321. The Murder of Makayla Maeve

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You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. I'm the husband. I'm the husband. Happy Monday. Welcome back. Happy Monday. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for subscribing. All of it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Here we are. Recording. Ready for a true crime episode. What did you guys do this weekend? Anything fun? What did we do? Work. Oh, yeah. We worked. We worked. Our anniversary is soon. Oh, yeah. Tuesday? Tuesday. I think. Oh, my gosh. 27 years married. That's insane. Crazy. No, it's nine years married. Yeah. Nine years married. Holy smokes. That means we're getting old. I know. Nine years married is a long time. Dude, you know what? I was looking at our wedding pictures the other day. Yeah? We were so small. Oh, we were baby. Oh, babe. We got married when we were babies. Like, who in their right mind agreed to that? Who in their right mind said, yeah, let's let these two children get married? As soon as you turn 18, I guess you can technically do whatever you want. Jeez. And we said, hey, let's go get married. We sure did. Yep. Nine-year anniversary. That's about it. Hi, Daisy. Daisy's sick. Not sure what, but she hasn't been feeling good, so she's just chilling. But she'll be okay. She slept, like, in my crook of my neck last night. That's how I knew she was sick. Poor girl. I'm going to get right into 10 seconds. I need a hot take for my 10 seconds today. Yeah. Take my hand. Take my hand. Yeah. Do it. I'll show you. I'm your hot take. What? That was funny. There you go. That was good. You're done. You're cute, babe. I thought you were going to, like, do something. Like, pull your finger? Yeah. Okay. All right. I have a hot take. I don't know if it's a hot take. It might make sense. It might make some people mad. I want to start with saying that the city my bagel shop is amazing. They've been great. I got everything done really, really fast, and I appreciate it. Like, when I say fast, like, fast. Like, permits were approved within weeks. That's unheard of, I feel like. I think, oh, man, I want to make some people mad because I know some of you probably work for a city. I think anything that has to do with permits and building. I don't think I can say it out loud. I'm going to get canceled. What? I think it should all, I think it should just not exist. Like, I think they should all be, I don't want to say fired. There's other jobs in the city, but anything to do with, like, cities getting permits approved to build something, yada, yada, yada. I think that it should all be done just via software, like, automatic. Like, you upload, and there's just parameters and intelligence that automatically, knows what needs to be approved and not approved, and it's done like that. And if it's rejected, it comes back to you. You fix what you need to fix, upload again, and within, like, 24 hours, the systems can automatically detect what needs to be done and not done. Instead of, I mean, look, there's some cities out there where you submit a permit, you don't hear back for, like, six months. I'm sure every contractor, anyone that builds anything is like, yes. Like, this is ridiculous. I think. So, I just think it's ridiculous. It's 2020. We have the technology, and we have the ability. I know the software exists. I just know majority of it is cities don't want to adopt it because, I mean, I get some people would lose jobs, but it's also hard because you have people literally waiting months and months for a permit. Sorry. This one kind of makes me mad because, luckily, the city I'm with, they were amazing, and they were super helpful. And, again, it happened within weeks. But I have multiple friends. I have people that. You're waiting. I mean, there's some places where it takes, like, a year to get a permit. Anyways, that's my hot take. If you have something you want to say to me about it, let me know. I'm open to it. But, yeah. Two things. Yes. If a job is not efficient for everyone around them, the job deserves to be changed. Correct. Number one. Yeah. So, I don't think that that's that hot of a take. Okay. Number two, I don't think, like, you work for the government. Number three, you work on a different timeline. If you work for a state, you work on a different timeline. Yes. All the way down. If you work with a city, you're working on a different timeline than everyone else in America. For sure. And I think it's unfair. People are probably going to disagree with this, but it's just true. I don't think that that is, like, necessarily a bad thing. No. There's probably parameters and things that have made it that way. Yeah. But I think we can all agree that most entities that belong to. Are inefficient. Yes. Like, they haven't progressed the way the rest of the world has on the timeline the rest of the world has. Like, as far as business, everything moves super quick, super fast. It's always about efficiency. And we have some really outdated. Yeah. And a lot of it, I guess, probably does have to do with the governments and cities and just parameters and yada, yada, yada. But, I mean, it's like a running joke when you go to a DMV, right? Mm-hmm. Granted, I mean, some DMVs. These now in states are actually really well run and, like, they have online technology. And that's what I'm saying. There's so many places that are so far behind. Like, it should not be taking this long to get a permit. It should not be taking this long to do different things. And, again, I'm an exception because I didn't happen to my city, but I know so many people that it happens to. Yeah, but it's not like we live in that small of a city. So, if it's capable in our city to get it done fast, it should be capable in most cities to