6 June 1 - 7, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents “In the days following this thing, you’re sitting at home, you’re watching news re- ports of this whole thing from all over the United States and you know, CNN will air a segment on it, and they’ll have a banner run- ning across the screen that says ‘Sex, Lies and Murder’ or something,” he said. “And you’re just sitting there going, ‘What?’” Brandon is well aware of the true-crime following that Missy’s case has accrued. The way he sees it, people will believe what they want to regardless of the facts. Some would apparently rather view Missy’s murder as something out of a Lifetime movie. Seven years later, Brandon comes across as a man who doesn’t have the bandwidth to care what others think about him. Not any- more. “My first priority is these kids,” he said. “My second priority is this investiga- tion.” He cares deeply about how Missy is portrayed. She’s not here to defend herself. The tree planting ceremony seemed to have meant something to the Broads and to their listeners, but Brandon wasn’t moved. “Why wasn’t Missy’s family here?” one ceremony attendee had asked. They had plans. On the 18th of April, Brandon said, he typically gathers with Missy’s mother and brother. That day, the family seeks to “spend some time in solitude,” he said: “That’s kind of our moment of privacy.” B randon has a strained relationship with Rodden and Lawson, the True Crime Broads podcasters. They’ve spoken with one another over the years, and Rod- den has appeared on the news sitting along- side him. But these days, Brandon questions the Broads’ motivations. He pointed to an episode where he said he felt that Missy was cast in a poor light by a guest who’d made some false claims. “It just pissed me off to no end. It upset the girls, and [Rodden and Lawson] don’t even understand why I’m so mad,” Brandon said. “And the fact that they don’t under- stand tells me that their ego is greater than their judgment ability.” The Broads were aware that Brandon had been offended, but they told the Ob- server in late March they thought he’d got- ten over his anger. Lawson pointed out that they aired a disclaimer ahead of the episode in question and said his girls have likely heard worse in the media. Rodden noted that they’d given one of the Bevers daugh- ters a platform on their show to share her feelings on the investigation. Still, Lawson said she knows that the fam- ily has endured a horrific several years. She can’t blame them for emotions running high. Plus, they’ve gone to bat for Brandon, who some gossips still believe was con- nected to Missy’s death. “I tell you what: One of the things that Renae and I have done tirelessly is to try to get people to stop blaming him for the mur- der,” Lawson said. “And I think he and his mother and everyone have been very thank- ful to us for that.” She and Rodden estimate that they’ve covered Missy’s killing in at least 100 epi- sodes. They’re constantly mining for new angles, something that’s getting increasingly difficult. They’ll reiterate the same facts and dispel the same myths for the benefit of new listeners. It hasn’t appeared to wear on their dedication to the case one bit. Lawson and Rodden want police to re- lease additional information about the mur- der, such as another picture or video clip of the killer. They want to see greater media coverage to help keep Missy’s story alive. Law enforcement could be just one tip away from cracking the code. It might only take a single, seemingly inconsequential detail to do it. The two podcasters and Brandon may disagree on how to approach the case, but they all share the same aim: for Missy’s killer to get caught. Rodden said she worked with Missy for a time at Vault Denim, which she de- scribed as a jeans company that “was kind of like multilevel marketing.” Lawson said her children are the same ages as the three Bevers girls. Rodden gets why so many are invested in Missy’s case: They see themselves in her. “They truly, truly care about Missy,” she said of their listeners, “and they really want to see this case solved.” At the ceremony on April 18, Rodden pressed the importance of the case while talking with the media. Newscasters even- tually broke down their equipment, and the Kuykendalls and Bina went their separate ways. A slight breeze rustled the red oak tree’s leaves, moving them to dance. On the road leading out of Midlothian, the setting sun broke through a canopy of clouds. Missy may be gone, but she can still be seen smiling next to the train tracks in town. There she is, on the left side of a striking red billboard: a photo of Missy wearing a purple tank top, hair cascading just past her shoulders. On the right side of the sign, a grainy image of her killer in tactical gear, stalking Creekside Church’s empty halls. The