beverly's car, it's about the same time
00:11:57
that a cell phone text came through from
00:11:59
Beverly's phone.
00:12:02
>> I just remember being out there huddled
00:12:05
and watching our phones
00:12:08
And then suddenly just after midnight,
00:12:12
my dad begins just yelling out to all of
00:12:16
us. Beverly has text me back
00:12:21
and we all just start running toward his
00:12:25
truck.
00:12:28
And in that moment, it was so like,
00:12:30
okay, okay, there we there she is. You
00:12:34
know, she's fine.
00:12:37
And it is crazy how you can go from it
00:12:41
is fine to it is not fine.
00:12:45
Right after that, the next message came
00:12:46
in.
00:12:49
It said, "Sorry, phone dead." And we
00:12:52
were like, "Okay, that's still that's
00:12:55
okay. That makes sense. I mean, that's
00:12:56
fine."
00:12:58
>> Not long after the second text, we
00:13:00
received a third text from my mom.
00:13:05
It was letting my dad know that she was
00:13:08
out drinking with friends and knowing my
00:13:12
mom, knowing that her favorite beverage
00:13:16
was chocolate milk, not alcohol. We went
00:13:20
from relief to just complete horror
00:13:25
because we knew just with those few
00:13:27
words that my mom had been taken and
00:13:31
that she was in a very dangerous
00:13:34
situation.
00:13:35
[Music]
00:13:37
>> At that point, I felt that Beverly had
00:13:39
been kidnapped.
00:13:41
>> And I got the phone call about 2:00 that
00:13:43
morning from the police department. It
00:13:45
scared me to death cuz I knew that
00:13:47
Beverly would be at home. There was no
00:13:49
question that something had happened to
00:13:51
her.
00:13:53
>> We decided to ping the cell phone since
00:13:55
the cell phone was turned on and sending
00:13:57
messages. Try to figure out a GPS
00:14:00
location of that phone. When the cell
00:14:02
phone pings come in, it gives us a GPS
00:14:04
coordinate. So, I pull that up and I go
00:14:07
to those locations
00:14:09
and I look for any kind of evidence that
00:14:11
may lead me to Beverly.
00:14:14
[Music]
00:14:24
Old River Drive and Scott is is a very
00:14:26
remote area. It's a lot of farmland out
00:14:28
here. There's not a high crime volume.
00:14:33
The fact that Beverly's phone was moving
00:14:35
around and we had three different pings
00:14:37
showed me that that phone was actually
00:14:39
moving.
00:14:40
So, we had a direction of travel that
00:14:43
her phone was moving in.
00:14:47
We got the pings where the house is at
00:14:48
on Old River. We got a ping at Faulner
00:14:51
in Interstate 440. We got a phone ping
00:14:54
at Dixon Road. And that phone ping was
00:14:57
about 20 minute ping. So that phone
00:14:59
stayed there in one spot for about 20
00:15:01
minutes.
00:15:03
I kept thinking I'm going to get there
00:15:04
and she's going to be sitting there
00:15:06
waiting for somebody to pick her up. But
00:15:08
I didn't find anything that I felt was
00:15:10
involved in the in the crime.
00:15:13
After this, we received zero further
00:15:15
pings. When that happens, we know that
00:15:18
more than likely the SIM card has been
00:15:19
removed.
00:15:21
It puts a freeze on it because we can't
00:15:22
track the phone anymore.
00:15:26
I knew that someone had turned her phone
00:15:28
off.
00:15:30
While I was looking into the paintings,
00:15:31
one of the neighbors across the street
00:15:33
reported seeing a small black car backed
00:15:36
up to the driveway with a white male
00:15:38
standing beside the car.
00:15:41
She didn't think anything of it.
00:15:44
Well, that's the last person that we
00:15:45
could put Beverly with. So, that was
00:15:47
significant. That was a first lead that
00:15:49
we had had.
00:15:51
That first night that I was involved, I
00:15:53
did realize that Beverly was in serious
00:15:55
danger. I think that she was somewhere
00:15:57
against her will.
00:16:06
That night when the detectives returned
00:16:09
back to the scene and advised that they
00:16:12
weren't able to track or find the phone,
00:16:14
they asked that we go home and rest and
00:16:17
start the search again at daylight.
