The tragic case of Rebekah Baptiste’s death continues to unfold as her father, Richard Baptiste, and his girlfriend, Anicia Woods, face first-degree murder charges. The couple lived with Rebekah, 10, and her siblings in a yurt on River Meadows Ranch, a remote property in Apache County. As reported by FOX 10 Phoenix, neighbors last saw Rebekah alive a few weeks before her death.
Mary Stanley, who has resided on the ranch for 25 years, led a search party for the girl twice when she fled home. According to an interview with Stanley by FOX 10 Phoenix, she recalled Rebekah as “quiet, scared, tiny.” Her son, Andrew, managed to find Rebekah on a quad bike during those previous instances, but noted the parents’ hastiness to bring her inside without offering her water, raising suspicions.
Three weeks after the last sighting, Rebekah was admitted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital with critical injuries, where doctors likened her condition to torture. She succumbed to her wounds shortly thereafter. Disturbingly, Richard Baptiste has admitted that Rebekah was trying to get away to find help and that he sometimes “had hit Rebekah too hard.” This statement was documented by Yahoo News…