Brittany Tavar, 45, disappeared from her home in St. Augustine, Florida, on July 6, 2010. She was part of a large family scattered on the other side of the country. Brittany's friends in the area described her as generous and caring. Not only was she regarded as a kind person, she was known to help others in need.
Brittany was devoted to her pets and her dogs were noticeably missing with her. But, her feline family was mysteriously left behind.
“My sister loved her cats very, very much and she would never just go away on a trip and leave them to fend for themselves,” her brother Andrew Bellamah said.
The police found nothing suspicious to warrant a full investigation. Brittany's SUV wasn't there and she may have willingly gone off for a bit. The family knew better and hired a private detective.
They discovered some disturbing information. The family knew Brittany to be generous but not that she had been lending her spare bedroom to people down on their luck. Brittany's sister, Pat, knew that Brittany didn't tell her siblings because they would tell her it was a bad idea.
“We didn’t know that over the years, eight different homeless people lived in her spare room,” Pat recalled. “She usually had some kind of arrangement with these fellows that they would help her with stuff - like the first guy would do the yard work."
Police began to investigate once Brittany's dogs were found wandering aimlessly on the road. Her home was spotless and smelled of cleaning products giving weight to their suspicions. The police zeroed in on several suspects. One in particular rose to the top of the list.
Brittany had met a man named Joseph Roberts at Barnes and Noble bookstore who needed a place to live. She immediately offered an exchange - he could stay in her guestroom indefinitely if he would help her with some computer work for a business idea and compile a DVD of evidence for an upcoming lawsuit with her neighbor.
Police quickly discovered that several other women in St. Augustine had encounters with Joe Roberts who reported he had an awful temper.
Joe Roberts ironically disappeared at the same time as Brittany.
Officials soon found evidence that Brittany’s bank cards were being used in several states. Joe Roberts was eventually found in Brittany's car, speeding through Wyoming. Closed circuit cameras recorded Joe making purchases at Walmart in Oregon using Brittany's bank card.
Detectives couldn't pinpoint his location which prevented them from bringing him in for questioning. The hunt was on.
Authorities got a lucky break - Joe was arrested for stealing lunch meat in Seattle, Washington. He was subsequently extradited to Florida. He immediately gave a full confession.
Joe explained that Brittany was unhappy with the DVD she needed for court that day and he reacted in a fit of rage. After taking her life, he hid her body in the attic until he could dispose of it.
Joe Roberts accepted a plea deal and led investigators to Brittany's body. the location where he had dumped Brittany’s body. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Joseph Roberts remains incarcerated at the Apalachee Correctional Institution-East Unit in Jackson County, Florida. He may see a release date of 2038.
“One of the most terrible things would be to know that someone you loved died in fear, you know, died in a moment of terror and pain and that was a very, very hard thing for me to accept,” Pat (Brittany's sister) said. “It just was, even today, it just was chilling for me to think about that.”
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