00:16:20
I remember just feeling so much guilt
00:16:24
for leaving that spot, thinking that
00:16:27
wherever she may be, that if she were to
00:16:29
come back to the spot where she had been
00:16:31
taken, that we wouldn't be there.
00:16:36
It was a very quiet ride home.
00:16:39
We laid in bed and I just started crying
00:16:45
and then he started to crying.
00:16:48
I think the last time I looked at the
00:16:50
clock it may have been like 3:00 3:30 in
00:16:52
the morning and obviously we fell asleep
00:16:56
just from exhaustion
00:16:58
but also maybe a hopeful we'd wake up
00:17:01
and it was this was all not real.
00:17:15
The next night, as we went past the
00:17:18
24-hour time frame, we knew the
00:17:23
importance about finding her within that
00:17:27
span of time.
00:17:30
>> The longer somebody is missing, the more
00:17:33
likely it is that they will not be found
00:17:34
alive. So, the police were extremely
00:17:37
concerned.
00:17:38
The chances they would find her in a
00:17:40
safe state were decreasing by the
00:17:42
minute.
00:17:44
I can remember every minute of those 5
00:17:46
days. The police department said that
00:17:48
they would set up a search party. It was
00:17:50
very well organized. The community was
00:17:52
involved. Churches were involved. It was
00:17:54
really a lot of people.
00:18:00
[Music]
00:18:04
Safety was always at the foremost for
00:18:06
Beverly.
00:18:08
I knew from the beginning that something
00:18:10
bad had happened. I did not want to
00:18:13
think that it was the end of Beverly.
00:18:16
She would not have left her husband, her
00:18:18
family without telling them what she was
00:18:19
doing.
00:18:21
>> Speaking with her family, I did feel
00:18:22
like Beverly was a safety conscious
00:18:24
person. She seemed to be very smart.
00:18:28
She had shown thousands of houses and
00:18:31
have never had an issue before.
00:18:34
>> There had to be some other explanation
00:18:36
for why her car was there, but she
00:18:39
wasn't there. We were all trying to come
00:18:41
up with scenarios. I mean, honestly, we
00:18:43
were even like, maybe she left, maybe
00:18:47
she has a boyfriend, maybe they maybe
00:18:48
they've run off together, maybe they're
00:18:50
on a plane somewhere, you know, like we
00:18:52
had we were going far trying to find
00:18:54
something that would make more sense
00:18:56
than something bad had happened.
00:19:00
Every time she went to a showing,
00:19:02
Beverly would convey to her husband who
00:19:04
she was going to show the house to, she
00:19:06
kept a list of it. She made sure she
00:19:08
left her purse in her car. She tried to
00:19:10
take affirmative steps to protect
00:19:12
herself and she thought that that was
00:19:15
more than enough to keep her safe.
00:19:18
>> The investigators found a notebook in my
00:19:21
mom's car. And in this book, my mom
00:19:24
would put in details, you know, around
00:19:26
names and phone numbers or types of
00:19:30
properties that people were interested
00:19:32
in seeing just anything and everything
00:19:34
that she wanted to, you know, remember
00:19:38
um about about who she was working with
00:19:41
at that time.
00:19:43
>> The police looked in Beverly's notebook
00:19:44
and saw that the most recent entry was
00:19:47
for a couple that essentially didn't
00:19:48
exist. They were fake names and numbers.
00:19:52
Why would prospective buyers give a fake
00:19:55
name and number if they were intending
00:19:57
to actually buy this house?
00:20:12
We looked into the details of the
00:20:14
notebook that Beverly had in her
00:20:15
vehicle. We had the address of the old
00:20:18
river road and underneath that was an
00:20:20
email address
00:20:22
and then a telephone number. The phone
00:20:25
number we found out was a fake and
00:20:27
figured out that it was a text app that
00:20:29
was downloaded. You have to have a real
00:20:31
number in that application. So, we were
00:20:33
able to send a search warrant and find
00:20:35
out who it actually was registered to.
00:20:37
The real phone number that the fake
00:20:39
number was created from was owned by
00:20:41
Crystal Lowry.
00:20:44
Crystal Lowry's husband was Aaron Lewis.
00:20:48
>> When police had found out the last
00:20:50
people that Beverly was with were
00:20:52
Crystal and Aaron Lewis, they became
00:20:54
very concerned. While Crystal did not
00:20:56
have any criminal record, Aaron Lewis
00:20:58
had an extensive criminal history,
00:21:00
including for violent offenses.
