The Tragic Life & Disappearance of Brittney Beers

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11th April 2018  •  6 min read

Britney Beers, 6, disappeared while sitting on a bench in front of the apartment where she lived in Sturgis, Michigan, in 1997. A history of sexual abuse and neglect was then uncovered. She hasn't been seen since.


The Tragic Life & Disappearance of Brittney Beers

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6-year-old Brittney Beers lived with her mother, Tina Stetler and her uncle, James Allen Beers, in Village Manor Apartments in Sturgis, Michigan. She attended Fawn River School and loved art and playing outside. One picture that made her particularly proud was an arrangement she had made from oak leaves pasted on paper. Her half-sister, 10-year-old Dixie, described her as being “very shy” and “so scared and skittish about talking to strangers.” Like Dixie, she was a tomboy and loved being outdoors.1

Dixie and Brittney were both daughters of Raymond Beers but lived with different mothers. While the sisters were close, they mostly saw each other at the Jerolene playground. “I was not allowed to visit Brittney’s house,” said Dixie. “It’s a complicated situation. Brittney’s mother lived with my dad’s brother.” Both families lived within a short distance of the playground and the sisters would meet there to play.

The Tragic Life & Disappearance of Brittney Beers
Brittney Beers.

On the evening of the 16th of September, 1997, Brittney was playing outside the apartment. She was wearing a white tank top with a floral print, pink tie-dye shorts and white sneakers. At around 8:30PM, her mother went to run errands, leaving Brittney playing alone on her bicycle outside. Just 5 minutes later, a passerby spotted Brittney sitting on a bench out the front of the apartments as he walked to the Burger Dairy store nearby. She appeared to be speaking to a man sitting in a red or brown car.

This was the last time anybody ever saw Brittney. She was reported missing later that night at 10:30PM.

A search party was assembled and they assisted police in the foot by foot search of the area surrounding Brittney’s apartment. Sturgis public Safety Director, Geoff Smith, was one of the first officers to respond to the missing child report and remembers the night extremely vividly. “That first night was about 20 hours long. We slept for about four hours and we were back at it. It felt like that for a couple of weeks,” he recalled.2 A bloodhound was able to track Brittney’s scent to the parking lot of a nearby convenience store frequently used by interstate truckers but the scent stopped here.3

At one point in the investigation, they focused on a 40-acre area where Brittney was known to play that included open fields, railroad tracks and storage buildings. No matter where investigators and volunteers alike searched, there was absolutely no sign of Brittney. Early on in the investigation, authorities speculated that it’s more and more likely that Brittney was abducted rather than she ran away.  “There’s certainly a potential for an abduction,” said agent Chuck Goodwin. “It’s pretty reasonable to think that there’s obviously something more than her just having wandered off or run away…”4

Rumours about the family started to circulate through the streets and neighbours spoke of neglect and abuse in the household. Several people noted that Brittney was often spotted playing outside on her own and once told a neighbour that her mother would lock her out of the house if she was bad. A neighbour, Gale Ashbrook, often saw Brittney playing alone in a sandbox near her own apartment. She would tell Brittney to go home because the sandbox was quite far from where she lived and she shouldn’t have been out there alone. In fact, just days after Brittney disappeared, James Allen Beers was arrested on unrelated domestic violence charges. He was accused of striking Stetler with a bottle.

The last ever photograph of Brittney was taken by a babysitter on Children’s Day at the St. Joseph County Grange Fair. It was taken just the day before she disappeared. There was a stark change in Brittney’s appearance: her hair had all been chopped off. “Uncle James chopped her hair because he said she wasn’t taking care of it,” said Dixie.

Then in January of 1998, Brittney’s 13-year-old brother, Joshua Lee Folsom, and her 3-year-old sister, Autumn Stetler, were removed from the home due to alleged abuse by James Allen Beers. Stetler had been urged to leave James due to the abuse but when she refused, her children were taken from her care. Following their removal, Stetler had dispositional hearings where she was ordered to find a job, maintain a residence stable and suitable enough for her children and most importantly, stay away from James. “I’m not going to return the children to her with James Beers around, knowing her son is afraid of him, knowing what he’s done to other children,” said St. Joseph County Family Court Judge Thomas Shumaker.5

The Tragic Life & Disappearance of Brittney Beers
An age progression image of Brittney.

