Fla. couple who adopted 12 children found slain

[Fanny Mae]

I can just smell the salt air.

I can too, Magnolia. And the sound of the surf on the powder white sand. And the sticky feeling on my skin from the salt spray. I love the Gulf, as we said as kids, "We're goin' to the Guff!" 

[Fanny Mae]

Fanny~I did not see a sign for that specific condo, it could be thru a management agy though. I did google a Regency Villa for sale, hers is #406 IIRC and this is #602.

http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/Regency-Villas/3101033-Real-Estate.aspx

I see why you were laughing today at ws. It'd be a little hard to bury something there! 

I thought the news release said today she went back to the house where the safe was found.

[islandmonkey]

Fanny~I did not see a sign for that specific condo, it could be thru a management agy though. I did google a Regency Villa for sale, hers is #406 IIRC and this is #602.

http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/Regency-Villas/3101033-Real-Estate.aspx

I see why you were laughing today at ws. It'd be a little hard to bury something there! 

I thought the news release said today she went back to the house where the safe was found.

More than that.....I can see that other property out my bedroom window and the beach is SUPER quite in the private areas and everybody knows everything and sees everything  , but the safe was found in Gulf Breeze, this is 1206 Via DeLuna


http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/East-Pensacola-Beach/3373271-Real-Estate.aspx

[islandmonkey]

Fanny~I did not see a sign for that specific condo, it could be thru a management agy though. I did google a Regency Villa for sale, hers is #406 IIRC and this is #602.

http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/Regency-Villas/3101033-Real-Estate.aspx

I see why you were laughing today at ws. It'd be a little hard to bury something there! 

I thought the news release said today she went back to the house where the safe was found.

More than that.....I can see that other property out my bedroom window and the beach is SUPER quite in the private areas and everybody knows everything and sees everything  , but the safe was found in Gulf Breeze, this is 1206 Via DeLuna


http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/East-Pensacola-Beach/3373271-Real-Estate.aspx

CRAP~wrong photo..........didn't want mother in law suite, but front of house photo

[Fanny Mae]

Fanny~I did not see a sign for that specific condo, it could be thru a management agy though. I did google a Regency Villa for sale, hers is #406 IIRC and this is #602.

http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/Regency-Villas/3101033-Real-Estate.aspx

I see why you were laughing today at ws. It'd be a little hard to bury something there! 

I thought the news release said today she went back to the house where the safe was found.

More than that.....I can see that other property out my bedroom window and the beach is SUPER quite in the private areas and everybody knows everything and sees everything  , but the safe was found in Gulf Breeze, this is 1206 Via DeLuna


http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/East-Pensacola-Beach/3373271-Real-Estate.aspx

CRAP~wrong photo..........didn't want mother in law suite, but front of house photo

Is that one of her property's that is in foreclosure?

[Fanny Mae]

Fanny~I did not see a sign for that specific condo, it could be thru a management agy though. I did google a Regency Villa for sale, hers is #406 IIRC and this is #602.

http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/Regency-Villas/3101033-Real-Estate.aspx

I see why you were laughing today at ws. It'd be a little hard to bury something there! 

I thought the news release said today she went back to the house where the safe was found.

More than that.....I can see that other property out my bedroom window and the beach is SUPER quite in the private areas and everybody knows everything and sees everything  , but the safe was found in Gulf Breeze, this is 1206 Via DeLuna


http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/East-Pensacola-Beach/3373271-Real-Estate.aspx

CRAP~wrong photo..........didn't want mother in law suite, but front of house photo

Is that one of her property's that is in foreclosure?

I meant the condo one.

[Fanny Mae]

I guess I am pretty stupid about real estate, but how do you buy multiple properties over a period of years with foreclosures on almost every one?

[islandmonkey]

Fanny~I did not see a sign for that specific condo, it could be thru a management agy though. I did google a Regency Villa for sale, hers is #406 IIRC and this is #602.

http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/Regency-Villas/3101033-Real-Estate.aspx

I see why you were laughing today at ws. It'd be a little hard to bury something there! 

I thought the news release said today she went back to the house where the safe was found.

More than that.....I can see that other property out my bedroom window and the beach is SUPER quite in the private areas and everybody knows everything and sees everything  , but the safe was found in Gulf Breeze, this is 1206 Via DeLuna


http://homes.point2.com/US/Florida/Escambia-County/Pensacola-Beach/East-Pensacola-Beach/3373271-Real-Estate.aspx

CRAP~wrong photo..........didn't want mother in law suite, but front of house photo

Is that one of her property's that is in foreclosure?

The condo photo is, the other photo is just another home for sale  1206 Via De Luna.....I have NO clue why the WSer's think it's connected (maybe because she also has 1206 Soundview Trail and it is in preforeclosure along with 4 other properties - and 4 of them went into preforeclosure just last month)

[islandmonkey]

I guess I am pretty stupid about real estate, but how do you buy multiple properties over a period of years with foreclosures on almost every one?