00:21:03
When we got Aaron's physical
00:21:05
description, it matched the description
00:21:07
that the neighbor saw of the white male
00:21:09
standing beside the small black car at
00:21:11
the house on River Road.
00:21:14
Crystal Lowry and Aaron Lewis lived in
00:21:16
Sherwood, which is about 10 to 15 miles
00:21:20
from the scene where Beverly was
00:21:21
kidnapped.
00:21:23
So, we sent vehicles and marked units to
00:21:26
that area to get an eye on the house.
00:21:30
[Music]
00:21:40
[Applause]
00:21:43
When we were going over to put
00:21:45
surveillance on the house, they actually
00:21:47
saw Aaron Lewis walk out of the door. He
00:21:49
saw them and he fled.
00:21:53
We took off on a car chase and he was
00:21:56
driving so erratically he actually got
00:21:57
into an accident crashing his vehicle
00:22:00
and sustained injuries himself.
00:22:02
>> Aaron suffered a cut on his head and a
00:22:06
broken nose and he was taken to the
00:22:09
hospital by ambulance.
00:22:11
When we ran the search warrant on Aaron
00:22:13
Lewis's vehicle, we were able to find
00:22:16
duct tape. We found a cell phone and we
00:22:19
found hair fibers.
00:22:22
We had a officer that went to the
00:22:25
hospital when Aaron Lewis went for a CT
00:22:27
scan. He flees the hospital.
00:22:31
There's no reason for Aaron to run from
00:22:33
the hospital unless he committed a
00:22:35
crime. He's trying to get away.
00:22:39
I wrote a search warrant for Crystal
00:22:40
Lowry and Aaron Lewis's house. When we
00:22:42
executed the search, we were able to
00:22:44
locate Beverly's cell phone with the
00:22:46
missing SIM card. At that point, I knew
00:22:48
that Aaron Lewis was involved with the
00:22:50
kidnapping of Beverly Carter. We
00:22:53
immediately put out a bolo for Aaron
00:22:55
Lewis.
00:22:57
A bolo is a be on the lookout for. It's
00:22:59
a notification of other law enforcement
00:23:02
agencies and the community that they are
00:23:04
looking for somebody because they feel
00:23:06
either the public is in imminent danger
00:23:08
or this person could escape very serious
00:23:11
criminal charges.
00:23:13
We included a photograph of him from the
00:23:16
car crash. We stated that we were
00:23:19
looking for him as a person of interest
00:23:21
in the kidnapping of Beverly Carter and
00:23:24
asked that anyone have any information
00:23:26
contact us.
00:23:31
[Music]
00:23:41
>> 911. Hey, uh they're looking for a guy
00:23:43
here uh that was involved in the realtor
00:23:46
being kidnapped. And this guy looks like
00:23:50
him and he is nervous and he's out here
00:23:52
at the bus stop.
00:23:54
>> Okay, but don't tip them off or
00:23:55
anything. Get someone out there.
00:23:59
>> When officers arrived, Aaron fled on
00:24:01
foot into an apartment complex and then
00:24:04
jumped off the second story floor right
00:24:07
into the bottom of the feet of an
00:24:09
officer standing there. So they took him
00:24:10
into custody.
00:24:14
>> My mom had been missing for 4 days and I
00:24:18
was with my dad at his house and we
00:24:23
got the call from the investigators to
00:24:26
let us know that Aaron Lewis
00:24:30
had been
00:24:32
taken into custody.
00:24:35
>> The family had never heard of Aaron
00:24:36
Lewis before. They were in hopes that
00:24:39
Beverly would be found alive and that we
00:24:40
were on the right track to find her.
00:24:44
>> There was a part of me that was relieved
00:24:47
because I felt like he would do the
00:24:51
right thing and tell us where where my
00:24:53
mom was.
00:24:55
>> Where is she?
00:24:56
>> Who?
00:24:57
>> I'm asking you a question. Did you do
00:24:58
anything?
00:24:59
>> No. Did you?
00:25:02
>> Why did they have you arrested?
00:25:03
>> I have no idea. They haven't told me.