get it done that fast. Oh, there's places in California. It literally will take you 18 months to get a permit. Which, again, just goes back to your program is not efficient. Like, come on. Like, you're not being as efficient as possible, clearly. And I'm not. I think different cities, different counties, like, we're obviously not in a huge city, but it's a pretty large city with a lot going on. Yeah, and they got it done. Yeah. Kind of. I don't know. Maybe you guys don't even care about that. But if you've ever built something or had to deal with the city, I'm sure you'll care about it. So. I also don't think efficiency is all technology. I think that programs themselves with human beings running them could be more efficient. Oh, 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I don't think technology is always the answer to making something more technology. It just needs to speed up things. Yeah. Anyways, that's what I got. Before we hop into today's episode, I want to say real quick that thank you to anyone who listens and watches the podcast, who comes into the bagel shop. Thanks for saying hi. I have a problem, okay? I remember everyone's name as soon as you tell me, and I'm talking to you, and I remember your name, and I'm engaged in the conversation. As soon as you leave, that name is gone. And multiple people were like, don't forget my name so you can shout it out in the next episode. Well, guess what? I forgot your name. But also, in my defense, I'm also hearing names from 300 other people a day at the same time. Anyways, literally, I had multiple people. I'm like, oh, I'm going to remember your name and shout you out. Nope. Any names in my mind is zero names. The only name in my mind right now is Peyton. No other names. So anyway, sorry. That's it. I love you. Thank you for coming in. Thank you for saying hi. If you came in and I was busy, I'm also really sorry. But I love you. And let's hop into today's case. Our sources for this episode are Oxygen, CBS News, Coco.com, K2UL.com, OKCFox.com, Medium.com, NewYorkPost.com, People.com, KFOR.com, MammaMia.com, News9.com, The Cinemaholic, and WilsonLittle.com. I think one of the most powerful extrasensory skills that I've ever seen is a mother's blind intuition. Everyone talks about it. It's like moms have this divine spiritual entanglement to their children. They always seem to know when something is off, when your energy has shifted. Sometimes they call right at the second you need them most. Other times it's like they can predict when something is about to go wrong. And I know that's not the case for every mother, but it is enough case that has become a stereotype. But it's also not every day that a mother's intuition solves a disappearance. After Michaela Maeve went missing in 2023, her mother decided she wasn't going to sleep until she found her daughter. And thanks to that motherly intuition or her divine connection to her daughter Michaela, she knew. Exactly where to find her. And not only was she right, she helped bring justice to a case that might have otherwise gone cold. I'm sure many of our listeners come from small towns, so you understand what it's like when everyone knows everyone, where gossip spreads faster than a virus and everybody's in each other's business. But I think the location of today's case might have most places beat. Because we are headed to Macomb, Oklahoma, where in the year 2023, when our case takes place, the population is about 24 people. Oh my gosh. Okay. And 30-year-old Michaela Maeve is one of them. Michaela was a teacher's assistant at Macomb Public Schools and was working towards getting her teaching degree at the time. She was also very actively involved. She was involved with the school's aftercare program, but Michaela always knew she wanted this to be her path. Her mother actually ran a daycare when she was growing up. She understood the power of education and nurturing, and it was what she wanted to do with her life. So it must have been devastating when Michaela learned back in her 20s that she couldn't have children of her own. So instead, as she got older, she fostered and then adopted two teenage kids, a brother and a sister. And she did everything she could to give these kids a loving upbringing. Plus, she shared with them all of the things that always brought her joy. Music, singing, religion, her passion for animals. Michaela treated her students with the same kind of love and compassion that she treated her two adopted kids. Friends and co-workers said that if a child ever came to school hungry or wearing dirty clothes, Michaela would be the one to help fix it, make things better. And luckily, Michaela wasn't alone in her journey. She was extremely close with her mother and two sisters who helped her raise her kids along the way. But then, an old acquaintance actually came back into Michaela's perfect little life. It was someone named Frank Byers. Now, Michaela and Frank had actually gone to high school together back in the day. And sometime before 2022, Michaela and Frank had been in a relationship for a long time. And Michaela and Frank had been in a relationship for a long time. He sent Michaela a Facebook message, and the two of them reconnected. Now, by then, Frank was working for an environmental cleanup company, which meant he spent a lot of time on the road. But when he wasn't working, he was actually still living in the Macomb area. Frank now had four kids of his own, all young daughters. And ever since his divorce from their mother, he had primary custody. But this wasn't something that deterred Michaela. If anything, it made her fall for Frank even more, especially because Frank told Michaela his girls had had a rough time in life so far. He said that his most recent girlfriend had been abusing his daughters