Tracker Dakota Black

Summary

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48 Hours: Tracker Dakota Black

Episode Date: November 17, 2025
Host/Reporter: Peter Van Sant (CBS News)
Case: The disappearance and murder of Michaela Miyabe (Byers), investigation led by Detective Dakota Black.

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Main Theme

This episode of 48 Hours follows Detective Dakota Black as she tracks the disappearance and murder of Michaela Miyabe, a beloved teacher and foster mother in rural Oklahoma. Through in-depth interviews, emotional family accounts, and meticulous detective work, the podcast exposes the complexities of the investigation, the grief of a shattered family, and the relentless push for justice in the face of chilling domestic violence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Disappearance of Michaela Miyabe

• Scene Setting: The rural, serene beauty of Oklahoma masks "lots of dark secrets"—missing persons cases and unsolved homicides. (Detective Dakota Black, 00:31-01:53)
• Initial Alarm: Michaela doesn’t return home after a date; her husband, Frank Byers, calls her family in distress.
  • “He’s hysterical, crying, screaming, can barely understand what he’s saying. And he says Michaela didn’t come home last night.” (Andrea Meavi, 07:05)
• Family Mobilization: Andrea (Michaela’s sister) and loved ones begin independent searches, “out there for days,” (03:02), convinced something serious has happened.

2. Suspicion and Early Investigation

• Frank’s Story Unravels:
  • Frank claims Michaela left with a “bald man in a white truck” (Narrator, 07:05-09:19).
  • His lack of emotion and inconsistent story raises immediate doubts among deputies and family.
• Deputy’s Observations:
  • Frank provides info on Facebook messages allegedly from Michaela after her disappearance (09:06).
  • Frank shows reluctance to allow entry to Michaela’s living quarters; a shed-home is found locked (09:47).
  • Discovery of spent .22 caliber shells in Michaela’s space, with Frank providing dubious explanations (11:26).

3. Escalation: From Missing Person to Homicide

• Lead Detective Involved: Lt. Dakota Black is called in, her specialty is finding missing people, alive or dead.
  • “I was not going to stop until this case was solved.” (Detective Dakota Black, 03:54)
• Community Search: Local law enforcement and the community, mobilized through flyers and social media, search the freezing woods, but Frank is notably absent from these efforts (17:11, 17:20).

4. Profile of Michaela Miyabe

• A Life of Compassion:
  • Fostered and adopted children; worked as a teacher’s aide; deeply beloved by family, friends, and students (15:06).
  • “She always felt responsible... to help little innocent kids that needed adult help.” (Andrea Meavi, 16:29)

5. Mounting Suspicion on Frank Byers

• Frank’s Behavior: Lacked emotion, never participated in searches; focused more on appearances than substance (17:11-17:31).
• Family’s Certainty:
  • “We strongly suspected Frank.” (Frank Byers, 17:47)

6. Discovery of Michaela’s Body

• Premonitions and Search:
  • Michaela’s mother, Barbara, has a premonition: “I heard Mikayla tell me, mama, I’m in a tin horn.” (19:01)
• Grim Find:
  • Five days after disappearance, Michaela’s body is found in a drainage pipe, wrapped in carpet. “She had one sock on her foot that had teddy bears on it. And her shirt was actually pulled up over her face to cover it.” (Detective Dakota Black, 22:33)

7. Uncovering Frank’s Deceit and Past Abuse

• Open Marriage Claim Discredited:
  • “There was absolutely no possible way that Michaela would have ever done that.” (Detective Dakota Black, 25:25)
  • Investigation reveals Frank was the one cheating, with dozens of dating profiles and infidelity (26:02).
• Patterns of Abuse:
  • Interviews unveil similar manipulative and abusive behavior toward a previous girlfriend, Crystal Cantrell, who recounts a night Frank attempted to choke her (31:29-32:31).

8. Key Evidence and Forensic Breakthroughs

• Physical Evidence:
  • Security footage shows Frank buying bleach, ammonia, and a mop—the classic tools for “crime scene cleanup.” (Detective Dakota Black, 33:32-33:56)
  • The carpet used to wrap Michaela was traced back to Frank and his dogs.
• Technology and Alibis:
  • Frank staged Facebook messages using Michaela’s old phone, switching SIM cards to mimic her digital presence (36:00-37:00).
• Forensics:
  • "The substance on Frank's boots was blood. Michaela’s blood." (38:22)