00:25:10
[Music]
00:25:12
From a detective point of view, when you
00:25:14
make the arrest, that's when the work is
00:25:16
really just starting. We've got to be
00:25:17
able to find Beverly, and the only
00:25:19
person that knows that answer is going
00:25:21
to be Aaron Lewis.
00:25:24
When I interviewed Aaron Lewis, Aaron
00:25:27
was the narcissist. He thinks that he's
00:25:29
the smartest person in the room. This is
00:25:31
more of a game to him than anything
00:25:33
else.
00:25:35
Where's my phone? Cuz you can't unlock
00:25:37
it.
00:25:39
Oh,
00:25:39
>> we can.
00:25:40
>> Yeah.
00:25:42
What you going to show me on the phone?
00:25:44
>> Well, actually, I'll let you listen to
00:25:45
something. Then you'll know that I'm
00:25:48
serious.
00:25:50
And I said that you're running out of
00:25:52
time.
00:25:56
>> Normally, we wouldn't give a suspect
00:25:58
their evidence like that, but we needed
00:26:00
to try to find Beverly. So, we allowed
00:26:02
him to have his phone. He played a audio
00:26:06
note and it was Beverly Carter's voice.
00:26:11
>> Carl, Beverly, I just want to let you
00:26:12
know I'm okay. I think they hurt. Just
00:26:16
do what he says and please don't call
00:26:18
the police. If you call the police, it
00:26:20
could be bad. Just want you to know I
00:26:22
love you very much.
00:26:25
>> Aaron told me that he had this message
00:26:26
on his phone in the event that he got
00:26:28
caught, he can prove that Beverly was
00:26:29
alive. We knew that we had to hurry. My
00:26:32
concern was that that she was not
00:26:35
actually alive. He he was still playing
00:26:36
games with us.
00:26:38
>> Are you guaranteeing me this woman's
00:26:41
alive?
00:26:43
Depends on how long it takes.
00:26:46
How long do we have? How long can a
00:26:48
person
00:26:50
without food and water?
00:26:59
Aaron Lewis essentially said that if
00:27:01
police don't find her in time, it's
00:27:03
their fault if she dies. He was trying
00:27:06
to set the foundation for him being
00:27:08
found not guilty for her death.
00:27:11
The investigators did tell us that he
00:27:14
was not being cooperative. And so any
00:27:17
hope, relief that we had that he might
00:27:21
tell us where she was was really
00:27:24
fleeting.
00:27:26
[Music]
00:27:32
So, we started looking at his phone
00:27:34
records, figuring out where he had been,
00:27:36
and we're able to figure out that he had
00:27:37
been to a place called Argos, which is a
00:27:40
concrete facility.
00:27:42
We found out through his background that
00:27:44
he had been recently fired from Argos.
00:27:47
So, I asked him why he would be there if
00:27:49
he had been fired
00:27:51
and just threw it out. You take Beverly
00:27:53
to Argos.
00:27:55
And that was the only time that I ever
00:27:56
had any kind of reaction from him. I
00:27:59
knew right then that's probably where
00:28:01
she was going to be at.
00:28:04
We immediately sent a search team to
00:28:06
Argos plant. It was late in the evening.
00:28:09
One of the detectives searching the
00:28:11
woodline saw some fresh dirt and walked
00:28:14
over. And as that detective was walking
00:28:16
through that dirt, she actually tripped
00:28:18
on something and she looked back to see
00:28:22
and it was Beverly's elbow that was
00:28:23
protruding out of the ground.
00:28:26
When we uncovered Beverly from the
00:28:28
grave, we found out that she was duct
00:28:31
taped from the eyes to the chin that
00:28:33
covered her mouth and her nose.
00:28:35
Obviously, she suffocated.
00:28:38
The location where they buried her is
00:28:39
actually a cement runoff.
00:28:42
Had we not found her when we did, she
00:28:44
would have been completely covered with
00:28:46
concrete in another matter of days.
00:28:49
When Beverly's body was found, obviously
00:28:52
we were hoping to find her alive. So
00:28:53
when we found her deceased, it was
00:28:56
probably the worst, best feeling I've
00:28:58
ever had.
00:29:01
>> When police found Beverly's body, they
00:29:03
immediately questioned Aaron and
00:29:05
Crystal. They charged them with multiple
00:29:08
crimes, including capital murder.
