Bones in the Desert

This is the true story of the betrayal and murder of Loretta Bowersock who lived in Tempe, Az and was the mother of Terri Bowersock, the owner of Terri's Consign and Design stores.I remember parts of the story from watching the news and reading the Arizona Republic when Loretta was reported missing. It was big news here since Terri owned a successful local business and the two of them often did commercials on TV together. 

There are elements in the book that are quite disturbing.  Loretta was 69 when she was murdered.  The main and only suspect in the case was a man who lived with her in her home in Tempe.  He lived there without paying rent or any other financial contributions but he did offer to take care of her mail and her finances.  He was always working on inventing something big and borrowed hugh amounts of money from her neighbors and  her friends for inventions that never materialized.  He was the best of the con men.  The police believed that he called to report her as missing  just to keep them off his trail. The straw that broke the camel's back was when Loretta found out that he was not sending her mortgage checks to the bank to pay the mortgage.  Just knowing how he used those checks to beef up his own bank account is enough reason to read this book.  Unbelievable. Sine he always got the mail, she didn't know that she had been getting letters from the bank about the forclosure on her home until the day Loretta got the mail herself. 

What he was able to get away with was just amazing.  In the end he killed himself  but without leaving a note saying just where he dumped the body.  The police had a general area they suspected but search after search did not reveal the body.  A note would have given some closure to the family.  A note saying why he did it.  The police never found her body but a family vacationing in the area and out in the desert looking for gold and other gems t sell found Loretta's body more than a year later. Her body was wrapped in plastic except for her skull.

The reality of this book haunted me for sometime after readng it.  Loretta was a smart woman, yet she feel prey to this con artist.  She owned her own business at one time.  She helped Terri with the Consign and Design business as well.  So, how can an intelligent woman be so willing to overlook a con man who is robbing her blind?  To her family and friends Loretta would say over and over again that she couldn't be alone, that she just needed a man.  That's down right scary.