Brittany Tavar was identified for her beneficiant spirit — however that compassion could have value the 45-year-old her life.
Tavar mysteriously disappeared in July 2010 from her St. Augustine, Florida home, the similar day she was anticipated in courtroom, the place she had hoped to convey expenses towards a buddy turned enemy.
Tavar by no means confirmed up, regardless of what a few of her associates described as an obsession with submitting a restraining order towards neighbor Anne Lydon, a lady who, she instructed others, she believed would possibly kill her.
Those who knew Tavar initially believed it was attainable the lovely free spirit could have simply determined to take off on a brand new journey.
She was identified by her family and friends as somebody who went to the beat of her personal drummer and was consistently reinventing herself — whether or not it was making an attempt her hand at being an actress in Hollywood earlier in life or promoting real-estate in Florida.
“She wanted certain things in her life and she just thought if she believed in herself and she went out and tried, you know, she would get those things,” her sister Pat Bellamah instructed “Dateline: Secrets Uncovered,” airing Wednesdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.
With the assist of some household cash, Tavar appeared to have settled in St. Augustine, the place she was a daily at the oceanside Serenata Beach Club.
There Tavar had discovered an in depth group of associates, who had been more and more involved when she instantly vanished.
“I called a few times and I didn’t hear anything and then Thursday came and I called Thursday and I knew. I knew Thursday that something happened,” her shut buddy Brenda recalled.
Brenda known as Tavar’s household, who had been unfold out throughout the United States. They requested her to go to the home to examine on the 45-year-old, however when Brenda did as they requested, nobody got here to the door and there have been no outward indicators of bother.
Pat Bellamah consulted with a police officer buddy, who instructed her to name a locksmith to assist Tavar’s associates get into the home. Once inside, Tavar’s associates observed that her two beloved canine had been additionally lacking, though Tavar had seemingly left behind her cats.
“My sister loved her cats very, very much and she would never just go away on a trip and leave them to fend for themselves,” her brother Andrew Bellamah stated.
Initially, legislation enforcement officers didn’t really feel there was sufficient proof to recommend Tavar had met with foul play, so her household employed a personal investigator, who made a chilling discovery.
Her two beloved canine had been discovered roaming the streets individually, with out collars, in the streets of Columbia, South Carolina.
It was sufficient to present Augustine police possible trigger they usually started to research the mysterious disappearance.
Investigators regarded into Lydon, that buddy turned foe who Tavar had been anticipated to satisfy in courtroom that morning.
The two neighbors had initially been pleasant, however the relationship soured after Tavar started courting one in every of Lydon’s associates and the romance finally ended.
Lydon and her husband had gone with the man to assist him get his stuff from Tavar’s house. But Tavar had been livid and requested them to not come into her home. They went inside and finally Tavar hit Lydon in the head with a wine bottle.
“She was sitting on top of me, strangling me,” Lydon remembered.
Tavar, who claimed Lydon had began the assault first, was arrested for battery. She was sentenced to probation, anger administration programs, group service and a 1-year order to keep away from Lydon.
But the battle would solely escalate after Lydon and her husband joined Tavar’s beloved seaside membership.
“I felt so bad for her because that was a place that she really, really got peace and she was able to socialize with people and enjoy herself there and then all of a sudden here they show up in the hot tub all the time,” her buddy Joanna instructed “Dateline” correspondent Keith Morrison.
Tavar grew to become obsessed, accused Lydon of keying her automobile and commenced carrying a video digicam in an try to attempt to doc any harassment. After Lydon knocked the digicam into the pool, Tavar felt she had sufficient proof to get a restraining order towards Lydon and had been slated to look in courtroom the morning she disappeared.
“She was just very, very afraid of this Anne,” her sister recalled.
Despite the unhealthy blood between the two girls, Lydon insisted she didn’t know what occurred to Tavar.
While investigating her disappearance, Tavar’s household had additionally found one other disturbing secret. Tavar, who had been identified for her generosity and kindness to each pets and other people, typically lent her spare bed room to folks down on their luck.
“We didn’t know that over the years, eight different homeless people lived in her spare room,” Pat recalled. “She usually had some kind of arrangement with these fellows that they would help her with stuff, like the first guy would do the yard work. I mean, she would never tell us that because of course we would say ‘bad idea.’”
At the time of her disappearance, Tavar had invited a younger man named Joe Roberts to remain in her house after assembly him at an area Barnes & Noble. In trade for a free room, Roberts had agreed to assist Tavar do some pc work for a brand new enterprise enterprise she hoped to begin and was even planning to assist her create a DVD of her video footage to convey to courtroom in the allegations towards Lydon.
“He seemed like he could be my brother, my younger brother,” Brenda stated after assembly Roberts at the seaside membership. “He just seemed like such a nice guy.”
But others who knew Roberts stated he wasn’t the good man he initially gave the impression to be.
After working collectively at an area comfort retailer, Cheryl Davenport — a single mom — had invited Roberts to remain at her home, however she quickly started to suspect he was utilizing medication and he confided in her that he left house as a result of he had been working some kind of bank card rip-off and didn’t need to get caught.
Davenport finally requested him to go away earlier than Roberts discovered Tavar.
Investigators quickly found that when Tavar disappeared, Roberts had vanished as nicely. They had been initially capable of monitor exercise on Tavar’s bank card displaying somebody had seemingly moved West and realized that Roberts had been pulled over for dashing in her Rav4 whereas touring by means of Wyoming.
But then the path vanished, till Roberts was arrested in Seattle, Washington for making an attempt to steal lunch meat.
After he was taken into custody, Roberts confessed to killing Tavar after she had angrily woken him up on the morning of her courtroom look as a result of he didn’t correctly make the DVD she hoped to make use of in courtroom.
In anger, Roberts stated he grabbed a hammer and beat her to loss of life. After dismissing his preliminary plan to cover the physique in the attic, he in the end took her canine to attempt to purchase himself a while and make it appear to be she had simply gone out of city after which threw her physique into the woods. He later offered the location of her physique to authorities.
“One of the most terrible things would be to know that someone you loved died in fear, you know, died in a moment of terror and pain and that was a very, very hard thing for me to accept,” Pat stated. “It just was, even today, it just was chilling for me to think about that.”
Roberts pleaded responsible to second-degree homicide in 2014 and was sentenced to 30 years behind bars.