when he wasn't around, and he was just looking to get out of that situation. So that was when Michaela offered to open her home to Frank and his four kids. The two start dating. So Michaela and Frank start dating in 2022. And her family of three, her and her adopted two kids, now grows to eight. Now, people who knew Michaela said she seemed happier than ever. This wasn't something everyone would do, but it was something that really worked for her. She loved Frank's kids like they were her own. So it wasn't a surprise in June of 2022 when Michaela and Frank tied the knot. So for the next year, they lived together on Michaela's 10-acre property. But on September 15, 2023, their worlds turned upside down. So that morning began like most days in Macomb. Michaela woke up and called her sister, Andrea, at 7 a.m. The two were best friends. Not only did they speak every day, they basically knew every detail of each other's lives, or so Andrea thought. It was a Friday, so she and Michaela might have discussed their plans for the weekend. Michaela went to work that morning and came home around her usual time. But she and her sister Andrea didn't speak again for the rest of that night. When Andrea's phone rang the following morning, though, on September 16, she expected to hear Michaela on the other end of the line again. Only this time, it was Frank, her boyfriend. And he was wondering if Andrea had seen or spoken to her sister since the night before. And according to Andrea, Frank seemed seriously worried. He was hysterical. She could hardly make out what he was saying at first. Eventually, she got him to calm down enough to spit it out. And that's when he said that Michaela had gone on a date the night before but hadn't made it home yet. Now, this isn't a total shock to Andrea because despite the fact they're still living together with their kids, she knew Michaela and Frank had recently decided to take a little break from their romance. Things hadn't been going super well between them lately. So Andrea's first thought was, well, good. I hope my sister went out and had some fun last night. Maybe she had a little too much fun. Maybe she stayed over at a guy's house. But Frank seems to think it's a lot worse than Michaela just staying out for the night. He tells her sister the last time he saw Michaela was around 5.30 p.m. last night, that the guy she'd went out with was bald. He had a dark beard. He showed up in a white Chevrolet pickup truck with tinted windows. And Frank says he didn't speak to the guy himself, but he saw Michaela get into the truck with him and then they drove off into the sunset. But now Michaela wasn't answering her phone. She still hadn't made it home like all of the kids are home. So Andrea at this point assumes Frank is just being jealous, like a little jealous and dramatic, which is why after she hangs up, she decides to call her sister herself. But Frank was right. Michaela wasn't answering her phone. In fact, her calls were going straight to voicemail. Getting into another ad. And honestly, let me paint the scene for you. OK, you're like, I'm going to start taking my health seriously. You look into supplements, you order, you order, you order. Your cabinet becomes full of pills. You don't know where to start. You don't even know what works. And why are you taking 100 pills? Well, that is where I am. Eight comes in. It came in for me and it changed my daily routine. And kind of how I go about supplements, to be honest. I am eight is the way to simplify your supplement routine once and for all. Sixteen supplements replaced 90 ingredients across nine major organ systems all in one drink. You guys simplify it. You don't need to take 100 things. 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Download earning on the app. app store or google play spelled like earning money without the g type in murder with my husband or podcast when you sign up it'll really help the show earning is a financial technology company not a bank access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors standard cash out to take one or two business days with no mandatory fees expedited transfers available for a fee tips are voluntary and don't affect the service available in select states terms and restrictions apply visit earning.com for full details so the hours begin to tick past that morning it's noon then it's 1 p.m and still no one's been able to reach michaela and now her family is starting to get worried especially because michaela had promised to help out a restaurant their family owned that day but she didn't show up and this is something that was completely unlike her so by that afternoon her husband frank called 9-1-1 and i'm calling him husband but they're on a break apparently but they're still living in the same home with the kids yep my wife's missing late last night she left at 5 30 and the last time that anyone has heard from her has been at 8 p.m in your name my name is frank buyers what's her name her name is michaela uh buyers now it's about 4 p.m on the afternoon of the 16th when police arrive at michaela's home where frank and michaela are living and with his body cam the deputy asks 32 year old frank to repeat the details he gave the dispatcher over the phone now frank also gives them more description of the guy he says he saw michaela leaving with the night before he was six feet tall maybe 200 pounds or so now what's interesting is when frank is explaining the situation to the deputy he doesn't exactly tell the deputy that he and michaela were on a break instead he says we had actually recently decided to agree to open up their marriage and stay together while also seeing other people so they were still living in michaela's home on the 10 acres in this very very small town but they had an open relationship