CrimePAY$ $10,000 Reward TipLine 1-888-755-TIPS (8477)

A 22-year-old college student was talking with her mother Sept. 19, 2004 when she realized her cell phone was out of minutes.

Before her phone went dead, the young women said, “Mom I’ll call you back when I get some more minutes.”

It’s a call Shirley Joan Ballard will never receive.

A body believed to be Ballard’s daughter, Rebekah Gould, was discovered Sept. 27 in a wooded embankment off Highway 9, 5 miles west of Melbourne, Arkansas

“We believe this to be the body of Ms. Gould. The body hasn’t been positively identified and until that time the search will continue,” said Lt. Bill Beach with the Arkansas State Police.

Beach said the cause and time of death would not be known for several days.

Family members and friends who gathered at the Izard County Sheriff’s Office were shocked and dismayed by the news.

“Our family is overwhelmed with grief right now,” said Gould’s father, Larry Gould.

Beach said law enforcement officials were following several leads in the case but charges were not imminent.

“There are several people of interest in this case. Many items have been sent to the crime lab in Little Rock and we are awaiting those test results,” said Beach.

The partially clothed body was discovered by volunteers from the Office of Emergency Services approximately 35 feet off 9 at 9:30 a.m. OES Director Dennis Williams said the OES volunteers searched the area for only few minutes when they came across the body.

Emergency response teams had been looking for Gould, a Mountain View native, since her family reported her missing Sept. 21.

Beach said investigators think the body had been on the embankment for several days.

Gould’s family became concerned when she failed to give her sisters a ride back to their Fayettville apartment Sept. 20.

Gould had recently rented the apartment in Fayettville with two of her sisters. Larry Gould said his daughter has been attending Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.

Gould’s Chevrolet Cavalier, cell phone, purse and other personal effects were found the day she was reported missing at a friend’s house on Highway 58, eight miles northeast of Guion. During a 12-hour search inside the residence, officers found blood in several locations, said Beach.

“It was the opinion of the investigators on the scene that there was a large amount of blood,” he said.

Beach said blood samples recovered at the scene have been sent to the crime lab along with other items for analysis.

He said investigators think Gould was forcible removed from the residence of the friend, Casey McCollough.

McCollough has been questioned several times but is not a suspect, according to Arkansas State Police investigator Marc Hollingsworth.

Investigators have confirmed that several items had been taken from McCollough’s residence.

Beach said Gould drove McCollough to work the morning of her disappearance.

Law enforcement officials would not comment on McCollough’s whereabouts on the night of Sept. 20 or the morning of Sept. 21.

Izard County Sheriff Joe Martz said the last time Gould was seen was at 8 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Possum Trot convenience store in Melbourne.

Beach refused to say whether drugs were involved in the incident, but 16th Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force Chief Scott Russell said the task force is not involved in the investigation.

Gould’s sister Danielle said McCollough and her sister had been friends for a long time. Hollingsworth said Gould and McCollough were seen together at Harp’s grocery store in Mountain View Sept. 19.

Danielle Gould said she and her sister would travel to the area from Fayettville on the weekends. She said her sister had stayed at McCollough’s house on several occasions.

Beach said he would not comment as to whether Gould and McCollough were romantically involved.

Several members of Gould’s family have questioned how the search for Rebekah was handled.

The search for Gould began at noon Sept. 21, but the media were not informed of the girl’s disappearance until the next day.

While Arkansas State Police Special Agents and local sheriff’s deputies continue their investigation a $10,000 reward is being offered by a private interest for information provided to law enforcement which will lead to the arrest and conviction of an individual or persons responsible for Ms. Gould’s murder.

CrimePAY$ $10,000 Reward TipLine 1-888-755-TIPS (8477)

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