ARLINTON— Police have discovered at least 19 additional deaths possibly linked to an Arlington businesswoman charged with menacing earlier this year.
Regla “Su” Becquer, who operated an illegal home care business, is now at the center of a much larger investigation. Arlington police have been investigating Becquer and her unlicensed company, “Love & Caring for People LLC,” which managed community housing, for months.
“After everything we’ve learned, I think it’s clear to say she didn’t love or care for anyone,” Arlington Police Lt. Kimberly Harris said.
Authorities learned that her company, which claimed to provide supervised personal care for adults in need at five homes in Tarrant County, was actually engaging in abuse, neglect and fraud.
“We were very concerned about what we were seeing in these homes and what we had heard up until that point. Today I am here to tell you that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Harris said.
Since September 2022, police have found at least twenty clients of hers who have passed away and say there could be more. Most victims were cremated or buried, and only two were found in autopsies. One of those autopsies is under investigation, while the other revealed that 60-year-old Steven “Kelly” Pankratz died of mixed drug intoxication while in Becquer’s care.
Investigators discovered that the drugs in Pankratz’s system had never been prescribed by doctors. Last week, the Tarrant County medical examiner ruled Pankratz’s death a homicide and charged Becquer with murder. She is being held in the Tarrant County Jail on a $1.5 million bond.
“I’ve been doing this as an officer for 23 years now and I’ve never seen anything like this… we had to keep digging and going and going, and it was disturbing to find out the details about these people, to go into houses where people thought it was a good place, and to find out it wasn’t vetted is very disturbing,” said Chris Powell with the Arlington Police Department.
The allegations continue to pile up as detectives investigate Becquer, family members and even people they dated and served as staff at five properties. According to another arrest document, a 53-year-old woman told Arlington fire and police officers that she was being held against her will by Becquer.
Investigators said the victim, who has cerebral palsy and diabetes and can only move her arms, said conditions at Becquer’s home were so terrible that she cut her wrists. Her goal was to get emergency services to the home, according to an arrest affidavit.
In addition to the deaths, investigators also found evidence that Becquer took possession of clients’ phones, cars and even homes.
Police say there is much more investigation to be done on each client.
“Whether it’s 20, 22 or more, everyone is fully investigated. We just go down the list and do a full investigation on everyone,” Harris police said. Arlington police said alleged victims and their families should call APD. 817-575-3230.
Nicole Nielsen
