Woman's Suspicious Death In Pottawatomie County Still Under Investigation

It's been nearly two weeks since relatives of a Macomb mother discovered her body concealed in a culvert in rural Pottawatomie County.

Family and friends gathered in Purcell to celebrate the life of Makayla Meave-Byers.

Makayla's husband reported her missing mid-September, four days later the search for her came to a heartbreaking end.

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office said last week they had not identified a definitive suspect.

Makayla's husband who planned to visit with media today, canceled due to a "family emergency."

The adopted son of Meave-Byers spoke out for the first time since his mother’s death last week.

It’s been an emotional waiting game for Brian Vinson, who along with her family, wants to know what happened to her.

“It's been real hard, I’m not going to lie,” said Brian Vinson, Makayla’s Meave-Byers’s adopted son. “Hard to get out of bed, hard to really do anything.”

Crosses and memorial plaques mark the area where her body was found in rural Pottawatomie County off Hamilton Road, near her home.

“The main thing that comes to my mind about all of that is just she was alone out there, and it just upsets me,” he said. Vinson finds some comfort by wearing a purple ribbon, his adoptive mother’s favorite color.

“It's hard to explain, but her personality matched that color a lot,” he said. “She was very vibrant while also being hard as a rock stern.”

Vinson and his sister lived with several foster families until two years ago, when he says they finally felt like they found a home with Meave-Byers and her four stepdaughters.

“She always wanted people to be happy,” he said. “If something was wrong, she would want them to let them know and if you didn’t, she would press you, she would press you just like an investigator would. She just wanted the best from us.”

Now he is speaking out to advocate for her, as the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office investigates her suspicious death. “The information we were given is that she had left to go on a date and never returned home,” said Undersheriff Travis Dinwiddie with the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators say that the information came from Meave-Byers’s husband, Frank Byers.

“Absolutely not, I don't believe that happened,” Vinson said. “I knew she was getting on Facebook dating because I knew that somebody had told me that Frank was very upset about it,” he said. 

Court documents show Meave-Byers’s father told Investigators that his daughter recently asked for a divorce. A search warrant revealed deputies found two .22-caliber bullet casings, broken glass, and blood spots on the floor and bed sheets inside her home.

“I want to see justice for Makayla,” said Vinson. “There's somebody out there that's out there that shouldn't be right now.”

A celebration of life for Makayla Meave-Byers is scheduled for Saturday, September 30, at Landmark Church in Purcell.

Related links:

Public Opinion Weighing On Byers' Case As Investigation Continues