Elizabeth Josephine “Betty Jo” Steffens Perryman, a 26-year-old white woman born on August 2, 1945, in Lubbock, Texas, vanished in September 1971 while working a night shift at the Toddle House coffee shop in Lubbock. She was married to Van Perryman, a taxi driver, and had two children, including a newborn daughter, Regina, born just weeks before her disappearance. Elizabeth was known for her vivacious personality and was often compared to actress Elizabeth Taylor.
On the night she disappeared, Elizabeth called the taxi company where her husband worked, requesting a ride home. When Van arrived, the coffee shop was locked, and Elizabeth was nowhere to be found. Despite immediate search efforts, her whereabouts remained unknown for three months. Her skeletal remains were eventually discovered in a field approximately eight miles west of Amarillo, Texas. The identification was confirmed through dental records provided by her family.
Investigations into Elizabeth's death revealed connections to a series of similar crimes across multiple states, including Texas, Colorado, and Utah. These crimes were attributed to the McCrary-Taylor family, a nomadic group led by Sherman McCrary and his son-in-law Carl Taylor. Their modus operandi involved targeting late-night establishments, abducting female employees, and subsequently murdering them. The family's crime spree came to an end in June 1972 after a failed supermarket robbery in Santa Barbara, California, which led to their arrest.
During interrogation, both Sherman McCrary and Carl Taylor confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Steffens. They were also convicted of the murder of Leeora Looney, a 20-year-old donut shop employee in Lakewood, Colorado, and received life sentences. Other family members, including Carolyn McCrary and Ginger Taylor, were convicted on lesser charges and served shorter prison terms. Danny McCrary, another family member, received a life sentence for a separate murder and died in prison in 2007.
Despite the confessions, Elizabeth's case was closed without a formal resolution, and her family was not officially notified of the developments. Years later, her daughter Regina sought closure by connecting with others affected by the McCrary-Taylor crimes and accessing police records to understand the circumstances surrounding her mother's death.