The foreclosures are recent.........beyond that I'd love to know the answer myself.

[islandmonkey]

Ok, I'll need to check my own notes, but this is 1600 Via DeLuna #406


http://www.vragent.com/rental/62866/images#info

[Fanny Mae]

The condo photo is, the other photo is just another home for sale  1206 Via De Luna.....I have NO clue why the WSer's think it's connected (maybe because she also has 1206 Soundview Trail and it is in preforeclosure along with 4 other properties - and 4 of them went into preforeclosure just last month)

It is just such a beautiful place to think someone may have hatched up a plot to do this terrible thing. I know most of them don't live down on the island, but it is creepy to think that Pamela would have anything to do with it. It is infuriating that she has such a big boat, and even stiffed the Palafox Marina. I don't know why I am so focused on her. It just seems so wrong that she is out.

I wonder if they were drug running with that boat and that is the MS-13 connection. Or the finance company that Mr Billings ran, had anything to do with her real estate loans. It is so unusual.   

[islandmonkey]

The condo photo is, the other photo is just another home for sale  1206 Via De Luna.....I have NO clue why the WSer's think it's connected (maybe because she also has 1206 Soundview Trail and it is in preforeclosure along with 4 other properties - and 4 of them went into preforeclosure just last month)

It is just such a beautiful place to think someone may have hatched up a plot to do this terrible thing. I know most of them don't live down on the island, but it is creepy to think that Pamela would have anything to do with it. It is infuriating that she has such a big boat, and even stiffed the Palafox Marina. I don't know why I am so focused on her. It just seems so wrong that she is out.

I wonder if they were drug running with that boat and that is the MS-13 connection. Or the finance company that Mr Billings ran, had anything to do with her real estate loans. It is so unusual.   

I know I feel so peaceful on the Island, but last night my son was like..maybe we should lock our doors from now on, it freaks him out a bit seeing it happened in Beulah.

I can't believe she stiffed the marina,(well, I take that back).when we had our boat at the TN river at the marina they wouldn't let you have access to it if you owed any money, of course ours was in dry storage and I'm assuming there is no way to easily store a 45ft yacht.

I can't wait for the story to finally play out completely because right now it just makes NO sense.

[islandmonkey]

A little o/t but there is a big air show in Dayton this weekend. The Angels aren't here this year, but the AF's Thunderbirds, and the Army's Knights will be here. They have been flying around practicing all day. We are way south of the airport, though. Dayton is a big AF town, with Wright Patterson being here.

I took some benedryl for allergies tonight, and it is making me drowsy. But I will be back in the morning. Take a big wiff of that salt air for me.   

Night Fanny~I'm outta here too and I'll take a whiff of the redneck riviera just for you and see everyone tomorrow & enjoy the air show!

[Magnolia]

I found this on an AOL blog.  I thought it summed it all up pretty well.



03:05 PMJul 17 2009

Yeah, right. You've got a whole group of people, including active military, who trained for a month to conduct a ten minute ninja raid, and all they were after was some attention deficit pills? If you believe that, you must surely also believe in the Easter Bunny.

[no rose colored glasses]

I found this on an AOL blog.  I thought it summed it all up pretty well.



03:05 PMJul 17 2009

Yeah, right. You've got a whole group of people, including active military, who trained for a month to conduct a ten minute ninja raid, and all they were after was some attention deficit pills? If you believe that, you must surely also believe in the Easter Bunny.

Exactly, there is way more to this story, and eventually it will all leak out.

[cece]

Good Saturday morning to everyone.  Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  Thanks IM for the pics.  It sure helps me to have an image in my mind. 


http://www.pnj.com/article/20090718/NEWS01/907180323&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

A bittersweet introduction
Siblings separated by questionable adoption meet for first time at funeral

It was the worst possible time for a reunion.

At Pensacola Memorial Gardens on Friday, Regina Spence, 21, stood solemnly in a long black dress.

She didn't know Byrd and Melanie Billings, murdered in a home invasion July 9.

Nor did she know the Billingses' adopted son, Justin. But she knew that he was her 20-year-old brother.

Twenty years ago, Spence's mother, Vickie Lynn Taylor, then 27, made a desperate move to give Justin a better life.

Already the mother of four, she devised a scheme to sidestep the adoption process and give her newborn son to Byrd Billings, then 47, and his girlfriend, Cindy Reeve, who was 27.

The scheme failed, ending in criminal charges and probationary sentences against Billings, Reeve and Taylor.

Within a couple of years, however, Billings and his wife, Melanie, were able to arrange to adopt Justin legally. He was one of 13 children adopted over the years, some of them developmentally disabled.

For years, Spence, who later was adopted herself, has known about Justin. She asked about him. She wanted to call him so many times.

But how do you start that conversation?

"I've been pondering it for years how to do this, but I chickened out every time I tried to do it," she said.

Now, Spence was standing at his parents' funeral.

Her eyes scanned through the faces of scores of mourners. Her breath stopped when she laid eyes on the young man sitting in the front row. Her legs started to shake nervously.

