A woman already charged with the endangerment of one person and the murder of another may be connected to the deaths of up to 20 other individuals, police say. And it’s all in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
The unlicensed Love & Caring for People LLC was founded by Regla “Su” Becquer and advertised as a company that provided in-house care for people with bed-bound health conditions across five homes in Tarrant County, according to Arlington police.
However, the police put her company on the radar after a victim located at an Arlington property made a call for help in December 2023. Police said the victim, who had cerebral palsy and diabetes, smelled of urine and feces when they arrived.
Ultimately, the client explained she was neglected, forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor, rarely had her diaper changed and endured physical abuse such as having hot water dumped on her and being kicked, per FOX 4. Police said she attempted suicide as a Hail Mary for help but not one (meaning Becquer and her staffers) called 911. Her story was enough to justify an arrest warrant for Becquer.
She currently sits in Tarrant County Jail on a $1.5 million bond facing charges of abandonment/endangering a disabled person with imminent bodily injury. However, the investigation into her “loving and caring” company led the cops to a slew of other deaths that may be related to the group homes.
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Since September 2022, police have found at least 20 clients of hers who have died and say there could be more. Most of the victims were cremated or buried, and only two had autopsies. One of those autopsies is being reviewed, while the other revealed that 60-year-old Steven “Kelly” Pankratz died from mixed drug toxicity while under Becquer’s care.
Investigators discovered that the drugs in Pankratz’s system had never been prescribed by doctors. Last week, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled Pankratz’s death a homicide and charged Becquer with murder. She is being held at the Tarrant County Jail on a $1.5 million bond.
Police also observed that most of the individuals under the care of Becquer appeared to relinquish all of their property to her company and family members. In one example, the previous homeowner of one of her unlicensed facilities used to be her client. The woman left her entire estate to Becquer in a one-sentence will dated Oct. 7, 2022, per FOX 4. About 20 days later, the homeowner was pronounced dead.
Lt. Kimberly Harris told reporters the company was also in possession of the clients’ wallets, credit cards and manipulated the wills to increase their credit for purchasing vehicles. The investigation is ongoing, but it certainly doesn’t look good.
“I’ve been doing this as an officer for 23 years now and I have never seen anything like this,” said Arlington police official Chris Powell to CBS. “We had to keep digging and going and going, and it’s been disturbing to find out the details about these folks, to go to homes that people thought were a good place, and to find out it was not vetted. It’s very disturbing,”