From outward appearances, it seemed that in July 1990 Beverly Ann McGowan had the world by the tail. The likeable 34-year-old from Pompano Beach, Florida had moved into a modest condominium the previous September with her two cats. She was gainfully employed in the loan department at the nearby Lauderdale Lakes branch of the Glendale Federal Bank. She was known to friends and neighbors as a private person who enjoyed a simple lifestyle. But Beverly was lonely. She had never married and, although she had known several boyfriends through the years, it was common knowledge that she had experimented with dating women as well.

In early July, she placed an ad in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel seeking a roommate. It read:

“POMP SE - Share 2/2 condo, female 34 plus two cats. $290 plus half utilities.”

Beverly screened a few prospective tenants with no luck. Then on Saturday, July 14, she met a woman named Alice, an IBM employee who said she was being transferred from England to Fort Lauderdale. Beverly took an immediate liking to Alice who was attractive, drove a nice car, and appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. Alice was outgoing and had a penchant for fine clothes and numerology: the occult art of using important numbers to predict the future. In fact, although she was known as a cautious individual and something of a loner, Alice soon convinced Beverly to hand over vital personal information such as her driver’s license number and credit cards. She ostensibly wanted this data to provide Beverly with a numerology “reading” and informed her (to her apparent delight) that she would somehow come into money and marry at age 40.

Around the time that Beverly met the charismatic Alice, she received a phone call from her brother Steve. He wondered if she could take the time to get together with him and a friend who was visiting from out of town. Beverly told Steve about Alice and said she would be unable to attend. Steve may have been somewhat surprised but was certainly not alarmed by this news. Instead, he hoped it would turn out to be a positive development in his sister’s life. He did, however, make a mental note to investigate this new tenant at the earliest opportunity.

In the meantime, Beverly was clearly delighted with her new friend and, in the next few days, happily told anyone who would listen that Alice would be moving in with her soon. She reported for work on Tuesday, the 17th and seemed to be in very good spirits. That evening, she made a routine phone call to a friend. Tragically, it would be the last time anyone would ever hear from Beverly McGowan again.

On Wednesday, July 18th, someone using the name Beverly McGowan called the Glendale Bank to take a sick day. On Thursday, the 19th, Steve was shocked to receive a good-bye letter from Beverly. Others, including a sister and the Glendale Bank, were to receive similar letters in the days that followed. In the letter, she spoke of being dissatisfied with her life and of a desire to travel. It read in part:

I just want to say goodbye to you and the kids (Steve’s children) and let you know that what I’m doing is the right thing. This is what I need at this point in my life, so don’t worry. When I come back, I’ll be a much better and happier person.

Goodbye
Bev

On reading the letter, Steve became alarmed. Beverly had written many letters to him in the past, but never before had she used the word “goodbye”. He immediately tried to phone his sister and when she didn’t answer, he drove to her condo. Beverly was indeed gone and Steve noticed that her cats and other items such as an answering machine and gun were missing as well. He was certain that something was terribly wrong in his sister’s life. Faced with the reality of the situation, Steve made a decision. He placed a phone call and canceled Beverly’s credit cards, reasoning that she would be unable to travel without them. Maybe then she would return home and he could talk to her and help her work through whatever was troubling her.

Next: Chapter 2-The Murder

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