so they each would go on dates with other people but we're still at home raising the kids together so this is what he tells the officer he says to the officer that you know i'm not going to let you go i'm not going to let you go i'm not going to let you go michaela met this particular person that she went on a date with on facebook but that's all he really knew about the guy outside of what he looked like and what car he drove frank also says that he doesn't really like the arrangement like the open marriage it was michaela's idea he was just willing to do whatever it took to make her happy to keep her by his side to keep their marriage intact frank admits though that right before she left he and michaela had gotten into a tiff according to him she claimed it was none of his business where she was going or who she went with so that's why he never got a name or more details on where her date was that night but he also offers to show the deputy some messages michaela had sent him the night before after she left the house on the date it was messages sent from her phone that read quote i'm fine and back off okay that's at this point the deputy decides it's worth driving around the tiny town to see if he spots michaela and one of the first stops he makes is at the school where she works but there's nothing meanwhile back at frank and michaela's house the family is actually starting to gather her mother and sister show up and one of the first things her mom barbara does is she gets down on her hands and knees and starts crawling inch by inch over the huge property looking for any sign of her daughter and i'm saying any sign as in foul play clues anything she can see now later that evening deputies are back on the property joining the family in their search of the property but they're more interested in the inside of frank and michaela's home particularly they seem to kind of check out this little shed out back because the police learned that while they were looking for her daughter she was actually looking for her daughter and she was going through this open marriage maybe break maybe trying to figure things out depends on who you ask apparently michaela had moved into this tiny shed in the back now frank had told them earlier in the day but when they asked him to open it he was like it's locked and i don't have a key like that's her space but when police return he smashes open the lock and this time he lets police look inside huh and okay right away police see something alarming shell casings belonging to a 22 caliber but frank immediately tells them it's not weird michaela often sat back here and shot at wild animals from her shed but that's not even the most alarming detail i don't i mean they're in a small town i don't know if i find that that weird 22 is usually not something i mean yeah i don't know for some reason i don't find that that weird knowing what like knowing what a 22 is knowing it's a small town like casual saturday activity yeah honestly like it wouldn't surprise me if she was out her window like shooting birds or shooting squirrels not saying you should do that i'm just saying that yeah that wouldn't spark instant red flags we shouldn't be like what yeah exactly now um this isn't even the most alarming detail because there also appears to be some blood drops on the floor and on the sheets of the bed now of course the next thing police ask is where's the gun like where is the 22 that those shell casings come from and frank says oh that's actually back in the main house where i'm staying they're like okay you just said she uses it out here but i mean it's possible it's possible it could have been moved i guess so he leads them back shows them the gun and they realize this gun has been fired recently there is gunshot residue on the barrel and the breach of the barrel is a sign that the gun where the ammunition is loaded and it's at this point the deputies are like hey we're going to call for more backup because interesting while this is still a missing person's case they have blood they have shell casings they have a gun that's recently been fired and so they're like maybe this is a missing person's case but also a potential homicide and they need their criminal investigation team out there for more support so that is where lieutenant dakota black comes in and says hey we're going to call for more backup because while this is still a missing person's case they have blood they have shell casings they have a gun that's recently been fired and so they're like maybe this is a missing person's case but also a potential homicide and they need their criminal investigation team out there for more support so that is where lieutenant dakota black comes in she is a trained tracker with the pottawatomie county sheriff's office nearby in shawnee oklahoma so basically she's the one you call if there's like a manhunt her male colleagues at the sheriff's office admit even they're intimidated by lieutenant black's skill set and just overall bad a like she can track someone she knows her way around the wild around the forest whether she's on the shooting ranger out in the field she's just kind of someone you don't want to bet against and my favorite part about her might be her trained therapy dog that she brings with her on these investigations because she knows how calming and helpful it can be to the families who are in the midst of an investigation like this so she literally brings her dog who is trained to like ease the tension i love animals i gotta love pets i mean i love all animals but right love them when lieutenant black is called out to look for mckayla that september night this case hits differently than usual not only was she and mckayla born one day apart so they're the same age lieutenant black admits that she's been in