00:29:11
Once Beverly's body is located, we have
00:29:14
to tell the family that she's been
00:29:15
found.
00:29:17
It's a very hard job to do. I've had to
00:29:19
do it a lot. And it's never never easy
00:29:22
to have to tell a family member that
00:29:24
their loved ones is is deceased.
00:29:28
Division captain went and told the
00:29:29
husband, Carl, that we had located
00:29:32
Beverly and she was deceased. And then
00:29:35
Beverly's friends actually got together
00:29:38
and went and told her sons that she had
00:29:40
been found.
00:29:52
I was awakened at 4:00 a.m. with people
00:29:57
at my doorstep.
00:30:00
And standing there at the door were some
00:30:02
of my mom's real estate colleagues,
00:30:06
all with very solemn expression.
00:30:09
And I let them in my home and
00:30:12
they immediately said that my mom had
00:30:16
been found.
00:30:19
And
00:30:22
I was so excited.
00:30:25
[Music]
00:30:26
And my response was, "Well, where is
00:30:29
she?"
00:30:31
And
00:30:33
one of her friends said to me,
00:30:36
[Music]
00:30:38
"Oh, sweetie,
00:30:40
[Music]
00:30:43
your mom wasn't found alive."
00:30:48
We weren't there yet.
00:30:51
We weren't to a place where we were
00:30:54
talking about
00:30:57
her not being alive.
00:31:00
>> And it didn't seem real. It didn't seem
00:31:03
possible. It just seemed like a bad
00:31:05
movie.
00:31:07
Probably the most confused person in the
00:31:10
whole situation was and still is my dad.
00:31:15
My dad lost his wife of 34 years. His
00:31:19
whole world just
00:31:21
is taken from him
00:31:24
in a moment.
00:31:26
[Music]
00:31:41
The autopsy report showed that Aaron
00:31:43
wrapped her entire head in duct tape and
00:31:46
basically created a mask which she
00:31:49
couldn't breathe. She laid there and
00:31:51
suffocated. She was unable to rip it off
00:31:54
because her hands were duct taped behind
00:31:56
her back. She just laid there on the
00:31:58
ground out there and died.
00:32:01
I think Beverly went through hell in her
00:32:03
final hours when she died. They made her
00:32:06
walk to the grave site. I can't imagine
00:32:09
going through what she went through.
00:32:15
>> She literally laid
00:32:17
in her grave,
00:32:21
taking her last breath.
00:32:25
Ultimately, Crystal Lowry did confess to
00:32:27
being involved
00:32:31
and agreed to tell us everything in
00:32:33
agreeance to a lighter sentence because
00:32:34
in the state of Arkansas, kidnapping and
00:32:37
capital murder brings either the death
00:32:39
penalty or life in prison without
00:32:40
parole.
00:32:42
So, instead of taking that, she decided
00:32:45
to take a 30-year plea deal in exchange
00:32:48
for testimony in court explaining how
00:32:51
and why this happened.
00:33:03
Crystal Larry was a nursing student and
00:33:05
the night that Beverly went missing,
00:33:07
Aaron had spoken about doing a
00:33:10
kidnapping for ransom. She suggested
00:33:12
kidnapping a realtor broker because
00:33:15
brokers usually had a lot of money. Uh,
00:33:18
so they conducted an online search for a
00:33:21
realtor broker in area and Beverly was
00:33:23
the first name that popped up.
00:33:25
>> Crystal had recently married Aaron and
00:33:28
it seemed at first like Aaron was acting
00:33:30
alone until police came to know Crystal
00:33:33
a little bit better. She maybe wasn't
00:33:35
the ring leader, but she was feeding him
00:33:38
ideas on how to commit his intended
00:33:40
crime even better.
00:33:44
Aaron Lewis made contact with my mom
00:33:47
requesting to see the property that day
00:33:53
and my mom apologized and told him that
00:33:56
she didn't show property alone.
00:34:00
And so Crystal Lowry spoke to my mom and
00:34:03
told my mom that she would be there,
00:34:06
giving my mom this false sense of
00:34:10
comfort that there would be another
00:34:12
person there and and make it a safer
00:34:15
environment to show the house.
00:34:18
My mom arrived to that appointment prior
00:34:21
to anyone getting there. You know, she
00:34:25
opened the home. Aaron Lewis showed up
00:34:28
with an apology and an excuse that
00:34:31
Crystal had gotten caught up at work and
00:34:33
she was going to be unable to make it to
00:34:36
that showing that day.
