CCTV footage shows someone dressed as a cop in a church where Terri ‘Missy’ Bevers was murdered

THE night before she died fitness trainer Terri Bevers posted an innocent message to her students. It set her on a collision course with her killer.

THE night before he life was cut tragically short fitness trainer Terri “Missy” Bevers posted a message to her students.

“If it’s raining we’re still training,” she said enthusiastically on Facebook. Her plan for students was to shelter in a church hall, safe from the bad weather lashing in Midlothian a small town near Dallas, Texas.

Ms Bevers was safe from the rain but that decision put her on a collision course with a killer.

Less than an hour after the 45-year-old arrived at the Creekside Church with her training gear, she was found dead, surrounded by shattered glass.

The discovery of her body was made by her students, who arrived for the early morning ‘boot camp” while it was still dark. She hadn’t even finished unpacking her gear from her truck when the killer struck.

She leaves behind a husband and is a mother to three girls aged eight, 13 and 15.

Police arrived at the church to look for clues and seized CCTV footage they hoped would reveal who went into the church after Ms Bevers. Detectives watched the vision they were stunned to see someone in a police car break into the church.

‘Missy’ Bevers.

It shows the man — in a black helmet, black gloves, and a vest marked POLICE, walking causally around, taking his time, unpanicked about being somewhere he shouldn’t.

Sergeant Nick Harp told The Daily Beast: ““He certainly doesn’t display the characteristics of somebody who is trying to burglarise a place. He’s taking his time, walking slowly around.”

It was possible he was looking for something — even Ms Bevers herself — and didn’t attempt to take anything even though he forced his way into two rooms.

“The strange part is that nothing has been reported taken.”

Police believe he is the killer and have launched a manhunt to find him. But notwithstanding the murder itself, questions are being asked where the killer got the tactical gear.

That is, if the killer is a fake cop — it hasn’t been established if the man is a fake at all and it could be he is a serving officer.

Adding to the confusion, police initially said they were looking for a male suspect. They then retracted that to say it couldn’t be confirmed the killer was a man — although they insist they are keeping an open mind.

“We are backing off our statement that the suspect on video was a man. There’s a lot of speculation based on the gait and appearance that this person may be a woman. It’s a legitimate question right now. We no longer will say the suspect is a man,” Midlothian Assistant Police Chief Kevin Johnson said. “That does not mean I’m saying this suspect is a woman. It’s just that at this point we can’t rule it out. We don’t know yet,” reported NBC.

The “cop” as seen on CCTV footage.

Sgt Harp acknowledged how unusual and disturbing the case was. “It’s tragic. It’s sad for the Bevers family and the community as a whole. It’s not something that we’re used to seeing. It certainly doesn’t sit well.”

In fact , Ms Bevers murder is the town’s first homicide in a decade.

Police are yet to release details about what the students found in the church, possibly because there will be information that only the killer will know that they want to keep out of the public.

That extends to how she was skilled and what state her body was sin when the grisly discovery was made — suggesting there could also be traumatic details they are keen to protect the public from, reported the local CBS affiliate.

All has been revealed is there was signs of a struggle nearby.

The news has so devastated the community a local firm has offered a $10,000 reward for information that could help police.

“We step up on especially horrific homicides, like crimes against children, public safety people, and in this case a good person who was apparently killed in a church,” dairy company Oak Farms spokesman Ed Spencer said in a statement to ABC. “Those kinds of cases that pull at your heartstrings when you hear about them.”

Missy Bevers leaves behind three children and a husband.

One friend called her “an amazing woman” who was “always so nice”.

“She was never in a bad mood, she never had anything bad to say about anybody. She brought the positive out of everybody. I couldn’t image why somebody would have done that,” Cody Beasley told The Daily Beast.

Her family featured in her last Facebook post where she told friends of the meal preparation she was doing, and how her youngest two daughters were helping.

“..look at those beautiful faces below! They are my helpers!” she wrote.

Whoever the killer is they were armed with at least one weapon, which they used to break their way into the church and pry the doors open.

The offender can then be seen roaming around, clad in the black uniform, looking for something or someone.

It isn’t clear when the person arrived because there are no working cameras actually inside the church. All that can be said with certainty is they were seen on camera about 10 minutes before Ms Bevers first appeared.

Police now have to determine if it was a burglary gone wrong, or if the killer was lying in wait.

“All scenarios are on the table right now.”

Originally published as CCTV footage shows someone dressed as a cop in a church where Terri ‘Missy’ Bevers was murdered