 

The court records also showed allegations of child abuse from Kevin Folsom, the father of Joshua. Folsom was convicted on a charge of criminal sexual conduct and had been in prison since 1996. And who was Folsom’s victim? Brittney. At just 3-years-old, Brittney was sexually abused by him. Her abuse came to light when she refused to let her babysitter bathe her one evening. When the babysitter questioned her, Brittney told her that Folsom had been molesting her. In an August 1995 interview, Folsom told police that he had become aroused while bathing the toddler and started to touch her.6

To say that Brittney didn’t have a picturesque childhood would be an understatement.

Autumn’s father was Lonnie Garvie, a cook at Herrmann’s East Side Food Shop. Unfortunately he passed away in 1996 but those who knew him said he was a good father and would often be seen feeding Brittney and  her siblings in the restaurant. Maybe he was the stability that the family desperately needed. “I think someone took her to give her a better home,” theorised a waitress at the restaurant where he worked.7

The following year, Stetler had a termination petition hearing in which she volunteered to give up her parental rights. She admitted that she just didn’t have accomodation or finance to take care of her two remaining children. Brittney had been removed from the petition as she still remained missing. “If she is found, a separate petition will be formed for that case,” said Probate Court Judge Thomas Shumaker.8 Tina asked that her father be granted custody of Joshua while a brother and sister-in-law be granted custody of Autumn.

Over the forthcoming years, police investigated over a thousand leads. Age progression images of Brittney were released every once in a while in the hopes that somebody somewhere knew something and would come forward. Moreover, missing person posters with Brittney’s face on the front were plastered to the back of 500 Zeller Bach Trucking semi trailers while another 200 were displayed on NASCAR and Hot Rod Association vehicles.

In 2000, investigators chased a lead that came in from Detroit. Over 2,000 pornographic images were discovered on a computer in the St. Clair Shores home of Russell Tombs, 41. In more than a dozen of these photographs was an unidentified girl who appeared to be 4 to 6-years-old. The photos illustrated the young girl crying, being raped by an older man and tied up in a laundry room and in a bedroom. “We think this pornography was made domestically in the United States,” said Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga. “Most child pornography comes from Europe, and this looks different – the furnishings, the appearance of the place.” St. Clair Shores police released a photograph in the media of the little girl in the hopes that somebody could identify her. They shortly received a phone call from the Sturgis Police Department who considered that the girl in the photographs could have been Brittney.

The following week, however, they determined that it wasn’t her. The girl in the photographs was later tracked down in Texas and testified against her parents who were convicted of charges related to child pornography.

One of the suspects in the case was Daniel Kevin Furlong who was convicted of the 2007 murder of 11-year-old Jodi Parrack. He was arrested after he attempted to restrain a 10-year-old girl from White Pigeon with electrical cords and threatened her with a knife in his garage. Thankfully she managed to escape but after this arrest, DNA in his car linked him to the murder of Jodi. “We believe Furlong was in the area at the time, but nothing right now points to him in the Beers case other than the fact he’s being charged in the murder of another young girl,” said Sturgis public Safety Director, Geoff Smith.9 Furlong was extensively investigated as a suspect but Smith declared “he couldn’t tell me the truth about anything,” adding that “I can’t eliminate him, but can’t make him a person of interest. I just can’t believe anything he says.” He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for the murder of Jodi.

The Tragic Life & Disappearance of Brittney Beers
Daniel Kevin Furlong.

Every year, to mark Brittney’s disappearance, a group of people would gather at the Village Manor Apartments where Brittney was last spotted. The bench where she was last seen is now long gone but the memories still remain. Ruth Ann Beers and her husband, James, who lived in Corpus Cristi, Texas, made the trip most years to commemorate Brittney. They are Brittney’s grandparents. Brittney’s own mother attended just one vigil.