9. Arrest and Justice

• Final Evidence and Arrest:
  • With physical evidence (blood on boots), police move in and arrest Frank Byers after 38 days (39:36-40:02).
  • “He thought he was smarter than everyone. But he was outsmarted, right?” “Yes. I think he was surprised.” (40:11-40:14)
• Legal Outcome:
  • Frank is charged with first-degree murder; later pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty, given life without parole (41:13-41:40).
  • Family expresses disappointment: “He got to choose what he got for punishment, too. And that’s not okay.” (Barbara, 41:40)

10. Lingering Questions and Advocacy

• Possible Accomplice?
  • Michaela’s mother is convinced Frank had help, though police note people in distress are capable of extraordinary acts (42:03-42:39).
• Michaela’s Legacy:
  • Family launches “McKayla’s Prison Purple Butterfly Foundation” to fight domestic violence (43:39).
  • “That was her goal. Her mission in life was when you see someone in need, help them.” (Andrea Meavi, 43:46)
  • Family, especially sister Andrea, shares memories and grief: “Even though she was the little sister, I still lay in bed and talk to her like she’s still right there…” (44:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Nature of Investigation:

  • “Sometimes it’s hard to not take cases personal. They tug at your heartstrings.”
    — Detective Dakota Black (02:15)

• Family’s Despair:

  • “I just knew that she was gone.”
    — Andrea Meavi (03:30)

• On Frank's Behavior:

  • “He never participated in a single search. He never volunteered to go out with any of the search parties.”
    — Detective Dakota Black (17:11)
  • “The lack of any human emotion. I mean, he did not seem scared. He just wanted to know what we knew.”
    — Frank Byers, family member/investigator (17:31)

• Detective’s Determination:

  • “I was not going to go home. I was not going to stop until this case was solved.”
    — Detective Dakota Black (03:54, repeated emphasis)
  • “It was tough mentally. I was drained… But I was not going to go home until this case was solved.”
    — Detective Dakota Black (30:12)

• On the Moment of Loss:

  • “My mom started to chase the van. I just followed it down the road just as fast as I could… my baby is in that van.”
    — Andrea Meavi (24:14)

• Familial Love and Grief:

  • “I sure miss her smile, her laugh. All that laugh was something else. She was my best friend.”
    — Andrea Meavi (44:01)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:31-01:53: Dakota Black introduces the gravity of missing persons cases in Oklahoma.
• 07:05: Frank Byers calls Andrea to report Michaela missing.
• 09:47-11:26: Deputy arrives, interacts with Frank, and investigates Michaela's living quarters.
• 17:11: Discussion of Frank's refusal to search for his wife.
• 19:01: Michaela’s mother describes her premonition about her daughter's location.
• 22:33: Discovery and condition of Michaela's body.
• 25:25: Detective Black debunks the “open marriage” narrative.
• 33:32-33:56: Bleach, ammonia, and mop purchased by Frank—interpreted as crime scene cleanup.
• 36:00-37:00: Discovery that Frank was using Michaela's old phone to send messages as her.
• 38:22: Positive match of Michaela’s blood on Frank’s boots.
• 39:36-40:02: SWAT team arrests Frank Byers.
• 41:13: Frank pleads guilty, receives life sentence.
• 43:39: Family channels grief into advocacy, founding a domestic violence prevention organization.

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Conclusion

This episode of 48 Hours expertly weaves together the personal and procedural—the heartbreak of Michaela's family, the unflagging dedication of law enforcement, and a stark exploration of domestic violence's often-hidden terror. Through Detective Dakota Black's eyes and Michaela’s family’s voices, listeners are brought into the core of a harrowing investigation, the ache of loss, and the fight for justice and change.

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If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

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Transcript

[Andrea Meavi]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Andrea Meavi]

There's something strange. She might be in there. She might be. She may not be alive. I was not looking for an individual that was breathing. I was looking for my daughter's body. And I don't know why.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Sometimes it's hard to not take cases personal. They tug at your heartstrings. And this one was one of those.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

What was it about this woman that fueled you this way?

[Detective Dakota Black]

Just who she was.

[Andrea Meavi]

My sister Michaela is the strongest person I know, has the biggest heart, is the most caring, wants to take care of everyone and put everyone before herself. I love you. I love you most. I love you more. Her main goal in life was to be around children, to help children, especially ones in need.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

Everybody that knew McKayla had nothing but love for her. We had a huge response from our community. Everybody really wanted her family.

[Andrea Meavi]

We just went out there looking for her. Didn't sleep for days, didn't eat for days, was raining cold. We were just out there for days.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Was there a part of you that say there's a chance we may not find her.

[Andrea Meavi]

Yes.

[Detective Dakota Black]

It seemed day after day the chances were getting more slim of finding her alive.