billboard asks, in all-caps yellow let- ters, the four-word question that’s kept so many awake at night: “WHO KILLED MISSY BEVERS?” Those with tips are encouraged to call the Midlothian Police Department Criminal In- vestigation Division at 972-775-7634 or Crime Stoppers of Ellis County at 972-937-PAYS (7297). Rodden said Crime Stoppers is offer- ing a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction, and that there is another independent reward of $150,000. ▼ TRAVEL THE (LESS THAN) MAGICAL KINGDOM GOING TO FLORIDA THIS SUMMER? TEXANS OF COLOR, BEWARE. BY SIMONE CARTER T exans are dedicated to their state, so much so that they often stay within its borders when going on holiday. But there is another Southern state that sees lots of vacationing Lone Star residents, too: Florida. It makes sense that North Texans would want to trade in big-ass bleak plains for Flor- ida’s blissful beaches, and plenty do. But summer travelers — particularly people of color — beware: The Sunshine State has been making headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. Many Texans choose to skip Corpus Christi in favor of the clear, emerald waters of Destin, Florida. No, really: It’s sort of a thing. More than 10% of all guests vacationing in Destin’s Majestic Sun vacation condo rentals call Texas home, according to Ocean Reef Vacation Rentals & Real Estate. Shoot, getting to the Floridian paradiso from Dallas doesn’t take all that much more gas or time compared with the Texas coast. Google Maps estimates that a drive from Big D to South Padre Island would take around eight-and-a-half hours over 565 miles. A road trip to Destin, mean- while, is roughly 11 hours and 700 miles. Don’t get us wrong. Historically speak- ing, we would much rather be lounging on Destin’s white sandy beaches in the summer than grilling hotdogs for the third decade in a row in Grandma’s backyard. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that a pair of prominent civil rights groups have in recent days warned people of color against going to Florida. Last weekend, the board of directors for the National Association for the Ad- vancement of Colored People unveiled a formal travel advisory for Florida. The NAACP cited in a press release GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diver- sity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools. “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ in- dividuals,” the formal travel notice reads. “Before traveling to Florida, please under- stand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz jumped into the dis- course, writing on Twitter that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. would have been “ashamed” of the NAACP’s move. King’s daughter, Bernice King, then set the record straight. “What my father would be deeply con- cerned about is the harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida,” she tweeted in re- sponse. Wait, there’s (sadly) more. Latino/Hispanic Texans should take note that the League of United Latin American Citizens recently issued its own Florida- travel warning. LULAC railed against De- Santis for signing into law “anti-immigrant measures,” which they say work to further marginalize immigrant communities and hurt the state’s economy. LULAC President Domingo Garcia, him- self a Dallas resident, warned Latinos who go to Florida to be wary during police en- counters. “We do not doubt that if Abuelita or Tia is with us and we are profiled, DeSantis’ en- forcement regulations will treat us like criminals, transporting a dangerous person who only wanted to visit family or enjoy Dis- neyworld [sic],” Garcia said in a press re- lease last week. Huh. A hard-right Southern governor known to target communities of color, im- migrants, LGBTQ+ people, DEI programs and Black history? Why does that sound so familiar? ▼ EDUCATION FEDS IN FRISCO FRISCO ISD FACES SEVERAL FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATIONS. BY JACOB VAUGHN F risco Independent School District is now the subject of several open fed- eral civil rights investigations over al- legations of discrimination. According to the U.S. Department of Ed- ucation, the complaints allege discrimina- tion based on disability, sex, race and age. The complaints were made to the U.S. De- partment of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in 2022 and this year. Two of the sex discrimination complaints allege sexual ha- rassment, and another alleges sexual vio- lence. There are also allegations that benefits were denied on the basis of disability, sex and race. Others allege accessibility barriers and trouble with academic adjustments. The district received some attention earlier this year when a trustee Alicia Anthony A Midlothian billboard advertises the reward. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