00:34:38
>> Aaron duct taped her, put her in a trunk
00:34:40
of his car, and then he's going to take
00:34:41
her someplace, take photograph of her,
00:34:43
and send that photograph to Beverly's
00:34:46
husband for ransom.
00:34:48
He ended up taking Beverly home and
00:34:50
realized that he forgot to get the debit
00:34:53
card out of her purse in the car. So he
00:34:55
left Beverly at their house for Crystal
00:34:58
to stand guard over and he went back to
00:35:00
the scene to try to collect her debit
00:35:02
card.
00:35:03
>> The purse was an important part of their
00:35:05
plan because they would have my dad move
00:35:08
money to accounts that were accessible
00:35:13
with the cards in my mom's purse. And so
00:35:16
no purse, no ransom.
00:35:20
>> When he got there, police were on scene.
00:35:22
He panicked. So he left, went back to
00:35:25
Crystal, told her what was going on. So
00:35:27
they had to come up with a new plan.
00:35:30
It was Crystal's idea to kill Beverly.
00:35:34
She told Aaron, "You've got no choice.
00:35:37
You're you're going to have to kill her,
00:35:38
so go do what you've got to do."
00:35:44
She knew too much already. So he went
00:35:47
and bought a shovel and put her back in
00:35:50
his car, drove her to the site of his
00:35:54
former employer.
00:35:57
There was video surveillance at Walmart
00:36:00
where he bought the shovel and Crystal
00:36:03
was in the car with him. There was
00:36:05
enough evidence to show that she aided
00:36:08
him in it.
00:36:14
When asked why Beverly, here's what he
00:36:16
told reporters.
00:36:18
>> She was a rich broker.
00:36:19
>> Do you have anything to say to the
00:36:20
family?
00:36:22
>> Sorry.
00:36:23
[Music]
00:36:38
Beverly was such a good friend. She was
00:36:40
my best friend. And this is a reminder
00:36:42
of how much I miss the things that we
00:36:44
could be doing together
00:36:48
and how much fun we had doing those
00:36:51
things together, but we can't do them
00:36:53
anymore because she's not here.
00:36:57
This is actually the dress that they
00:36:58
buried her in because they knew that she
00:37:00
loved that dress and they wanted her to
00:37:02
have that to be buried in. That's what
00:37:06
they did.
00:37:09
It wasn't long after we laid Beverly to
00:37:11
rest that we learned that Aaron was a
00:37:14
sixtime felon and he married Crystal and
00:37:17
then he ran out of money.
00:37:19
[Music]
00:37:21
Supposedly the two were trying to get a
00:37:22
divorce and couldn't afford it. So that
00:37:24
was the reason that they were going to
00:37:25
try to kidnap somebody and get some
00:37:27
ransom money so they could afford to get
00:37:29
a divorce.
00:37:31
>> He saw my mom as an easy way to get
00:37:36
money.
00:37:37
[Music]
00:37:39
My mom was not fantastically wealthy. He
00:37:42
just ruined her beautiful family
00:37:48
because he only cared about
00:37:53
getting rich.
00:37:55
[Music]
00:38:07
Aaron Lewis went on trial January of
00:38:08
2016 at Plaskki County Circuit Court.
00:38:12
Aaron Lewis was at times within an arms
00:38:17
length from us. There was a part of me
00:38:20
that wanted to just shake him and ask
00:38:23
why.
00:38:25
And then there were other moments of
00:38:27
just sheer rage
00:38:30
as they were showing the jury pictures
00:38:34
of my mom being unearthed from that
00:38:40
shallow grave.
00:38:43
>> The most standout moment in the trial
00:38:45
for me is when the prosecutor during
00:38:48
closing arguments took a roll of duct
00:38:50
tape and she grabbed it and just opened
00:38:53
it real fast. And you know, duct tape
00:38:55
makes a distinct sound when you open it.
00:38:57
And she said, "That's the last sound
00:38:58
that Beverly Carter ever heard."
00:39:01
And I I'll never forget that.
00:39:04
[Music]
00:39:13
While we were waiting for the verdict,
00:39:15
Carl and I actually went into a side
00:39:18
room and I heard heels like running down
00:39:22
a hallway. and one of our prosecuting
00:39:24
attorneys came in and said, "The
00:39:27
verdict's in."