[Andrea Meavi]

I just knew that she was gone.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I can't imagine how scared she was. It's just sad. Sad that it ended the way it did. It didn't have to end this way. I was driven and I was not going to go home. I was not going to stop until this case was solved.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Andrea Meavi]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Andrea Meavi]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Andrea Meavi]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Andrea Meavi]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

They don't know what insurance is.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Peter Van Sant reports. Tracker Dakota Black the guys at the sheriff's office call her a cool dude with long hair because they say she's meaner than any of them in the gun range and in the field.

[Detective Dakota Black]

That fence that's hanging, I had to go underneath that into the water.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Her name is Lieutenant Dakota Black. She's a trained tracker and detective with the Potawatomi County Sheriff's Office in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I go out to scenes when there's manhunts or trying to locate individuals.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Her specialty is finding the missing, whether alive or dead.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I have found them underneath piles of leaves and trees, in abandoned homes, sheds. I found them pretty much in any area you can think of, often by.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Her side, her partner, Deputy Haven, a trained therapy dog for kids, and other family members. Caught in the crossfire of tragedy, Haven provides comfort and consolation, a consoling presence she herself would rely on in the coming months as she embarked on one of the most heart wrenching cases of her career.

[Detective Dakota Black]

This case will stay with me forever, and it will be one that I Always remember through my whole life because of how cruel it was.

[Andrea Meavi]

The last thing we said to each other was I Love you.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Friday, September 15, 2023 began like most days for Andrea Meavi with a 7am phone call from her best friend and younger sister.

[Andrea Meavi]

And I wish I would have known. I would have said so much more. I'm grateful for that. At least I said I love you.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The next morning, Saturday the 16th, the phone rang as usual around 7am Only this time it wasn't McKayla. It was Mikayla's husband, Frank Byers.

[Andrea Meavi]

He's hysterical, crying, screaming, can barely understand what he's saying. And he says Mikayla didn't come home last night. He ended up telling me that Mikayla went on a date the Friday night before with a bald man in a white truck. They left and she never came home last night.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

At the time, Michaela and Frank were headed for divorce, says Andrea. They were still living on the same 10 acre property in Macomb, Oklahoma, but in separate homes. So at first Andrea wasn't worried.

[Andrea Meavi]

My first thought is, she's single. I hope she had fun.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

But Andrea's mood began to shift when her many calls to Mikayla went to voicemail.

[Andrea Meavi]

By noon, I was worried. One o', clock, I was really worried.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Their mother, Barbara Harper, was also anxious. Michaela was supposed to help out at the family restaurant that afternoon, but she didn't show and hadn't called. Unheard of for McKayla.

[Andrea Meavi]

And the more I prayed about it, the more I realized that something serious had happened.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank also reported McKayla missing to the Potawatomi County Sheriff's Office that afternoon.

[Andrea Meavi]

My wife's been missing since late last night. She left at 5:30ish strap in California. And the last time that anyone has heard from her has been at 8pm and your name? My name is Frank Byers. D Y E R S what's her name? Her name is Michaela Byers.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The deputy on duty, Dustin Richardson, felt he needed to put eyes on the ground. He got to Macomb around 4pm, his body cam rolling.

[Andrea Meavi]

He'd given me the information over the phone, but I just wanted to see where she was coming from and see more of the details.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank made a point of showing the deputy the last Facebook message he said Michaela sent him after she left, assuring him she was, quote, fine and to back off.

[Andrea Meavi]

Did you see the guy at all?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Then he told him the story about Michaela driving off with a bald man in a white truck.

[Andrea Meavi]

I would probably say 6 and 6 1.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Okay.

[Andrea Meavi]

Completely bald and he had a beard. If I had a guess of weight, I don't know, maybe 200.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Deputy Richardson then asked if he could see the house where Michaela was temporarily living.

[Andrea Meavi]

Can I go take a look around? So she's been staying in this little thing?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andrea Meavi]

All locked up.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

But the shed, like home was locked. And Frank said he didn't have a key. But he did have something to say about their relationship.

[Andrea Meavi]

We have an open marriage where that's a brand new thing. I don't like it, but I agreed upon it because I'm trying to fix our marriage.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

At that point, the deputy decided to take a quick drive to the school where Michaela worked as a teacher's aide. Maybe she had gone there.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Man.

[Andrea Meavi]

This Frank Byers called in saying his wife was missing.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

He called his son, also a deputy, from the car.

[Andrea Meavi]

This guy is squirrely, man. This Frank guy is squirrely. The sensation was that there is nothing about this story that is really true.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

While the deputy was at the school, Frank friends and family started showing up at the property, including Mikayla's mom, Barbara.

