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
Here are the quotes that led to my post:
“This case is very sad. Too bad the mother did not provide a stable, loving home for that boy. But as you see, she did not use good judgement in picking whom she made kids with.
I wonder if this would have happened if she had used better judgement in picking a husband.” Yellowdoghunter
“I said it was a sad story. One that probably did not have to happen. I do feel much empathy for the son and unborn baby. If only their mother had made better choices.....we would not be here right now.
I have just seen too many mothers drag man after man into the house, have kid after kid, with different men.....I am just tired of women sacrificing their children on an alter of lust.....” Yellowdoghunter
“Okay, let us not hold this mother accountable. Can we hold the next 10 who do the same thing, ie..get hooked up with a loser and then she and her children end up dead. At what point do we start telling women to pick better men?” Yellowdoghunter
“That is crazy and you know it. An alter of lust my friend, an alter of lust.....” Yellowdoghunter
“You do not know how to pick a good husband, father, etc....you do not know how to tell a loser from a winner? I know there are always exceptions to that rule, but 98% of the time, if you use good judgement you will pick a good person.” Yellowdoghunter
“If only she would have devoted ALL of her time to her son and job, this probably wouldn't have happened. But she wanted "a perfect daughter too". Too bad she didn't first try to find "a perfect husband". Yellowdoghunter
“You are correct, poor-timing on my part. But really, my patience for women sacrificing their children for loser men is passed the breaking point.” Yellowdoghunter
“Did the children pick the loser?” Yellowdoghunter
“Not difficult at all. It is as easy as me asking what is wrong with men these days who find it necessary to kill their children and mothers of their children?
The implication was very clear that the mother deserved blame for picking the wrong guy.” Rintense
“And I'll start a male bashing thread asking, 'What the hell is wrong with men these days?' Sheesh.” Rintense
“This sounds like something my husband says and that I have observed. Women like the bad boys (he says) and think they can always change him or that he USED to be like that but he is different now (I observe). The facts are often there if one would look at them objectively and before getting physically and/or emotionally involved. Nowadays, as movies and TV teach us, you have sex and THEN you find out if you are compatible, a good person, etc.
Yellowdog may be making an insensitive point on a thread that is very tragic but it does not mean he is totally wrong!” outinyellowdogcountry
“But, does it not make sense for us to point out that you should wait to sleep with someone until you are pretty sure they are not a jerk or a psycho? Is this not something we should (at the very least) be teaching girls?
I see far too many women who date and have sex with and even get pregnant by guys that *I* can see are jerks (maybe not murders, but true selfish jerks). They don't figure it out til the guy dumps them. What are they missing? I'm really not any smarter than anyone else.” Brytlea
Nuff said....
Hannity is right.
"If anyone has shown ugliness in this thread, it has been people on your side of the argument. The vitriolic attacks by your side of the argument is far more representative of what he was talking about."
I was thinking about that very thing while I was picking up my kids from school. Seems as though the people who think that Underwood bears no responsiblity for her choices and actions are the ones on the attack. The people who are for personal responsibility seem more able to participate in a civil debate without resorting to insulting other freepers.
I wonder what the connection is.
I think you got it, Tuffy. I was pretty shocked by some of the comments attacking Yellowdog and others. Talk about vitriol! I think that it was a result of the emotions that this terrible crime engendered. Maybe this can be a learning opportunity for all of us.
Someone asked a question, I attempted to answer it. You have no way of knowing how I would react either.
sundero
Bravo!
sundero
I don't think they were married...
I a agree.. This lady should not be judged... Let the person with no sins cast the first stone.
I a agree.. This lady should not be judged... Let the person with no sins cast the first stone.
Brillant post!
Sorry, I got your name wrong. And, here I am, surrounded by yellow-dog democrats! You'd think I'd know better.
The guy was part owner of 2 companys, one a landscaping company and one a concrete coring company called Cowboy Coring. The moto on the the coring company trucks and caps is "Your Hole is our Goal".
I just want to say that we *all* make mistakes in judgement at times. Anyone can be fooled under the right circumstances, by a charming sociopath. I was. I married him, too. And when I became pregnant with our daughter he was not happy. When I decided I'd had enough of the verbal abuse to pursue a divorce, I was scared to death he was going to arrange a little "accident" for me, because the prospect of paying child support so enraged him. (he later relinquished parental rights, that got him out of paying.)
Anyone here remember the case in Boston in the late 80's where the guy shot and killed his pregnant wife and unborn son, and then shot himself (superficially) to make it look like a robbery? He had a mistress and just did not want a child. When the truth of what he had done came out, he killed himself. The guy's name escapes me. But SO many people believed him.
My point is, the fact that this lady was not married or whatever people are saying about her, does not matter. There are bad people out there, that *look* like good people. Sometimes the mask doesn't come off for a couple years. It's not that hard to be tricked.
I be in Irving
I am so sorry that you lost you friend. Megan seemed like such a nice, hardworking young lady.
You're right, there ARE bad people that appear perfectly normal and *ok*. However, it has not been my experience that this is most often the case. I mean look around. Don't you have friends or relatives in relationships that you KNOW are bad for them, and even sometimes THEY will admit it, but they say, they love him or they can change him, or something else? Don't you want those women to take a look and imagine that THEY could end up dead or hurt, or their children might end up dead or hurt?
That's what I'm interested in. Getting the word out that women need to be careful. We can talk all day about the unfairness that women need to be more careful than men, but biology has dictated that we are not as physically strong, we are the ones who get pregnant, and they generally end up responsible for the child. None of this may be fair, but it is how it is. Until that changes, women need to make very carefully considered choices about who they have children with, who they live with, who they marry.
sundero
You are correct. In this day and age, no one wants to take responsibility for their choices and actions. There is an excuse for everything. Nobody on this thread has suggested that the woman deserved her fate, she certainly didn't. That said, she did make some questionable choices in her life that led up to her demise. If she had made more reasonable choices, ie waiting until marriage for sex, using birth control (this woman is in her 30's, she should have known how to use birth control) and not cornered some man with ultimatums. This Barbee character's wife let it slip that she didn't know Underwood was pregnant, which is consistent with the blackmail theory.
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