Eventually, the case started to go cold and Sturgis police now receive little to no tips in the case. Nevertheless, they continue to examine whatever leads trickle in and continue to re-examine old information in the hopes that one day, they could get a break in the case.  As of today, Brittney Beers still remains missing.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Brittney Beers, please call Surgis police at: 651-3231.

 

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Footnotes:

  1. Sturgis Journal, 14 September, 2007 – “Without a Trace”
  2. Sturgis Journal, 16 September, 2017 – “Case of Missing Sturgis Girl Remains Unsolved”
  3. The Herald-Palladium, 17 November, 1997 – “Missing Girl’s Mom Deals with Loss”
  4. Battle Creek Enquirer, 21 September, 1997 – “No Clues Found in Search for Girl”
  5. News-Press, 6 September, 1998 – “Woman Still Seeing Man Deemed a Risk to her Children”
  6. South Bend Tribune, 13 February, 1998 – “Child Abuser Tells What Led Him Astray
  7. South Bend Tribune, 4 February. 1998 – “Court to Rule on Fate of Missing Child’s siblings”
  8. Sturgis  Journal, 21 August, 1999 – “missing Girl’s Mother Gives Up Parental Rights”
  9. Sturgs Journal, 17 September, 2015 – “Police: Beers Reward May Not be Valid”

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Anna
Anna
6 years ago

Oh my god this is so heartbreaking. That poor little girl had such a crap life. Her mother and all those sick men should be ashamed. I hope someone stole her to give her a better life….

Kristy
Kristy
6 years ago
Reply to  Anna

Im from there and helped look for her still to this day shes not forgotten

Ally
Ally
6 years ago

This is so sad. For such a young girl to live such a traumatic and painful life and to then just disappear is hard to even think about. I hope she is alive and well and that somebody abducted her because they knew her life was so awful and wanted to provide a good life for her… Hopeful thinking I know but it could be true.

Sheila Beers
Sheila Beers
6 years ago

What was wrong with the brother that he did not intervene when he saw her talking to a strange man in a red or brown car? The brother should have insisted that Brittany go to the store with him, and he should have reported the man and the car to the police. Also, why did the mother leave the child alone outside while she left to do errands? It does not take much to look beneath the surface and see the carelessness and stupidity behind a lot of these “missing persons” cases. It is beyond tragic for the child, but… Read more »

Anonymous
Anonymous
6 years ago
Reply to  Sheila Beers

The son was to young to have any blame put on him. Im feim Sturgis, where this happened, and i know the family well. Its known, by rumor, that the uncle killed her but it cant be proven.

Orla Nickell
Orla Nickell
9 months ago
Reply to  Anonymous

I’ve always felt he did. I’ve had dreams where she’s buried in a corn field but where? I saw her and a little boy out in front on the bench the day she disappeared.

Dixie Beers
Dixie Beers
6 years ago
Reply to  Sheila Beers

Not all this is true! and how can you put this on another child how dare you! There mom was worthless and gave no guidance. it wasn’t Josh who saw her talking to him it was a witness. What you Dont know is that dogs searched for Brittney and her sent lead to the middle of a truck stop parking lot on the same side of the street where she lives. There is so much more to the story than this article believe me I lived it if anyone is to blame it is her worthless mother and our neglectful… Read more »

Kimberley
Kimberley
6 years ago
Reply to  Dixie Beers

You’re absolutely correct!!

Phillip
Phillip
6 years ago
Reply to  Dixie Beers

Do people think the uncle was involved and maybe there’s just not enough evidence to charge him? I am sorry for your loss. As a father, this article made me tear up. She seemed like a great kid thag just wasn’t given a chance in life due to negligence.

Deb C
Deb C
6 years ago
Reply to  Dixie Beers

Dixie Beers
Brittany went to head start with my youngest son. I’m sorry you had to live thru this. So very sad! It is true the public only knows what they read. And then some either don’t read completely or misunderstand what was read. I do wish this could be solved and with a happy ending…
(((Hugs)))

Missy
Missy
4 years ago
Reply to  Dixie Beers

I’m not sure if you will ever see this Dixie Beers because I stumbled upon this a year after you wrote this. First of all, even if it had been your brother Josh who had seen her talking to a stranger in a car, it was most definitely NOT his job as a child to watch his sister, it was her mother’s responsibility to know where her 6 yr old was at ALL times!! Secondly, of course no one, regardless of how thorough they were when researching your sister’s story could possibly know more than you, who actually lived &… Read more »

Rae
Rae
3 years ago
Reply to  Dixie Beers

That’s right. You can’t blame a child for not doing what an adult should have done! The children are all victims here, as I’m sure Dixie would agree. Prayers for the children in this case, and Dixie you are a strong young woman. If only Brittany had a mother that cared for her perhaps she would still be here. Keep defending her and keep the hope alive. She is counting on all of us to find her.