[Andrea Meavi]

When I first got there, I didn't even speak to anyone. I was on my hands and knees crawling through brush out in the pasture. We've got to find where she's at.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

How are you? This is deputy Richardson with his body camera rolling. As he returned to the property late that afternoon, Frank had smashed open the lock to Michaela's place with a hammer.

[Andrea Meavi]

I looked and I immediately saw empty shell casings from what appeared to be.22 caliber. He told me that she sits in there and shoots out at animals, the coyotes and stuff. There's a few times I've heard her shoot.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

By then, more deputies had arrived.

[Andrea Meavi]

I had asked him where she kept that gun, and he said it was in his house. Is it in there now? I had him walk me to his house, and he walked inside and he pointed at it. I had pulled it from where it was in there, treated it like always and put it in my vehicle.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The gun, according to the deputy, appeared to have been recently fired.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

That's pretty recently.

[Andrea Meavi]

I made phone calls to get our criminal investigation team out there because I just. It was off. There was something that needed to be looked into more. Hey, I'm on that missing person thing. Still, it's suspicious.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

As.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Investigators ushered family and friends off the property and blocked the driveway.

[Andrea Meavi]

I remember walking back to my car, just screaming at God, asking him, why? Why did you do this, let this happen. Just take me. Take me and let us find her and just take me.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The missing persons investigation was now a possible criminal investigation. And that's when the call went out to lead detective lieutenant Dakota Black.

[Detective Dakota Black]

We definitely needed to figure out what was going on.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

As soon as Lt. Dakota Black got the call that Michaela Maavi was missing, she jumped in her vehicle and sped to McComb. What was your immediate mission?

[Detective Dakota Black]

To locate McKayla. We needed to locate her. We didn't know where she was.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

It was 1366.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black and her partner on the case, Detective Marcus May, now the undersheriff, put out a bolo alert. Be on the lookout.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

It was be on the lookout for a white male with a beard, bald head, driving a white truck. We wanted all of the local law enforcement and surrounding agencies aware that we do have a situation developing over here.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The tips from this rural area where everyone seems to know everybody came pouring in.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Every white pickup truck with tinted windows was getting called into the sheriff's office.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

None of the sightings panned out, but the search took on a life of its own.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Flyers were posted everywhere. Social media ads were everywhere.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

Michaela Miyave was beloved by everybody. They were demanding every resource possible to go find Mikayla in Dakota.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

This was a woman with enormous heart, right?

[Detective Dakota Black]

Absolutely. She loved her family. She loved her friends. She loved children.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Michaela fell in love with children when she herself was still a child. Her mom, Barbara, ran a daycare.

[Andrea Meavi]

We weren't just a daycare. We were the family. And she loved those kids, especially the babies.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Sadly, Michaela was unable to have children of her own, but that didn't stop her. In her 20s, Michaela fostered and would eventually adopt these two kids, a brother and sister.

[Andrea Meavi]

She dropped what she was doing, went and took classes, got certified to make sure that she could give those kids a home. She did.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Around that time, an old high school classmate named Frank Byers contacted her out of the blue through Facebook. Frank, who was divorced, had primary custody of four young daughters.

[Andrea Meavi]

Frank was telling her a story that the current girlfriend he was living with was abusing his four daughters. So my sister took him and all four girls in and just started basically taking care of them. She felt like the kids needed her, and she sure needed them. Probably the happiest I'd seen her in a long time with those girls.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank and Makayla got married in 2022. They built their lives together in Macomb, population 24.

[Andrea Meavi]

It's just country. It's 100% country. The kids are 100% country.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Makayla was going to college to get her teaching degree while working at the local elementary school, and she would stand.

[Andrea Meavi]

Up for the kids. And if she saw a child that was dirty or wasn't taken care of, she would take it to the principal and, you know, bring awareness to it. I think that was her biggest thing in life, was to help little innocent kids that needed adult help. She always felt responsible to do that.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Countywide, dozens of people turned out in the cold and pouring rain to slog through mud and tick infested woods in search of their beloved teacher. But one person at the heart of this mystery conspicuously appeared not to search. McKayla's husband, Frank Byers.

[Detective Dakota Black]

He never participated in a single search. He never volunteered to go out with any of the search parties to go out and try to find Mikayla.

[Andrea Meavi]

It wasn't like, oh, my God, my wife is missing. He never seemed, like, concerned about that. He seemed more concerned about himself.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

What were you noticing about Frank Byers?

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

The lack of any human emotion. I mean, he did not seem scared. He just wanted to know what we knew. He just didn't seem human at all.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Investigators were already zeroing in on Frank.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

We strongly suspected Frank.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Three days after Michaela was reported missing, Frank Byers agreed to be questioned by Detective Black at the sheriff's office. The interview was audio only at this time.