situations of intimate partner abuse before so when she shows up and it's like you know this boyfriend who's apparently on a break open marriage husband she kind of just fills this like connection to mckayla maybe more than she cares to admit but that doesn't mean the police have stopped following other leads every single white pickup truck matching the description frank gave is being called down to the station to be ruled out and that might seem extreme but again we are in a very small town the family is putting up flyers all over town mckayla's face is being plastered all over social media drones are actually scouring the woods and the mountains and the wooded areas around the area and kayaks traverse the nearby waters looking for signs of a body and during all of this like this pretty intense search for a small town frank byers husband doesn't do a thing lieutenant black says he never went out with any of the search parties okay he didn't really show any motion at all towards the fact that his wife was still missing the few things he did do seemed completely performative to her and mostly all of this was from the comfort of his own couch like he says no i'm still texting and calling mckayla's phone daily praying she'll pick up nice like i'm talking about good job dude also like i don't know just like pat yourself on the back for continuing to call when that's like a very normal thing people go through your wife's missing i'm glad you're calling her and like like bragging about it um what a guy and he posts on facebook claiming quote she means the world to me she literally is the backbone of our family i love her deeply she's a good woman and a great mom which is why on day three of the search effort lieutenant black calls frank in for additional questioning playing the good cop she caters to his feelings say i know how upset you must be and his story does stay pretty consistent mckayla left on this date she never made it home so without enough evidence lieutenant black is forced to let him go for now though it's around this same time that the police get some information back on mckayla's cell phone data the report shows her phone last pinged a tower within a three mile radius of her home meaning wherever she went with this phone it likely wasn't far or at least her cell phone didn't travel far now unfortunately clues were proving really hard to come by in this case there really wasn't a shred of evidence showing where mckayla had gone or her cell phone she left with during those first few days of the investigation until her mom barbara shared some pretty shocking details with police barbara claims she was crawling through the brush on the property around day three of the search when according to her she had a premonition she claims it was like mckayla's voice had appeared in her head and whispered something to her quote mama i'm in a car now barbara could sense that whatever this experience was it was critical to the investigation it wasn't just a thought or a theory she claims this is mother's intuition this is divine messaging a mother's intuition telling her that's where they needed to search now if you don't know tin horns are those metal or plastic culvert pipes that you see directing water to flow underneath roads to keep them from flooding they're called tin horns tin horns and it seemed like there were quite a few of these in the area so from that point on barbara begins checking every single one that she comes across she tells the police but she's also like i'm just gonna start checking all of the ones in town specifically wading through creek beds and canals to see if there's any sign of her daughter and unfortunately there isn't until day five of the investigation holy crap right let's hear this now that after noon september 20th 2023 mckayla's cousin is out searching for her along with basically the rest of the town she and a friend are about a half a mile away from mckayla's house when they are just hit with this horrible smell and they kind of keep following the scent down a trail which eventually brings them right to a tin horn and there along the opening they see a human hand sticking out of a rolled up piece of carpet so they're searching for a body at this point so they immediately call 9-1-1 to say hey we're pretty sure we just found mckayla i always wonder like putting a body somewhere where it's eventually going to be found yeah you know i'm saying like it's not like it was in the bottom of the ocean like or they try to like hide it like they put it somewhere where like rolled up in a carpet also like what you know what i'm saying i'm just gonna speak broadly here if you are the killer and you hear that barbara the mom goes to police and says she's in a tin horn that you think you move it like well just imagine the like how like how did she know that yeah i know 100 yeah within minutes police are there to confirm inside that rolled up carpet is in fact the deceased body of 30 year old mckayla she's wearing a red t-shirt which had intentionally been pulled up over her head to conceal her face she isn't wearing any pants or underwear but she still has on one sock with little teddy bears on it oh my god it's just these little details that just go to show like i hate it so sad you're just a normal human you're just a normal good human it's so sad and it's clear that she has been shot at least twice in the head before her killer wrapped her up and left her there and the bullet was there's more to the story than the bullet okay let me get there we obviously know there's no denying that mckayla's cause of death is the two gunshot wounds her head but the autopsy reveals more one in the front and one on the left side including a third which had grazed her head and from what i could gather it didn't appear as though