Diane Baldwin
Diane Baldwin
6 years ago
Reply to  Sheila Beers

If u know her mother u would understand but her mother was on drugs and is a drink I myself think she traded the little girl off to her dealerssorry but that’s what I feel

Chihuahua
Chihuahua
5 years ago
Reply to  Sheila Beers

@Sheila Beers: You read that entire article and THAT is your response? What is wrong with you?Your ignorance and gall are beyond revolting. That child was as much a victim as his sister was, and is in no way responsible for what happened to her nor should he shoulder any kind of guilt or blame. The only people who should have their feet held to the fire here are the adults who should have been caring for her, the the adults who abused her, and the adults running a system that SHOULD have saved Brittney and her siblings from that… Read more »

Leeann
Leeann
5 years ago
Reply to  Sheila Beers

That’s not how this family “functioned”, this the reason a 6year old was left alone to be abducted. This little girl suffered so much at the hands of her “family”. The brother himself wouldn’t have known to protect her because no one ever protected any of them. This abduction changed my community forever. We have NEVER given up hope that she’ll be found.

David
David
2 years ago
Reply to  Sheila Beers

You must not have read the text, The brother did not walk by and see her talking to someone in a red car a lady who was walking by saw her talking to the guy in the red car.

Phillip
Phillip
6 years ago

This article is such a sad read. That little girl lived such a tragic life. To me, it seems as though the uncle was involved. Shame on the family members who let this little girl down.

Anna L Bender
Anna L Bender
3 years ago

I lived in that area at that time. I remember I didn’t let my youngest daughter play outside alone because she was the spitting image of brittany and I was afraid of a copycat crime. I still think dan furlong abducted her, I didn’t really know him but I went to school with his wife and he always seemed odd.

Elle Blair
Elle Blair
2 years ago

Wow what a rubbish wee life.

Also, what a messed up family tree.
So waste of space mum had Joshua with a man who ended up molesting Brittany, then got with Dixie’s dad Raymond to have Brittney, then moved on to a semi decent guy who is now dead to have autumn, and then got with Brittany and Dixie’s dad’s brother James who then beat her up??

Jesus Christ.

Zaidee
Zaidee
2 years ago

People shouldn’t treat kids like that. That is so heartbreaking, people don’t deserve this at all. I’m guessing most of us have run away at least once or tried to but if you think about there are people out there that like this type of stuff so stay safe, everybody. I hope that one day every missing child and adult are found, none go missing again, no more abuse nothing we need to stay safe everywhere we go.

Mel
Mel
2 years ago

Sorry to say but the poor girl has been dead since day one. No one took her to give her a better life.

tasha
tasha
10 months ago

one of those cases so many twists and turns ppl need to stop believing them tracking dogs that baby didn’t walk 15 mins away from home without somebody telling her to go home especially with the type of ppl in her life

Orla Nickell
Orla Nickell
9 months ago

My husband and I saw her with a little boy on the bench at the same time she disappeared. We went in the store and when we came out they were gone 🙁 I wish to God I’d stayed out longer and not gone in the store. I may have prevented this. It haunts me to this day

Erin
Erin
4 months ago
Reply to  Orla Nickell

It’s not your fault. Don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s no way you could have known. But you’re a good person for caring so much.

Kara
Kara
3 months ago

I just happened upon this article now, I’m glad this case is still getting coverage. I would like to add that the Sturgis MI police phone number is (269) 651-3231 as an area code was not added. There’s reason to suspect her abductor remained local as a memorial bench dedicated to her was burned down quite some time after her abduction.

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