[Andrea Meavi]

I just want her found.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The detective tried to win his trust by playing the good cop again.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I couldn't imagine. I mean, it's hard not knowing, you know? And when everybody's pointing a finger at you, I'm sure it doesn't make it any better.

[Andrea Meavi]

Yeah, I feel like I gotta defend myself and tell everyone that, no, this is what happened. This is the truth.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

She pressed him, but not enough to make him stop talking.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Did you ask her about the date before she left?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

I did.

[Andrea Meavi]

And she told me it was none of my business. Same thing as if I went on a date. It's none of her business.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Okay, so she never said a name or anything? How she met him, how she knew him?

[Andrea Meavi]

No.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

After answering questions for two and a half hours, Detective Black let him go home. The search for Michaela continued. Barbara remembers crawling through brush wearing snake protectors when she says she had a premonition.

[Andrea Meavi]

I heard Mikayla tell me, mama, I'm in a tin horn. I said, oh, my God. She just told me she's in a tin horn.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Barbara frantically started looking for tin horns, pipes, or culverts used to divert water under roads. But there was no sign of Michaela. Then came the call to 911 on day five. That would prove her mother's intuition was right.

[Andrea Meavi]

Ma', am, I don't know exactly where.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I'm at, but I'm on Hamilton Road. I was searching with my friend for.

[Andrea Meavi]

My cousin that's missing, Michaela Miyade.

[Detective Dakota Black]

And I think that we just found her.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Andrea Meavi]

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[Detective Dakota Black]

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[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

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[Andrea Meavi]

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The chatter of locusts permeated the air. An eerie sense of foreboding. Michele Maavi had been missing for five days.

[Andrea Meavi]

I got a phone call from my friend and she said, I need you to sit down. And she said, they found someone and it's a female. And I'm like, is she dead or alive?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Earlier that day, a cousin and her friend had been out searching about half a mile from Michaela's house when they were stopped in their tracks by a strong sickening odor. The friend followed the intense smell down a ditch to a tin horn. He saw something sticking out. It was a hand.

[Andrea Meavi]

I was searching with my friend for my cousin that's missing, Michaela Miyade. And I think that we just found her.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

It was the call Detective Dakota Black had been dreading.

[Detective Dakota Black]

It was devastating to everybody. I mean, it was absolutely terrible.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Just as Barbara had imagined. Mikayla was in a large drainage pipe beneath the road.

[Detective Dakota Black]

She had been drug into the middle area, and she was wrapped in the carpet. She had one sock on her foot that had teddy bears on it. And her shirt was actually pulled up over her face to cover it. I mean, it was hard. It was really hard. So dark in there.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black wouldn't leave Michaela's side. The two women had been born one day apart in the same year, but that wasn't their only bond.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I did feel a connection with McKayla. I have a history.

[Andrea Meavi]

Also.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I've been in bad relationships. It could have been me on more than one occasion. I just got lucky.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

While the detectives were working the scene, Michaela's family gathered just up the road.

[Detective Dakota Black]

You could hear. Hear them crying up there, and they were trying to come down here where.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

She was, but the crime scene was blocked off.

[Andrea Meavi]

I could verify.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Please.

[Andrea Meavi]

I never once doubted that it was her. If anyone goes to the tape without permission, they immediately go to jail. I don't know what to say.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

I'm sorry.

[Andrea Meavi]

Can you tell them we're here? Of course. Of course. I felt like I needed to see her because she had been out there for five days without me.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

And I.

[Andrea Meavi]

Just needed to be with her, and they wouldn't let me. She needed me, but I wasn't there.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Michaela's remains were placed in the coroner's van for the journey to the medical examiner's office.

[Andrea Meavi]

My mom and I both realized that it was probably her in there and that we would never be able to hold her and hug her again. My mom started to chase the van. I just followed it down the road just as fast as I could. And somebody hollered at me and asked me what I was doing. And I said, my baby is in that van.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black was so angry, she had to hold herself back.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I wanted to leave that night and go and arrest Frank, but I knew it's better to move thoroughly than to act quick.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The two investigators had already begun building a strong circumstantial case against Frank Byers. The bullet casings in her home. His unlikely story that Mikayla agreed to an open marriage.

[Andrea Meavi]

She wanted to start dating other people.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

And left with a bald man in a white truck.

[Andrea Meavi]

She embraced the guy in a hug, and then they got in the truck and left.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

When you asked Mikayla's family about this open relationship, what'd they say?

[Detective Dakota Black]

Absolutely not. They said there was absolutely no possible way that Mikayla would have ever done that.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Investigators learned from interviews and from Frank's own social Media accounts that he was the one who was cheating.

