Chris Roark, croark@cherryroad.com

It’s been 30 years since a Waxahachie woman left her home to go see a friend, never to be heard from again.

And after three decades, Waxahachie police haven’t given up trying to find answers.

Patricia Becks, who was 27 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen around 10 p.m. July 28, 1994. Authorities say she had just left her home and was walking near the railroad tracks on N. Aikin Street when she disappeared. Police said she was still wearing her Golden Corral uniform.

Over the years police have investigated numerous leads only to come up short on finding out what happened to her.

Last month WPD thought they might finally have a break in the case when a tip they received a year ago led them to an empty field where her body was supposedly buried. But so far, that tip hasn’t gone anywhere either.

Possible answer

On Oct. 25, WPD and members of the University of North Texas Anthropology Department converged on a 5-acre field near Lee Penn Park to search an area they believed Becks’ remains may be buried. Lt. Oliver of the WPD said the case is classified as a missing person case, though police are treating it as a homicide.

Oliver said an inmate told police in October of 2023 that Becks was murdered on the trail that runs alongside the railroad tracks on the north side of the field and that her body was buried in the field.

Oliver said it is believed the body would have been buried on the north side of the field since it’s unlikely the killer would have dragged the body very far.

Oliver said the tipster had details about the site that made the tip sound credible.

“He was talking about how at the time of the disappearance that that area was filled with fill dirt,” Oliver said.

Sgt. Derek McKie, who is leading this investigation, said police were able to confirm that during the time of Becks’ disappearance the city was building roads in the area and had reached an agreement with the property owner to dump fill dirt in the field, which corroborated the inmate’s story.

That sent a search team to the field on Dec. 14, 2023. The group included a cadaver dog organization from Arizona that happened to be passing through Texas, and they volunteered their time. It also included a ground penetrating radar team, Wood Inspection Services from Double Oak.

The dogs searched approximately 2 acres on the north and west sides of the field. After several hours of searching one of the dogs picked up an area of interest near a woodpile. Then a second dog noticed something, too.

Police called the city’s streets department to bring in machinery to remove the pile of wood after getting permission from the property owner.

Later, ground penetrating radar devices were used to look for areas of inconsistency in the ground, possibly indicating something had been buried. The devices picked up abnormalities near the same areas the dogs noticed a scent.

Police then conducted further investigation to determine the credibility of the leads, interviewing two persons of interest.  

Once authorities believed the information they had seemed credible the anthropology team began to dig in the field in the early morning of Oct. 25.

The team dug an area approximately 25 feet by 50 feet and 2 feet down. But soon after starting they realized there was nothing there.

“We were expecting to dig down 5 feet or so,” Oliver said. “What we found was there was about 18 inches under the soil where we hit solid rock and couldn’t go any deeper.”

For now, it’s a dead end. But Oliver said the most recent search could still spark future leads.

“Even though we didn’t find anything today, already we’ve gotten calls into the police department with a tip saying, ‘Hey, this is what I heard,’” Oliver said. “If we can drum up interest in the case and if people hear about what happened to Patricia or where she might be or if they can point us in the right direction, we want to hear from those citizens.”

Police said the Becks case has never fallen off WPD’s radar and that every few years a tip will come in that detectives will pursue.

McKie said in the late 1990s, for example, police received information that Becks’ body was placed in a well.

“The police department at that time investigated that,” McKie said. “They found a well and searched that well and determined she was not there. Just like then, if we get a lead we’re going to follow it until we no longer have that lead or if we develop anything else.”

McKie said there have been several rumors about who is responsible.

“We have yet to be able to corroborate any of that,” McKie said, adding that previous suspects, who have denied involvement, have been interviewed.

Anyone with information that leads to a conclusion can receive a reward through Crime Stoppers of Ellis County at crimestoppersofelliscounty.org. They can also provide information to the Waxahachie Police Department by calling 469-309-4400.

“The police department is still dedicated and interested in finding out what happened to Patricia Becks,” Oliver said. “That’s something we’re going to investigate. We owe that to the community, and we owe that to her family.”