Posted on 02/22/2005 10:09:10 AM PST by Dubya
FORT WORTH -- The bodies of a missing seven-months pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son were found Tuesday morning off Farm Road 407 in Justin, just hours after police arrested a Fort Worth man charged with capital murder in their disappearance.
It was not immediately disclosed how Lisa Underwood, 34, and her son, Jayden, were killed.
Stephen Barbee, 37, who previously had been romatically involved with Underwood, was taken into custody in Tyler and held initially with bail set at $2 million. He was later released to Fort Worth police and transported back to Tarrant County.
Police on Monday found Underwood's Dodge Durango abandoned in a creek bed off Farm Road 2449, just east of Interstate 35W in Denton County, about 10 miles north of where the bodies were found.
Lt. Gene Jones confirmed an arrest had been made in the case but declined to comment further.
Sources said major case detectives traveled to Tyler on Monday night by helicopter after requesting that Tyler police locate Barbee and take him to their headquarters to be interviewed by Fort Worth police.
It was unknown how police knew Barbee was in Tyler.
About the same time that Tyler police were taking Barbee into custody, Fort Worth police raided a residence in the 4100 block of Walnut Creek in north Fort Worth, a home where Barbee lived with a woman named Trish.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified said she was awakened by flashing police lights and noise about 3 a.m. Tuesday. She said officers went to the back of the residence and later came out the front carrying four or five bags of evidence.
The house, she said, had been under police surveillance since Sunday with officers in unmarked police vehicles cruising through the neighborhood.
About 8 p.m. Sunday, she said, officers came to her home asking "when was the last time I saw them and what kind of cars did they drive." She said she told them she last saw Barbee earlier Sunday.
At 11 a.m. Monday, she said, she saw officers rummaging through trash bags that had been set curbside outside the residence.
The discovery comes more than three days after relatives last heard from the 34-year-old mother, seven months pregnant with her second child.
Police issued an Amber Alert for the mother and son Saturday after relatives discovered a pool of blood inside Underwood's north Fort Worth home and noticed her sport utility vehicle missing.
On Monday, the search for the pair shifted to Denton after authorities found Underwood's blue 2002 Dodge Durango abandoned in a creek bed off Farm Road 2449, just east of Interstate 35W.
The search ended about 6:30 p.m. Monday before resuming this morning.
Party planned
Saturday was supposed to be a day of celebration.
Underwood is expecting a little girl, and her friends and family had planned to throw her a baby shower at Boopa's Bagel Deli, which she co-owns with her best friend, Holly Pils.
Marla Hess, who had traveled from Wichita Falls for the shower, looked forward to prying out of Underwood the name she had chosen for her unborn child.
Because "Jayden" is such an unusual name, family and friends assumed that Underwood had also picked an unconventional name for her daughter.
"She had a name that she wasn't going to tell us," Hess said. "We were going to try to make her."
But Underwood never made it to the party.
A farmer discovered the SUV about 8:28 a.m. Monday and called Denton police.
Throughout the day Monday, searchers scoured nearby pastures and wooded areas, some in helicopters, others on horseback and on foot with trained scent dogs.
Kamper said searchers found the keys to Underwood's SUV but declined to comment on whether they found blood in the vehicle or other evidence inside it.
The area where the SUV was found is largely isolated farmland, although signs along Farm Road 2449 point the way to a new housing subdivision just to the north. Monday afternoon, dozens of patrol vehicles, unmarked cars and media trucks lined the rural road.
Meanwhile, about 30 miles away, more police vehicles and yellow crime scene tape encircled the Underwoods' modest red brick home in the 3700 block of Chaddybrook Lane.
Neighbors talked quietly outside their homes as children rode bikes and drew on the sidewalks with colored chalk.
"They are awesome," said neighbor Vicki Wilson. "They are the nicest people anyone would want to meet. They are very, very sweet."
Wilson said Jayden and the other neighborhood children often played soccer together or came to her house to play on the swing set or swim in her pool.
Jayden was "kind of shy, but ... a smart, intelligent, happy little boy," Wilson said.
Jayden was a first-grader at North Riverside Elementary School. Today, extra counselors will be on hand to talk to the students, said Jason Meyer, a spokesman of the Keller school district.
Customers knew 'Boopa'
Outside Boopa's Bagel Deli, well-wishers left messages and trinkets of hope.
A large brown teddy bear, several notes and balloons graced the window.