[Andrea Meavi]

Frank Byers is the biggest cheater. He was cheating on her as soon as he moved in. Every time he would go out of town, he was creating dating profiles.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank worked for an environmental cleanup company, cleaning up hazardous materials. He spent a lot of time on the road.

[Detective Dakota Black]

He would meet women at gas stations. He would meet up with them at hotel rooms. He would text them while he was home with Mikayla and hide it from her.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

He was communicating with females the day Mikayla was murdered, and immediately afterwards, he.

[Andrea Meavi]

Was sending pictures to women the day of her funeral, asking, how do I look in my tux?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank's cheating got so bad, Makayla moved out about three months before her murder.

[Andrea Meavi]

She packed a bag and she came and stayed with me for a week. I held her while she cried every night. She felt like a failure, but I avoided too.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

But Mikayla's love for the little girls kept drawing her back. Says Andrea.

[Andrea Meavi]

I love you. I love you most. I love you more as you move.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Michaela went back to the 10 acre property, but not to Frank. She temporarily moved into that little structure behind his to stay close to the girls. Frank tried to win her back, promising to change. But the cheating continued. Detective Dakota Black would later discover this conversation, in which McKayla told Frank she was done.

[Andrea Meavi]

I've never once been dead set for divorce until today.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Mikayla recorded it two days before her murder.

[Andrea Meavi]

I'm just saying you have officially lost me.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black believes she recorded it to expose Frank's infidelity.

[Andrea Meavi]

I'm stating to you right now that you have officially broke the last string that was holding me to you, okay? And you have nobody to blame but yourself for doing it.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

That Friday, September 15th, Michaela returned from work to pick up her things and leave for for good. But Frank, it seemed, had other plans. Detectives would later recover these images captured on a home security camera on his phone. Detective Black believes he thought he had deleted them. Where is Michaela in this picture?

[Detective Dakota Black]

This is Frank's home and she's coming through the front door.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Michaela stayed for 14 minutes. The detective believes they were arguing.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Here's Michaela again. She's leaving.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

This is the last picture of the series. Frank standing at the door of his home. And what do you believe happened after this last photograph was taken?

[Detective Dakota Black]

I think this is when he exited his home and went to her home and killed her. I think this is when he killed Michaela.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Within minutes, Michaela was shot in the head.

[Detective Dakota Black]

McKayla had a gunshot wound right here in the front, she had one on the left side, and then she had a graze wound on the same side.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The last image she may have seen on this earth was her own husband holding a rifle. And then the shot fired.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Yes.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

It started as a simmering anger.

[Andrea Meavi]

And I just gotta say this because I'm pretty angry.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

And grew into a raging fury. People wanted to know why Frank was still walking free.

[Andrea Meavi]

I'm sorry.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

The most difficult was knowing that we were accumulating evidence of Frank's guilt and Michaela's murder. But we were unable to release that or share that with the public.

[Detective Dakota Black]

We knew Frank was guilty. We knew Frank was not a good husband. We knew Frank was lying. We knew lots of things, but we couldn't prove everything. And I wanted to prove everything. To make sure he stayed in jail.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black spent 18 hour days at the office with her sidekick, Haven, the therapy dog. Now there for her. Give me a sense emotionally how tough this was for you.

[Detective Dakota Black]

It was tough mentally. I was drained. I was mentally exhausted. I had lost weight. I was tired. But I was not going to go home until this case was solved.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank used the time to defend himself on social media. I am innocent and everything will come out. He also appeared on local news.

[Andrea Meavi]

Even today. I called her. I mean, I know she's not here, but it's just the fact that I have her number still and her phone's still on somewheres, and it just. It would have been nice.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Many in the community tuned in to watch Frank byers interview, including Lt. Dakota Black. Did it make you angry?

[Detective Dakota Black]

It did make me angry. It was sickening to see that a beautiful woman was gone from the world. And that while he's on TV professing his innocence, he's still in communication with other women, trying to have intimate relationships with them.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black tracked down scores of these women. Crystal Cantrell was Frank's girlfriend before he met Mikayla.

[Andrea Meavi]

He's very good at making you believe him. And then he's kind of like a snake. Once he gets you in there, he bites you.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black learned Frank wooed Crystal the same way he wooed Michaela. With a false story that his daughters were being mistreated by his current girlfriend. And like Michaela, Crystal had a soft heart.

[Andrea Meavi]

I love kids, you know, I have kids of my own, so I just felt really bad for them.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Shortly after they moved in together, Crystal says Frank started to show his true colors. He isolated her from friends and family and controlled her every move. They fought. One night, she woke up to see him looming over her, clutching a pair of handcuffs.

