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
[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.]
I've been married for 28 years. Not all men are the same. Not all slimeballs are obvious. Take you for instance...until you posted this piece of crap I may have thought you were a decent sort. See how easily who fool others!
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".
I do feel compassion for this women, but I am so sick of seeing children sacrificied on an alter of lust....that I am passed my breaking point.
Perhaps it is not so much the sentiment (yes, people are responsible for their choices, you existentialist), but the timing of speaking this sentiment, and where that sentiment was spoken.
For my money, though, I think both the timing and the sentiment are off.
Did I miss the memo saying "ATTENTION ALL FEMALES! Only get involved with stinkers!"? I mean, I thought everyone wants to be with someone that is 'good' for them. Of course we all know to pick better men! We try, really do try.
That is just it...so many think we are making the right choice. In this case, maybe she thought he WAS an OK guy. Maybe he was a smooth talker or charming or flattering or kind to her child.
I have yet to met a woman who says "Oh! My new beau, he is wonderful! And rotten to the core; he lies to me, runs around behind my back and even kicks my dog when I'm not looking. I am SO lucky!"
As far as I know, being a bad judge of character isn't gender specific. In any case, bad judgement on the part of the victim never makes murder OK.
Here are your own words:
"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. "
None of this was reflected in the story. As it turns out, she had a business, was well-liked, had many friends, and was, apparently providing a stable home. She was murdered.
You have no information, yet you surmise that she was killed because of her own bad judgment. You should be ashamed of yourself.
yellowdoghunter did not say she DESERVED to be murdered.
He reflected upon the circumstances of that murder and the bad things that sometimes happen to good people who don't make the right choices.
There was nothing wrong in saying that which is standard conservative thinking. Or at least used to be.
OOW births are a bad thing in general and too often have a bad result.
How do you know she didn't? How do you know she realized what a jackass the guy was AFTER she got pregnant, and didn't want an abortion? You just don't know enough about this story to make such broad-brushed generalizations.
You poor thing. Is your life that sad? Seems to me she was a good mom, Jayden seemed to be well adjusted according to the story, how do you know Jayden's father was not a good guy.
This is a thread about a DEAD WOMAN and HER SON; try not to cast stones for a couple of hours, if you can.
I'm wondering the same thing. As far as I could tell, the article only mentions that they were previously romantically involved. If the accused is not the father, there certainly are many moot posts on this thread.
"When women are capable of raising children without men, are they then deciding their sons and daughters do not need fathers?"
Well considering he's been charged with murdering her it looks like to me she made the right decision to reject him.
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.
What about this question, 'What is wrong with men in society today?' I mean, for a MAN to kill his unborn child and its mother... what has happened to MEN!?!?!? </sarc>
My Schmuck-o-Meter has been in the danger zone since reading a certain poster's comments here:)
From what I have read in other news reports. So now my life is sad for pointing out a glaring problem in todays society. Good Grief!
"But really, my patience for women sacrificing their children for loser men is passed the breaking point.
"
Perhaps, then, you should direct your anger at those "loser men," rather than at the woman who was deceived by one of them.
Neither the murder of Ms. Underwood or of Jayden alone qualify as capital murder by itself (unless they can tie it with another felony such as kidnapping) since Jayden was over six years of age.
It is possible that the death of the unborn child might constitute a capital murder charge by itself; however, that issue has not been litigated in Texas.
The "Laci Peterson" law applies only to federal crimes. Scott Peterson was charged under a similar California state law.
Yes, that's right. I'm sure the woman practically raped the man to get him to sleep with her, let alone get her pregnant.
You
Make
Me
Sick.
Well, not completely. There was a report on a local radio station that she had threatened to expose him to his wife.
Not that this justifies any kind of crime against her, but I'm inclined to think this case involves two people who are screwballs to some degree.
Thanks for the info...but I was just reporting what Fox News said...3 counts of cap murder...unless they were mistaken..
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