Taylor Behl
Investigation Focuses
Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe said Thursday that charges would be filed within hours of the official announcement of finding the body of missing Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) student Taylor Behl.
"I have the utmost confidence that we're going to be able to resolve this case," Monroe said.
Monroe said the investigation has become much more targeted and that charges may be filed in the next few days.
Taylor Behl disappeared from Richmond on Sept 5, Labor Day. Taylor was last seen by her roommate around 10:20 p.m. when she said she was going out skateboarding with three guys and would be back in a few hours. Richmond police have interviewed several skateboarders who were acquainted with Behl, but have not revealed any information regarding who Taylor was planning to skateboard with or even if she did go skateboarding at all that night.
Two individuals have received a great deal of media attention lately. One is Ben W. Fawley, the 38-year-old amateur photographer who is now in jail over charges of possessing child pornography. The other person is skateboarder Jesse Schultz, a 22-year-old now in jail over cocaine possession charges.
Fawley and Taylor had a brief romantic relationship and continued a friendship over a period of several months. Fawley may be one of the last people to see Taylor alive. He told police that Taylor had come to his apartment to borrow a skateboard and he walked her back to her dormitory around 9:30 p.m. the night she vanished. The next day, Sept 6, Fawley claimed that he had been abducted and robbed around 5 a.m. that morning and filed at police report around 4 p.m. Fawley attributed the attack to a long-running altercation that he had with a former girlfriend and model.
Fawley previously had a romantic relationship with a young model whose family owned property near the Mathews County farm where Taylor's body was found Oct. 5. The former girlfriend identified for police some photos available on the Internet taken by Fawley of the area where Taylor's body was found.
Jesse Schultz came to the attention of police in a dramatic way that evokes Court TV's Forensic Files. Needless to say, the task force members brought in a K-9 to get the scents in Taylor's car when it was found in Richmond. The K-9 got wind of a scent other than Taylor's and went straight to Jesse Schultz. Schultz denied knowing Taylor. However, Chief Rodney Monroe said that at this time, Schultz is not considered a suspect.