[Andrea Meavi]

I closed them so he couldn't use them on me. And then after that, he just got on my back and was choking me. He had wrapped his arms around me and had his hand on my throat, and he just didn't let go.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Crystal was able to get away, but was too afraid to report the incident to the police. She left Frank for good, but says it could have been her in that ditch.

[Andrea Meavi]

He would have killed me.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

If Frank ever harmed Michaela, she never told her mom and sister. Sometimes they saw bruises, but Mikayla always said they were just from roughhousing with the kids.

[Andrea Meavi]

I think if I think about it too much, it's where I will go down a dark whole and not come out, because I did see the bruises, and I just chose to believe and not question. And maybe if I would have questioned, it would come out differently.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Bit by bit, Detective Black and her team built a profile of a murderer.

[Detective Dakota Black]

So this photo was taken at Walmart.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Using the date on a Walmart receipt found on Frank's property, the detective was able to track down this security camera photo.

[Detective Dakota Black]

What's in the cart there is bleach, ammonia, and a mop.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

And mop? Ammonia and bleach equals what in your mind as an investigator?

[Detective Dakota Black]

Crime scene cleanup.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

They were also able to match the carpet in the ditch. I'll help you. Oh, I got it to one a neighbor had given Frank and Makayla for their dogs.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

You gave him that carpet about eight or nine months ago?

[Andrea Meavi]

Yes.

[Detective Dakota Black]

Frank took the carpet that was given to him by the neighbor and used that to roll McKayla's body in.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

They believe Frank killed Michaela around 4pm and left her body in her home. He then picked up his girls after school and drove them around, returning home about 8pm that's when the detectives believe he started to move her body.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

The kids reported in interviews once they returned home that Frank was outside most of the night. He wasn't in his bed.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective Black says there were fresh tire tracks leading to Michaela's little house.

[Detective Dakota Black]

We believe that the tire tracks actually came from a vehicle backing up to load her body to take it to where she was located.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The detectives believe Frank drove McKayla's body to the edge of the ditch, pulled her out, and then let her body topple the 12 to 15ft to the creek bed. They believe Frank then climbed down and dragged her into that pipe underneath the roadway. Once Frank got rid of the body, he concocted a plan to cover up his crime.

[Andrea Meavi]

So she took the phone with her? Yeah, as far as I know, she took her phone with her.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Remember, he told the deputy that Michaela had messaged him from her phone that evening, telling him back off. But investigators would later find Michaela's phone in Frank's bedroom. Detective May confronted Frank in a second interview.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

So I'm just trying to understand how if she left with her phone and was communicating with you through her phone on Facebook, how that phone was in your bedroom.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Understand?

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

Okay.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I mean.

[Andrea Meavi]

I don't have an explanation, honestly.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

But investigators did have an explanation. Michaela had two phones. An iPhone and a Moto G phone. Frank had both of them.

[Detective Dakota Black]

The Moto G phone was an old phone of Michaela's that she hadn't been using for quite some time.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

She can just push in that hole, it pops the tray out.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank knew how to get into that old phone. So there's a SIM card. For those who don't know, that's what it looks like. So he switched the SIM card from her iPhone. Why does he do that?

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

To gain full access to all of her accounts. That's how he was texting himself, pretending to be Mikayla. And in fact, it was him the entire time.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The evidence was mounting, but they were still waiting on two key pieces of evidence they had sent to the forensic lab for testing.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I needed a smoking gun that I knew was not going to let him out. I knew it was going to keep him there.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

What have you just unwrapped here?

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

This. What we have here, is the projectile recovered from the two by four inside Mikayla's bedroom.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

In addition to the shell casings found on the floor in Michaela's home. They later found this bullet wrapped in what they believed was Michaela's hair, embedded in the wall. They hoped it would test positive for Michaela's DNA. And then there were these boots.

[Detective Dakota Black]

So these are Frank's work boots. They were recovered on the night of the missing persons report from his bedroom.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

And what did you spot on these boots that was of interest?

[Detective Dakota Black]

So we had found a substance that we believed could be blood. But he also works with lots of chemicals, so we were unsure if that would be something that got on there while he was at work.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

38 days after Mikayla went missing, they finally got the results. They weren't able to get a genetic confirmation on the hair, but the boots were a different story. The substance on Frank's boots was blood. Michaela's blood.

[Detective Dakota Black]

As soon as we got that, we were like, we're going right now.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

You had your man.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

We had our guy.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Yes. Hello, friends. Guess who? That's right. It is I, the replacer. Once again, I've been called on so you can play the new Call of Duty Black Ops 7. With three expansive modes, 18 multiplayer maps, and the tastiest zombie gameplay you've ever freaking seen. Call of Duty Black Ops 7. Available now. Rated M for mature. Every story you love, every invention that moves you, every idea you wished was yours. All began as nothing. Just a blank page with a blinking cursor asking a simple question. What do you see?

