By David Lohr
November 29, 2007
BETHANY, OK (Crime Library) — Police are searching for 20-year-old Lauren Barnes, a young pregnant woman who disappeared late last week and is believed to be the victim of a homicide. The primary suspect in the case is 20-year-old Eric Phan, a man who is believed to be the father of Lauren's unborn child.
On Friday, Lauren told her mother, Kathy McDaniel, that she was going to meet Phan at a local park. When Lauren failed to return home that night, her mother filed a missing persons report with the Bethany Police Department. According to Kathy, it was unlike her daughter to not answer her cell phone or make contact with her for such a length of time.
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| Lauren Barnes |
According to police, Lauren, who is five months pregnant, was not carrying her checkbook or her prescription blood thinner medication. A bank debit card, which she is believed to have had with her when she left, has not been used since her disappearance.
Concern turned to worry on Sunday, when investigators found Lauren's locked car abandoned at Eldon Lyon Park, a 60-acre community recreation area located at 7400 NW 36th St. in Bethany. Police impounded the vehicle and searched it for forensic evidence, but found no sign of a struggle.
The following day, Lauren failed to show up for her housekeeping job at an Oklahoma City apartment building, something that friends say is completely out of character for her.
Investigators thought they got their first break in the case Tuesday, when a youth group found the body of a woman near Lake Overholser, a few miles from the park where Lauren's car was found. However, according to Sgt. Paco Balderrama, the body was not Lauren's, and has since been identified as that of 48-year-old Denise F. Stice, a civil employee at Tinker Air Force Base, who was reported missing shortly after the discovery. The state medical examiner has ruled Denise's death a homicide, stating that her death was caused by a single gunshot wound to the head. As of this writing, police have no suspects in her murder.
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