Rebekah Christian Gould
"One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
-Footprints In The Sand
In 2004, she was a 22-year-old college student and was studying to become an ophthalmologist. Rebekah had traveled to Casey McCullough's house from Fayetteville, Arkansas where she was attending college, and spent time with him periodically throughout the weekend before September 20th.
On Sunday the 19th, Rebekah had been talking to her mom, Shirley Ballard, on her cell phone when she realized that it was running out of minutes. She told her mom she'd call her back after she was able to top it back up. That was the last time Shirley would hear her daughter's voice.
On Monday morning, Rebekah dropped McCullough at his place of work in Melbourne at approximately 8 a.m. Casey did not have his vehicle at his house that morning and needed a ride.
After driving McCullough to work that morning, Rebekah stopped by the Possum Trot convenience store in Melbourne. That was the last confirmed sighting of Rebekah. She then allegedly returned to McCullough’s house. Rebekah's sister, Danielle, who had driven with her from Fayetteville and was staying with her boyfriend nearby, was expecting Rebekah to pick her up around noon for the return trip, but Rebekah never showed up.
On September 22nd, the family received permission to form a search party. The family was angry that it took so long to get permission for the volunteer search. The sheriff's department never called the family to coordinated the search. The department also didn't contacted the local police until that Thursday, to inform them that Rebekah was missing.
A week after Rebekah was last seen, at the bottom of an embankment off a rural highway, a few miles from McCullough’s residence her body was found, She was wearing only a t-shirt and pair of panties. There had been no attempt to bury or cover the body.
Police believe that Rebekah could have been taking a nap before her trip back to school when she was woken up by her attackers. Authorities also believe Rebekah was very familiar with her killer(s) and that people who knew Rebekah at least casually have not been completely forthcoming with information.
Rebekah met McCullough when she was a car-hop at Sonic. Police ruled him out as a suspect. He said he stayed with a friend after work on September 20, and assumed Rebekah had gone back to Fayetteville. McCullough also took and passed a polygraph.
In 2016, Rebekah's father received a letter from someone who said they overheard at least four people talking about her murder at Ozarka College in Melbourne before it was widely known that Rebekah vanished. The writer claimed to be able to identify three people involved with the killing, who were described as two women and a man who approached another man with dirty blond hair, who asked them, "Did you get it?"
The three people responded. The alleged killer said that Rebekah was dragged through the house, adding that "blood was everywhere" and "she put up a fight" and "screamed a lot." They then allegedly said they were not able to retrieve "stuff" from Rebekah before dumping her body.
A week after Rebekah was last seen, at the bottom of an embankment off a rural highway, a few miles from McCullough’s residence her body was found, She was wearing only a t-shirt and pair of panties. There had been no attempt to bury or cover the body.
The autopsy report cited blunt force trauma to the left side of the head as the cause of death, likely from a piano leg. No defensive wounds or bone bruising were found on/in her body, although there was decomposition that may have hindered the coroner’s ability to detect external wounds that had been on her skin. There was no evidence that she had been sexually assaulted.
There were rumors that Rebekah might have been involved in small-time drug dealing, or that a jealous girl dating one of her ex-boyfriends may have decided to assault her. A party had reportedly took place at McCullough's house over the weekend before her disappearance. At least one of Rebekah's ex-boyfriends and his new girlfriend were said to have attended.
In 2017, Rebekah's sister Danielle was diagnosed with an aggressive metastatic form of brain cancer.
In 2018, Christopher B. Cantrell arrested for allegedly threatening Rebekah's former boyfriend, Justin Gullett, if he continued giving statements to law enforcement about Cantrell’s possible involvement in Rebekah's death.
Charges were dropped for residential burglary, intimidating a witness, and interference with emergency communications per conditions of a negotiated plea.
Cantrell was fined $1,500 plus court and other associated fees in addition to the eight-year prison sentence.
Cantrell was given credit for 142 days spent in jail awaiting his plea bargain.
In September of this year, a billboard was put up just inside Melbourne city limits, offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Rebekah's death.
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