[Andrea Meavi]

Great ideas.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Start on Mac. Find out more on apple.com Mac.

[Detective Dakota Black]

We were waiting for that arrest. So it moved fast after that.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

It was close to midnight. Flashing police lights lit up the darkness. 38 days after Michaela was reported missing, Detective Black, Deputy Richardson and a special ops team moved in to arrest Frank Byers.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I got with the SWAT team, organized the takedown and went in and got him.

[Andrea Meavi]

Just confirming that we have the main suspect. He's in custody, and you are under arrest.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

He thought he was smarter than everyone. But he was outsmarted, right?

[Detective Dakota Black]

Yes. I think he was surprised.

[Andrea Meavi]

I swear I didn't do.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Lieutenant Black finally had Frank in her grasp and right where she wanted him. In handcuffs, headed to jail. Detective May called Michaela's family with the news.

[Andrea Meavi]

That was a hallelujah moment. That was a about time moment. We couldn't get her back, but we knew he wasn't walking free anymore.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Detective May says they were done with Frank's lies.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

How you doing, Frank?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

And they confronted him with the hard evidence they'd taken weeks to gather.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

Now's the opportunity to let us know what happened.

[Andrea Meavi]

I didn't do any.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

Why was there blowing your missed. I mean, I can't answer.

[Andrea Meavi]

I mean, I don't know. I mean, honestly.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Frank Byers was charged with first degree murder. The DA was seeking the death penalty, but the defense requested a deal to save his life. Fifteen months after Byers arrest, he agreed to plead guilty and serve life without parole. McKayla's mom was bitterly disappointed.

[Andrea Meavi]

I feel that the plea deal was a cop out the moment the second that she took her last breath. He chose that. And he got to choose what he got for punishment, too. And that's not okay. It's not okay.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

The plea deal isn't the only thing upsetting Barbara. She doesn't think Frank acted alone. You're absolutely convinced that Frank had somebody help him?

[Andrea Meavi]

I'll go to my grave believe in that. I think he had to have had an accomplice. I don't think that he could have moved her body on his own at all, physically.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

He could not have done it.

[Andrea Meavi]

No, I don't believe so.

[Detective Dakota Black]

I think we all agree that it would absolutely be difficult to move her. But people are scared. They can do amazing things.

[Frank Byers / Family Member / Investigator]

What they're saying is not unreasonable. If the evidence is presented to us one day that suggests that we will take it and we'll run with it to its fullest.

[Andrea Meavi]

Ext. I come and I sit and I look at that place down there. I went down and hung all kinds of crosses and different things. He didn't just take from us. He took from his own children, someone that loved them, that put them first.

[Detective Dakota Black]

It didn't have to end this way. He could have let her leave, but he didn't.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

There's cold justice for McKayla. For Detective Dakota Black Tracker. Her painful work continues.

[Andrea Meavi]

Mikayla would want her life to mean something.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Barbara is starting McKayla's prison purple butterfly foundation to fight against domestic violence.

[Andrea Meavi]

That was her goal. Her mission in life was when you see someone in need, help them. When I think of Michaela, I think of sunflowers. I think of Joy. She would love that, though. You know she would. With all those sunflowers. I sure miss her smile, her laugh. All that laugh was something else. She was my best friend. I strived for her to be proud of me because I looked up to her. Even though she was the little sister, I still lay in bed and talk to her like she's still right there, like she's watching over us every day.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, contact the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233. Tulsa is my home now. Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone stars in the Paramount plus original series Tulsa King.

[Andrea Meavi]

His distillery is a very interesting business.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

And we got to know the enemy from Taylor Sheridan, co creator of Landman.

[Andrea Meavi]

What are you saying?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

I'm all right.

[Andrea Meavi]

If you think you're going to take me out. It's going to be really difficult.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Tulsa King New season now streaming exclusively on Paramount. Plus this November, action is free on Pluto tv. Go on the run with Jack Reacher.

[Andrea Meavi]

Every suspect was a trained killer.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Then buckle up for drive. World War Z.

[Andrea Meavi]

Every human being we save.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Just one less fight and Charlie's Angels.

[Andrea Meavi]

Damn, I hate to fly.

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

Launch into sci fi adventure with the fifth Element and laugh through the mayhem in tropic Thunder.

[Andrea Meavi]

What is going on here?

[Narrator / Reporter (Peter Van Sant)]

All the thrills, all for free. Pluto TV stream now pay never.