Makayla Fay Meave Byers, a 30-year-old White female from Macomb, Oklahoma, was a vibrant soul and a devoted mother to a blended family of six children. A teacher's aide at Macomb Public Schools, she was last seen alive on September 15, 2023. Her husband, Frank Byers, reported her missing the next day, telling authorities that she had left their home to go on a date with another man.
He claimed they were in an open marriage and that he saw her get into a white pickup truck with a tall, balding man. This initiated a frantic five-day search involving law enforcement and her worried family.
The search came to a tragic end on September 20, 2023, when a cousin discovered Makayla's body. She was found wrapped in old carpet and hidden inside a drainage culvert roughly 2,000 feet from her home. An autopsy later revealed that she had been shot twice in the head. As the investigation into her death began, suspicion turned towards her husband, despite his public declarations of innocence and claims of harassment on social media. Investigators learned that Makayla had recently asked Frank for a divorce and had moved into a shed on their property.
More than a month after her body was found, on October 25, 2023, Frank Byers was arrested and charged with her murder. The evidence against him was substantial. A search of the couple's property uncovered a. 22 rifle, and Makayla's blood was found on Frank's work boots. Investigators also discovered text messages suggesting he killed his wife to pursue a relationship with another woman. They alleged that Frank had used Makayla's SIM card in another phone after her death to create a fake conversation and build an alibi. Authorities believe he shot her in the shed where she was living before disposing of her body.
Faced with the evidence, Frank Alan Cole Byers was charged with first-degree murder, unauthorized removal of a dead body, and desecration of a human corpse. In a move to avoid a trial, he pleaded guilty to the charge of first-degree murder on January 31, 2025. As a result, Frank Byers was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife.
