'Never thought he would do something like this': Husband arrested after missing woman's body found wrapped in carpet
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) - After an agonizing month for Makayla Fay Meave’s family, someone is finally being held accountable for the 30-year-old mother’s murder.
"It's a little bit of a sigh of relief,” said Barbara Harper, Makayla’s mother. “To us, it feels like it's been 10 years even though it's just been a few weeks."
On Sept. 20, Makayla’s body was found wrapped in a carpet in a drainage ditch about 2,000 feet from her home in rural Pottawatomie County. Makayla had been reported missing just days earlier.
The medical examiner later revealed Makayla had been shot twice in the head.
Now, deputies have arrested her husband, Frank Byers, for the crime. He was staying at a house in El Reno.
“We got some results back on some evidence we had been waiting for," said Travis Dinwiddie, Pottawatomie County’s Undersheriff. "We executed the search warrant on the house. Frank Byers was inside, and he was taken into custody for a probable cause affidavit for first degree murder."
Court records reveal Byers’ work boots “had a blood like substance on them” that investigators now say came back as a positive DNA match to Makayla.
According to court records, detectives also found a Walmart receipt for a mop, ammonia and bleach on Byers’ property the day Makayla was reported missing.
After reading through text messages, court records show investigators believe Byers committed the crime so he could “establish a relationship” with another woman.
"He was at all the family functions. We would have never… I would have never thought he would do something like this,” said Harper.
However, Makayla’s mother said she became suspicious of Byers after her daughter disappeared.
"There was no concern, no sorrow, no tears. It was all just a show, and we could see it,” said Harper.
If convicted, she hopes Byers gets the harshest punishment possible to get justice for her daughter.
"The death penalty,” said Harper. “I can forgive him through Christ, but I am still flesh and I want the death penalty for him and anyone else that helped him."
Byers hasn’t been officially charged yet but faces counts for first-degree murder, unauthorized removal of dead body, and desecration of a human corpse.
His next court date is set for Nov. 8.