they found the fact she was dressed that that way but at this point lieutenant black feels pretty sure that she knows who is responsible not only did police find the gun in the home that matched the bullet wounds so it was a 22 yes dang i was wrong you didn't think it was i just find it unlikely with that type of gun i mean obviously possible with any gun what's the 22 it's like here i'll show you a after doing this many cases probably know what a 22 looks like i feel like it's like small yeah so here's like a 22 it's like a lot of times 22s can be okay yeah yeah yeah it's like a long rifle which i mean yeah it's possible just like out of all things it surprises me i'm pretty sure there is 22s in like certain types of handguns the most positive but i've always known it to be like a i think if we were like in a city a 22 would seem a little more unlikely to me but i think because we are in country and a lot of people might have rifles in their homes maybe it's not that weird as a murder weapon yeah they're just usually i'm trying to figure out how to use the right words like it's because it's just a caliber bullet right yeah but like a lot of people will use it for like like multiple guns can be 22 caliber because it's just the type of ammo correct no it's just like usually like a rifle it's 22 is like like they're obviously dangerous because it's a gun but like a lot of kids or people who are younger will learn to like shoot rifles with the 22 what did he want on a christmas story well he had a bb gun he wanted a bb gun and they made it that big of a deal yeah it was a bb gun i'm pretty sure it's a bb gun probably yeah remember he's like you'll shoot your eye out but i'm just like a bb gun yeah in my hometown there were four-year-olds carrying bb guns around all day long it's crazy i had a pink i had a paintball gun really yeah that's crazy all right you guys this episode is coming to an end i hope you enjoyed it and i'll see you in the next one episode is sponsored by better help if you could wake up tomorrow and be better at one thing what would that be what would it be what'd you pick probably handling my anxiety better that'd be nice yeah that's a good one that would be great i don't know what my mind would be to be honest i have to think about the one so i need better help i need to talk to someone about it to figure out what mine would be well i mean isn't this question just tied directly to why you would go to therapy no exactly one thing i would do is i would go to therapy and i would go to therapy and you want to work on or be better at that's where better help comes in pain and i're both big fans of better help um talking to someone is important there's so much to talk about even if you don't think there is anything to talk about talk to someone you never know honestly sometimes yourself you don't even know what's going on in your own brain so talk about it also it can be as simple as i want to be better at watering my plants literally a therapist can help you with that this is true better is a feeling defined by you and for better help it's a better help who really gets you it's a focus on global emotional well-being with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over 100 countries it's progress sign up and get 10 off at better help.com husband that's better help.com husband all right you guys we are getting into an ad and i'm gonna hit you with it again it is skims and let me tell you something oftentimes when i talk to my irl friends because you guys are all my friends but when i talk to my irl friends and they're talking about oh i'm looking for new sweats or loungewear or i'm just looking for a new bra i point them to skims i really do and not because skims is a sponsor but because i love all of skims products i love it so much i bought a ton of their maternity stuff and then when they came out with their everyday cotton and that ended up being my favorite fabric i had to go buy every cut i love i would skims to any friend which is why i'm recommending it to you by the way i have their underwear too amazing best underwear in the world so you seriously i'm i'm not kidding when i say that love their underwear amazing shops skims cotton and get underwear for your boys and all of my favorite pieces at skims.com after you place your order be sure to let them know we sent you select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows again guys just hop on skims shop around it's quality pieces and then after you check out don't forget to let them know that we sent you so the bullet wounds match that caliber of gun and lieutenant black has also been speaking to the family a little bit more just trying to learn more about michaela in the last you know five-ish days and the family have all kind of told her a lot of what frank has been saying to the police when like the family learns what he's been saying seems like a lie turns out according to her family there was no open relationship between frank and michaela Michaela, they think, never would have agreed to do something like that, especially because they said it was actually Frank's affairs that led to this break or separation in the first place. In fact, Michaela had already spoken to Frank about getting divorced, according to her family. She didn't want to stay with him and keep their arrangement flexible. She wanted out. And the one thing that kept her on the same property as Frank were his daughters, who she loved and cared for. And also, this infidelity was nothing new, by the way. Michaela had learned that Frank started cheating on her almost right after they moved in together. Whenever he would go out of town for work, he would fire up the old dating apps and meet some locals. So about three months before her death, according to her family, Michaela