Farmersville woman's body found
06:44 AM CST on Wednesday, March 24, 2004
FARMERSVILLE – The search for a missing Farmersville woman ended Tuesday when her body was found in a creekbed three miles east of town.
Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson, 20, had been reported missing on Thursday after relatives found her infant daughter alone inside her house. Investigators found signs of a struggle inside the home, but Ms. Tolleson's car was undisturbed, as were sacks of groceries.
An area resident who had not participated in the search reported finding the body about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Brushy Creek, about a half-mile south of U.S. Highway 380, near the border of Collin and Hunt counties.
Ms. Tolleson's family could not be reached for comment after the body's identity was confirmed late Tuesday.
Authorities notified the family Tuesday afternoon that a body was found, prompting Victor Muller, Ms. Tolleson's uncle, to drive to the creek area.
He had been told that it could take as long as two or three days to identify the body.
"I can't wait three days," Mr. Muller said Tuesday afternoon as Collin County sheriff's deputies and Farmersville police worked nearby. "That's why I'm here now."
The Collin County Sheriff's Office confirmed late Tuesday that the identification had been made using Ms. Tolleson's dental records. A cause of death has not been determined.
Before the confirmation was made public, relatives attended a vigil that drew about 300 people Tuesday night to the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Farmersville. Pastor Bart Barber led the group in song and prayer before opening the floor up for prayer.
"If there's any way possible that this body is not Rachelle's, we pray that that is the case," he said.
Outside the church, Farmersville resident Rhonda Moore, 38, said that her daughter babysat Ms. Tolleson's 6-month-old a couple of nights before the disappearance.
"This could be any of our kids," Ms. Moore said. "It's been really scary for everyone in the community and now that they've found a body it's even worse."
The body was discovered in an area that friends and family had searched twice previously, Mr. Muller said.
"This was the first place we searched Friday and we searched it again [Tuesday] morning. We just didn't go far enough in" toward the creek, he said.
Misty Collins lives with her sister on the Hunt County side of County Road 698, near where the body was discovered. She said she and her sister recall seeing truck lights under a set of trees Sunday night near where officials were investigating the crime scene Tuesday.
In retrospect, Ms. Collins said, she wondered if that had any connection to the body that was found Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, a $10,000 reward was announced by Schepps Dairy for information leading to the arrest and indictment of anyone who might have abducted the Farmersville mother last week from her home. As of Tuesday night, police had not named any suspects.
According to Ed Spencer, a spokesman for the Dallas-based dairy, the reward would be paid if authorities determine Ms. Tolleson was a victim of foul play.
Family members last saw Ms. Tolleson about 10:30 p.m. March 17. Her mother reported her missing Thursday when she found the back door open at Ms. Tolleson's small frame house on McKinney Street, just off the town square, and her baby alone in the house.
Mr. Muller said that the family believes that Ms. Tolleson didn't leave the house of her own will.
"Not her. She wouldn't walk away from her baby," he said.
Police questioned and performed polygraph tests on family members and friends, including Ms. Tolleson's estranged husband, Andrew, Mr. Muller said. They were not told about the results of the tests, he said.
Staff writer Gretel C. Kovach contributed to this report.
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