Scrawled in colored markers were the words "God Bless Lisa and her two little angels." Another one read: "We're praying for you! Lisa, Jayden and Baby Underwood."
A lined piece of notebook paper bore a child's handwriting: "I'm sure she's OK. I miss her as much as you do. I hope you're going to be OK."
It was signed with a heart and a face with a frown.
Pils said Lisa Underwood had named her bagel shop "Boopa" after a nickname that her mother, Sheila, had bestowed upon her grandson.
Jayden expressed pride in having his nickname adorn his mother's business.
"He wanted to be referred to as one of the owners because he said, 'My name is on the building,'" Pils said.
Deli customers knew Jayden and often asked for him by name.
"They would say, 'Is Boopa here today?'" Pils said.
Pils said that Jayden often passed the time helping her and his mother in the shop, in Fossil Creek Plaza at Western Center Boulevard and Beach Street.
"He would sweep better than our employees," she said. "He loved being at the bagel shop, he was just a real special guy. I love being around him. He is a joy, just a complete joy."
Pils said Underwood has worked hard to provide for her son, who is active in Cub Scouts and soccer and can easily beat Pils at chess.
"He was a wonderful child because she was a wonderful mother."
Pils said Underwood has been looking forward to becoming a mother a second time.
"She felt like, 'I have a perfect boy. Now, I want a perfect girl,'" she said.
Staff Writers Kelly Melhart and Alex Branch Contributed to This Report Deanna Boyd, (817) 390-7655 dboyd@star-telegram.com
Gosh, when I'm a freeper long enough will I too be able to discern things about people's personal lives from little tidbits they post? Very cool!
sundero
I have read most of this thread, my heart growing heavier and sadder as I read. You are right about many recent threads we have both seen on FR lately. I usually read a few posts and then leave in disgust, not even bothering to add my puny opinion to the mix. I am reminded again and again as I read just WHY it took me so long to finally register to post here. There are just too many self-righteous Pharisees who are more than willing to overlook their own flaws and cast those stones at others. They forget, or refuse to acknowledge, that " All have sinned and come short of the glory of God".
I am reminded of Christ's response when the self-righteous pharisees taunted Him about the woman caught in the act of adultery:
John 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act........John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
I just cannot understand those who, even a little bit, feel that this poor woman and the errors in judgement she may have made in her life, is somehow therefore responsible for this tragedy.
Not one person alive on the planet today has lived a perfect life. Not one person has the right to cast stones at this VICTIM of violence. We can analyze the breakdown of the strong and stable family unit in our society, and look at the tragedies that frequently result because of this. But it is not RIGHT to tear this woman apart because of what has happened.
She is a victim, not a criminal.
pattyjo
No it isn't.
It's getting smaller and smaller because of 24/7 cable news and the internet.
As a result, FreeRepublic knows if a sparrow farts in Oregon before the smell dissapates.
FReepers, if you don't have a means of self and family defense--please prepare yourselves--nothing is more important than your safety.
Amen.
I agree.
You are to be praised for your post in this thread.
Thank you.
A wonderful post.
Great post!
I pray she is with her children in the loving hands of God. I hope it stops some other woman from making the same mistakes.
Unfortunately it is not possible to call someone to account for being judgemental without first judging them.
sundero
Amen to what you said. There but for the Grace of God, go I.
Who called her a "criminal"?
Using poor judgement is not a crime.
I stopped reading the posts after #50 or so...because all you get is the same old constant blather from the usual suspects in here.
...newbie since August 1998.
Thank you! Thank you!
[Unfortunately it is not possible to call someone to account for being judgemental without first judging them.
sundero]
That's an over-analysis. Some things are simple.
"The yellow dogs are losers....he's very bitter. His wife left him and found herself a good man and he's upset."
What a horrible thing to say. If you don't like what he said earlier, then say so, but don't take this hyper-judgemental stance and say things that are much worse than yellowdog's original comments. Do you know this, or are you just trying to belittle him? Why?
And some things only seem simple.
sundero
Make no mistake, this guys need to be swinging from a tall tree with a short necktie, but you may have a good point here. Consider that once CS is assigned, it only goes up. And the woman gets to get away with financial murder and interfere with visitation rights with no consequences.
I think more and more fathers that are divorced might just be giving up ALL hope of a normal life and any chance of justice.
Even Sun Tzu said it, never take ALL escapes away from your opponent.
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