finally packed a bag and went to her sister's house for a week. But she felt she needed to go back to the house eventually for Frank's girls. And that's when she decided to move to the shed. So she could still be a part of the family, maybe see if they could, like, work on things after this week break. But according to her, Frank kept cheating. And then about two days before Michaela went missing, she confronted Frank. You know, it's kind of funny the amount of people who will be like, oh, yeah, we're in an open relationship. And then you learn more about it. And it's like, no. Yeah. No, we know we never were in an open relationship. Yeah. Anyways. Now, she actually recorded their conversation. And so we have like actual quotes of this. She said, I've never once been dead set for divorce until today. I'm just saying that you have officially lost me. I'm stating to you right now that you have officially broke the last string that was holding me to you. And you have nobody to blame but yourself for doing it. And then by the weekend, Michaela was dead. That's insane, dude. What an absolute monster. Which sounds a lot different than we had an open relationship. It's just such an ego. It's just. If I can. I can't have you no one can. Yeah, I hate that. I hate when that happens. Now, you know what? That's freaking annoying. Frank didn't miss a beat. He texted one of the women he was talking to almost immediately after Michaela went missing. He even sent a picture to a woman in his tux saying this is one that he had gotten for Michaela's funeral. Keep in mind, this was like before her body was found. So this gets Lieutenant Black and her colleagues wondering, what was the relationship really like with this woman that he's talking to? This is his ex-girlfriend. If you remember, this is the one he said was abusive toward him and his younger girls. The one he told Michaela he needed to escape from when they first got together. And that was like part of the reason he moved in so fast. They look her up. Her name is Crystal. And the more she talks to police, the more they realize, wow, Frank is a pretty manipulative guy. Because Crystal said Frank was abusive towards her. Not the other way around. She said one time she woke up from a deep sleep to find Frank standing over her with handcuffs. There was another time when he was choking her in her sleep. And he controlled her every move. Tried to cut her off from her own friends and family. It was just kind of textbook behavior. Now, shockingly, she said early on in their relationship, he used the same woe is me story to get her in his clutches. He told Crystal the woman he was currently seeing was abusing him. And his daughters. And he needed to get out for safety. Apparently, this is like his pattern. She never reported the incident. But she was able to walk away from the situation with her life. But Michaela never seemed to tell anyone her full experience either. Her mother, Barbara, really appeared to beat herself up over this. She admitted there were times when she did see bruises on Michaela. Or maybe since there was some manipulation happening in the marriage that was kind of toxic. But Michaela never admitted to it. And she would just say things. Like she was roughhousing with the kids. It wasn't until later, looking back on the situation, she's now dead. That her family was like, maybe there's more to the story here. But now that the entire town knew the unspoken truth. That Frank Byers was basically suspect number one. Everyone was turning against him. When Michaela's school that she worked for held a vigil for her. Frank was banned from attending. People even blocked his view with their trucks to make sure he couldn't like view. From afar. But Frank couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut about this case. He kept going on social media, defending himself, insisting he was innocent. Truth would reveal itself in time. He went on the local news at one point and said this, quote. Even today, I called her. I mean, I know she's not here. But it's just the fact that I have her number still in her phone, still on somewheres. And it's just. It would have been nice to hear her voice. He's just like, he thinks a call. What a weird guy. The most sacrificial thing a man can do for a woman is call her phone. Okay. So he says it's just, it would have been nice to hear her voice. So as you can imagine, there were a lot of people close to the case who were getting frustrated with the lack of progress. They're like, hey, everyone knows who did it. Like everyone knows he's out here living his life. I mean, actually, yeah. I mean, if the bullet matches the gun. Like what else or matches what else to. I mean, okay. So to be fair, Lieutenant Black was annoyed by this, too. The problem was, even though everyone felt like Frank was guilty, they just didn't feel like they had enough to make an arrest. I mean, it's not even a match. It's a match of the like the correct. Yeah. You know, so that was just a bullet. Right. Yeah. That wasn't until detectives uncovered something inside Frank and Michaela's home while executing a search warrant that October. So the first thing they find was something. Security footage that was also saved on an app on Frank's phone. Now, police think Frank tried to delete the footage, but didn't realize that he was unsuccessful because on that tape, you can see Michaela coming home from work that last day, Friday, September 15th. That's so sad. You know, around her usual time, she comes through the front door. She stays for 14 minutes. During this, it looks like she and Frank are arguing. And then Michaela leaves and Frank is seen standing at the door like he's going to follow. Now, the police think this wasn't the moment Michaela got in the car on a date with another