00:39:30
>> The verdict the jury came up with is
00:39:32
that Aaron Lewis was guilty of capital
00:39:34
murder and kidnapping.
00:39:37
When that guilty verdict came in, it was
00:39:39
like a,000 lbs was lifted off my chest.
00:39:45
tears just began to flow and just I
00:39:49
don't know that there was happiness from
00:39:52
the sense of the fact that we had gotten
00:39:55
justice for my mom but also there was
00:39:59
just relief that this part of this
00:40:03
journey was over
00:40:11
for capital murder. Aaron Lewis was
00:40:13
sentenced to life in prison without the
00:40:15
possibility of parole and kidnapping. He
00:40:18
was also sentenced to a life sentence.
00:40:21
So basically, he got two life sentences.
00:40:24
>> There's a part of me that thinks that if
00:40:27
you take a life,
00:40:30
you shouldn't be given the luxury
00:40:34
of keeping your own.
00:40:37
But they were given fair trials and
00:40:40
justice at least when defined like that
00:40:44
was served.
00:40:46
>> He's never going to be able to get out.
00:40:48
He'll never see the light of day again.
00:40:50
And now Aaron gets to sit in prison the
00:40:54
rest of his life and remember what he
00:40:56
did.
00:41:02
[Music]
00:41:05
I do think about this case. I think
00:41:07
about Beverly a lot and the stuff that
00:41:10
she actually went through. And I always
00:41:12
think back to the voicemail that she
00:41:15
left.
00:41:17
>> Carl Beverly, I just want to let you
00:41:19
know I'm okay. I haven't been hurt. Just
00:41:22
want you to know I love you very much.
00:41:25
The calmness in her voice, it just I
00:41:28
don't know how somebody could be so calm
00:41:30
going through that kind of thing.
00:41:34
>> The details are always kind of hard to
00:41:36
hear because she was such a scaredy-cat.
00:41:39
She was always afraid of the littlest
00:41:40
things. That's what hurts the most.
00:41:46
I do pretty good until I think about her
00:41:48
final moments on Earth, and those break
00:41:51
me.
00:41:54
They're really hard.
00:41:59
>> Carl Jr., her son, created the Beverly
00:42:02
Carter Foundation to help realtors try
00:42:03
to educate them on better ways to stay
00:42:06
safe and doing their job and come up
00:42:10
with ways to make their job safer.
00:42:14
Carl felt this pressure to like take
00:42:18
just the worst thing in his life and
00:42:21
make it better for somebody else. And it
00:42:25
was his therapy.
00:42:28
He needed to speak about it. The
00:42:30
foundation for him was a way to uh
00:42:36
process his grief.
00:42:39
We do work alongside Carl Jr. with his
00:42:41
foundation and make sure safety is first
00:42:44
and foremost with every agent.
00:42:47
I'm really proud of Carl doing that and
00:42:49
I think that his mother would be very
00:42:50
proud of him because I think that this
00:42:53
foundation uh carries on Beverly's
00:42:56
legacy of trying to help people.
00:42:58
[Music]
00:43:10
Looking back, having Beverly as my
00:43:13
mother-in-law was truly one of the
00:43:15
greatest gifts I will always choose to
00:43:17
remember her in the fact that she had a
00:43:20
weakness for sweets and she hated
00:43:22
exercise
00:43:23
and just wanted to live out her days at
00:43:26
the beach, which is basically me in a
00:43:29
nutshell now. But I think that uh
00:43:32
remembering her will always be
00:43:35
that she was truly one of the greatest
00:43:38
friends that I'll ever have. I hit the
00:43:41
jackpot with her.
00:43:44
My mom was the matriarch of our family.
00:43:48
She was the center. She made everyone
00:43:52
feel welcome.
00:43:55
She was the first hello you heard when
00:43:58
you came through the door and she was
00:44:00
always out greeting you, you know,
00:44:02
goodbye. She took care of all of us.
00:44:05
Navigating life without her has been a
00:44:09
challenge for our family.
00:44:12
We're all trying to step up
00:44:16
and uh trying to make her proud.
00:44:20
[Music]
00:44:34
[Music]
00:44:58
[Music]