She'd just seen her brother for the very first time.

The timing, she knew, was bad.

"Things like this don't happen in sad places,'' she said. "Things like this happen in happy places. Coffee shops.''

But she could wait no longer.

She was trembling as the services ended. She started walking toward her brother. She stopped just within arm's reach. Their eyes met, and she said something too quietly to be heard.

For the first time in their lives, the brother and sister hugged.

Justin's birth
Billings and Reeve wanted to have a baby in 1989 but were having trouble conceiving, according to Escambia County sheriff's reports from the time.

(2 of 2)


Taylor approached them with an offer of a child, and the trio worked out a deal.



Justin was born on June 4, 1989, at Taylor's home. Several hours after the birth, she checked into Sacred Heart Hospital under Reeve's name and identified Billings as the father.

About a week and a half later, Taylor told sheriff's deputies she forged Reeve's signature on the birth certificate.

She said she conspired with Reeve and Billings so they could have a baby, the sheriff's records say. They agreed to loan her $2,100 as part of the deal, according to the records.

The three were charged with violating adoption laws and supplying fraudulent information for a birth certificate.

Billings and Reeve married before their case went to court. All three pleaded no contest and were sentenced to probation.

Meanwhile, Billings and his wife were divorced in 1993, and he was remarried to Melanie Brock a few months later.

Reeve, who is remarried, now lives in Texas. She could not be reached.

Going fishing
Even after the criminal case, Byrd Billings never gave up on Justin, who was in foster care.

Billings navigated the state adoption system so he could adopt Justin legally. The year the adoption was finazlied could not be immediately determined.

Spence and her other three other siblings were adopted by another local couple — "two of the best parents you could ever think about," she said.

Her parents told her about Justin, and she still has the newspaper stories from the time. She didn't think Justin knew about her.

After the burial Friday, Spence scribbled her name and phone number on the back of a white cardboard fan and handed it to her brother.

She lives in Walnut Hill in North Escambia County. Justin lives in Pensacola.

He told her that he wants to know her, and they'd get together in a couple of weeks when life is more settled for his grieving family.

Justin has not spoken publicly since his parents' death.

"I feel like something missing just clicked back into place,'' Spence said after meeting him.

"He wants to go fishing," she said. "I'm so going fishing."

[cece]

http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DP&Dato=20090717&Kategori=NEWS03&Lopenr=907170804&Ref=PH


Link to photo gallery of Billings Burial.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DP&Dato=20090717&Kategori=NEWS03&Lopenr=907170804&Ref=PH


Link to photo gallery of Billings Burial.

Thank-you

[cece]

http://www.northescambia.com/?p=9577

Three Of Seven Murder Suspects Back In Court
July 18, 2009
Three of the seven suspects in the Byrd and Melanie Billings murder case were back in court on Friday.

Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr, Wayne Coldiron and Gary Sumner faced a judge to be officially charged with two open counts of murder each.

There were apparently some mistakes on the original arrest warrants for each man, and they were in court Friday to face the official corrected charges. The suspects appeared via video feed from the Escambia County Jail.

They are due back in court in early August.

Also on Friday, Robert and Marlene Ingram filed an eviction notice to have Coldiron officially removed from his residence at 210 Yoakum Court in Pensacola.

[cece]

http://www.northescambia.com/?p=9576

July 18, 2009
Byrd Billings was involved in an adoption fraud case involving a fake birth certificate and $2,100 back in 1989.

Court records in Escambia County show that Byrd Billings was involved in an adoption and birth certificate fraud case back in 1989 along with Cindy Reeve Billings, Byrd Billing’s second wife.

That’s when, according to court records, a 20-year old woman, Vickie Lynn Taylor checked in to Sacred Heart Hospital under the name Cindy Reeve. She had delivered a baby at home on June 4. While in Sacred Heart, she listed the father as Byrd Billings on the birth certificate.

After the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department got wind of the incident about ten days later, they interviewed Taylor who told them she agreed to the crime for a $2,100 loan from Billings. She said that the Billingses wanted to claim the baby as their own.  That baby was named Justin.

The trio did not admit guilt, but pleaded nolo contendere. That plea means they agreed to be punished without actually admitting guilt.  They were sentenced to two years probation.

When Billings divorced Reeve in 1993, his net worth was just $1,400. He had total case assets of just $100 and a monthly income of $1,190. Four months after that divorce,  he was married to Melanie Billings.

(Click here to see the divorce final judgement pdf)

In 1995, Cindy Reeve Billings was ordered to pay $300 per month child support to Byrd Billings. (Click here to read the support document pdf))

At the time of his divorce from Cindy Reeve Billings, Byrd Billings was a consultant working for a company called Back Seat, Inc. — the holding company that owned the topless bar Back Seat Lounge.

At the time of the murders, Melanie Billings and her daughter Ashley Markham owned a used car lot and he owned a company called Worldco Financial Services.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department has said several times that Billing’s current and former businesses are not part of their investigation.