man. Instead, they believe Frank actually followed her out back to the shed where she was staying. So she didn't even go on a date. And then killed her. She went out back to the shed. He followed her and killed her in her shed in cold blood. Now, from there, the evidence kept mounting because police discovered that Michaela's cell phone, the missing cell phone that he keeps calling, was actually in the car. It was actually still inside the family home, hidden in a drawer. You've got to be, you're lying. Also, the SIM card had been removed. This random man who took her on a date broke back into the home, removed the SIM card. Honestly, it just goes to show how dumb this guy is. Also, it's an absolute just idiot. What an idiot. What an idiot. So the SIM card was removed and put into a different phone. And the reason for this was you could then get into it. Without a passcode. Yeah. Then he was using it to fake the conversation he allegedly had with Michaela the night she disappeared when she went on her date. Got it. The one where she messaged him saying, I'm fine, back off. By the way, around the same time, might I add, that these texts were coming in from the phone that's in a different SIM. From the SIM card that's now in a different phone in the house. Frank was texting another woman with his own phone saying, quote, I'm not. I'm not getting back with Michaela. I'm willing to do anything and everything I possibly can to make sure you are secure in this. He's sending a text to a woman. After he just killed his wife. While faking these messages. Yeah. But there's more. We have a Walmart receipt that is found from a purchase made the day Michaela went missing. A mop, bleach, ammonia, everything you would need to clean up a crime scene. And Frank was caught on security footage at the Walmart making this purchase. And then you have the carpet. The one Michaela's body was found in. You can always kind of Walmart for security footage. The police ask around about this carpet. A neighbor comes forward. They say that's the same one I gave to Michaela and Frank for their dogs eight or nine months ago. So we know it was in their property. But let's talk about the bullet. The one that grazed Michaela's head. That was actually found in the wall of the shed Michaela was staying in still wrapped in her hair. Which basically. Confirms that the shooting happened and they're not on a date with a random guy. They weren't able to get DNA confirmation on the hair. But they did find their smoking gun somewhere else. Frank's work boots had been collected as evidence the night he filed the missing persons report. Initially, they spotted something on them they believe could be blood. But they also knew that Frank worked with chemicals. 38 days after Michaela was last seen alive. Police got results back. The substance on the. Boots was blood and it was Michaela's DNA on October 24th, 2023 39 days after Michaela was last seen a SWAT team surrounded Frank's home. He was placed under arrest and later charged with first degree murder, unauthorized removal of a dead body and desecration of a human corpse. The district attorney really wanted the death penalty for Frank. But the defense proposed a deal plead guilty and serve life without parole instead. And that is what. 34-year-old Frank did on January 31st. first 2025 he pleaded guilty to his crimes but michaela's family was far from satisfied with this outcome her mother barbara said she thought the deal was a total cop-out and justice hadn't been served because she and others think frank didn't do this alone barbara does not believe that frank had the strength to move the body into his truck by himself in fact she's going to go to her grave saying there was an accomplice i mean i don't i don't doubt that at all and as for lieutenant black she's not ruling it out either she's like yes moving this body would have been pretty tough but people do pretty incredible things when they're scared and they have adrenaline yeah that's true too but if there's one thing we've learned from this story it's that barbara's instincts have been right before so they could be right about this too if you have any tips or information regarding michaela's case you can contact the sheriff's office at 405-9000 273-1727 and in the meantime barbara's chosen to reframe the way michaela's remembered she has since started a foundation in her daughter's name called michaela's purple butterfly to help people get out of situations with intimate partner abuse and if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence you can contact the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and that is the story of michaela mayve once again i feel like this just happened last week you never know somebody like the fact that you can be married to someone who will kill someone and like be texting a woman at the sorry not kill someone kill you it's the weirdest cognitive dissonance do people really not show signs or is it just that i don't know i mean he seemed to kind of have a pattern with this yeah behavior that's horrible horrible all right you guys thank you for listening and i'll see you in the next one bye bye to this week's episode or watching and we will see you next time with another one i love it and i hate it goodbye tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college that's why she shops at bj's wholesale club saving up to 25 off grocery store prices beef jerky microwave meals laundry pods even they can't screw up have you met my kids and with bj's gas she gets there for less they call me the road warrior this is your home road warrior mom home of the save join for just twenty dollars at bjs.com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months open soon limited time offer new members only bj's home of the save