TX TX - Tara Suzette Breckenridge, 23, Houston, 4 August 1992

Tara Suzette Breckenridge

This case is memorable for me because her and I are almost the same age, so that big hair of hers takes me back to the good old days of middle school. Big hair...mullets..and my peach fuzz of a mustache...good times... Anyway, as I was reading this it brought to mind the case of Brandi Wells who's been missing since 06. I also read that the boyfriend is a suspect in this case. Apparently the alternator belt is missing. That's got to be an inside job or something planned. You can take the belt off and the car will run fine until the battery dies, so whomever did this, intended for the car to break down. So who would have access to her car in that way? The significant other.

Has there been any updates about her case?

Previous thread mentioned..http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153596&page=2

Breckenridge was last seen leaving The Men's Clubin the 3300 block of Sage in southwest Houston, Texas at 1:00 a.m. on August 4, 1992. She was employed at the club as a server at the time. It was a slow night and the management decided to send two servers home early. Breckenridge volunteered to go, which is uncharacteristic of her behavior. A security guard escorted her to her car and she drove away without incident.

Breckenridge was returning to her apartment on Houston's northwest side at the time she disappeared. Her red 1986 Pontiac Fiero was discovered abandoned and locked in the 1200 block of West Loop North near 12th Street, along her normal route home, at 2:30 a.m. The car alarm and the flashers were off, and a can of mace Breckenridge carried for protection was inside. There was no indication of a struggle, but the vehicle's alternator belt was missing. She has never been seen again.

Breckenridge's live-in boyfriend is considered a possible suspect in her case. Their relationship was troubled and Breckenridge often spoke of leaving him. The boyfriend says he was at a pool hall at the time Breckenridge disappeared, and he didn't realize she was missing until he came home at 5:00 a.m. and she wasn't there. Her car was located only about three miles from the pool hall, and witnesses at the establishment said the boyfriend left at 1:45 a.m. and was gone for approximately an hour and forty-five minutes before returning to the pool hall. He maintains her innocence in her disappearance.

Foul play is suspected in Breckenridge's case. There were several abductions of young women in the Houston area in the early 1990's. Authorities do not know if Breckenridge's case is related to the other incidents. She grew up in a religious family in Del Rio, Texas and has four siblings. She moved to Houston after high school to pursue a photography career. Her case remains unsolved.

Tara Suzette Breckenridge
Missing since August 4, 1992 from Houston, Harris County, Texas.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: September 30, 1968
Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'5"; 115 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has a small scar under the left side of her lower lip, a scar under her left arm and a scar on her left side. She was known to keep her fingernails long and painted red. She wears contacts or glasses.
Clothing: She was wearing blue shorts, a light-colored top and sandals.
Jewelry: A Del Rio High School ring engraved with Class of 1981
Dentals: Her two upper front teeth are discolored in the middle.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Tara Breckenridge was last seen leaving the Men's Club, an upscale adult night spot in Houston, Texas where she worked as a waitress. The security guard at the club told police that he walked Tara to her car and that she drove off without incident.
Her red 1986 Pontiac Fiero was found abandoned about three miles from the club. Foul play is feared in her disappearance.
Tara grew up in Del Rio, Texas, and was the third of five children in a devoutly religious family. After high school, she arrived in Houston to pursue a career in photography.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Houston Police Department
713-247-8111
Email Form

Agency Case Number: 084030392
NCIC Number: M-381309139
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Texas Missing Persons Clearinghouse
NCMA
Unsolved Mysteries

http://doenetwork.org/cases/603dftx.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/breckenridge_tara.html

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/914/5

I was surprised when I did not find another post for Tara Breckenridge. So I added her info above.

Sleuthster said:

I was surprised when I did not find another post for Tara Breckenridge. So I added her info above.

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Ah ha. I was surprised as well. I also added the link to your previous post in websleuths that you posted as well. Great minds think alike...maybe?

I like going way back and pulling out old Unsolved Mysteries cases to see if there are any current updates or discussions, but I don't see many of them here. I guess maybe the folks here a just too young to remember. I don't know, but I do try.

Just saw this episode on Unsolved Mysteries, and I was struck by the boyfriend's statement, "I loved that girl, I loved her to death". In addition, he never actually comes out and says "I didn't kill her"; he says something like "I haven't been charged with a crime because I didn't commit a crime"...as if he couldn't quite bring himself to say "I didn't do it, I didn't kill her".

I thought the fact that he even appeared on the show spoke to his possible innocence (how often do we see perps avoid media), but a few things he said really stood out to me.

Can't believe Tara has been gone over 20 years with no clue to her whereabouts. I hope she comes home soon.

Redux said:

Just saw this episode on Unsolved Mysteries, and I was struck by the boyfriend's statement, "I loved that girl, I loved her to death". In addition, he never actually comes out and says "I didn't kill her"; he says something like "I haven't been charged with a crime because I didn't commit a crime"...as if he couldn't quite bring himself to say "I didn't do it, I didn't kill her".

I thought the fact that he even appeared on the show spoke to his possible innocence (how often do we see perps avoid media), but a few things he said really stood out to me.

Can't believe Tara has been gone over 20 years with no clue to her whereabouts. I hope she comes home soon.

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I just saw this yesterday also and I noticed the same quote from the boyfriend that he loved her to death... I think that is an inappropriate thing to say when someone is missing and presumed dead. Just looked for any updates and there are none.

FWIW:

TX-Cheryl-Henry-and-Andy-Atkinson-murder-Houston-1990:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...l-Henry-and-Andy-Atkinson-murder-Houston-1990

She left work 25 years ago, then disappeared

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/She-left-work-25-years-ago-then-disappeared-10925781.php

Tara Breckenridge left work at an upscale Houston adult club after her shift as a waitress ended.

A security guard walked Breckenridge to her car, a 1986 red Pontiac Fiero, and she drove off. That was the last time anyone reported seeing her alive.

Breckenridge has been missing since Aug. 4, 1992 - 25 years.

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Breckenridge, a native of Del Rio, has never been found and the other person police were interested in died in October 2015.

Police have long suspected foul play and that Breckenridge is dead, but haven't gathered enough information to bring charges against anyone or close the case.

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Feedback? Seems like it would of been a rule out with timeframe and location...

•The victim was discovered on September 8, 1992 in Houston, Harris County, Texas
•Estimated Date of Death: 2-6 weeks prior


Vital Statistics

•Estimated age: 20-30 years old
•Approximate Height and Weight: 5'1"
•Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown, 8” long hair. Scoliosis of the lower spine.
•Clothing: Blue jeans, pink bra, and blue bikini style underwear. She had a white metal ring with a red-purple stone.
•Dentals: Available. The anterior upper teeth are artificial, held in place by a temporary bridge.
•DNA: Available in CODIS.


Case History
The victim was located in the woods in the 500 block of Ritterhouse, in Houston, TX.
Exclusions
The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
Camora Grimes
Patricia Schmidt

https://identifyus.org/cases/2655
http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase1515.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/breckenridge_tara.html

Again, 22 minutes away(3300 Sage Rd (last Seen)~ 1200 West loop North (Car Found)~ 500 Rittenhouse Rd(UID).. height is off but the teeth and location and time of death are very interesting. As for the Scoliosis, my wife has the exact same thing and you would know it unless you touched her spine, or heard her complaining about it. Outside of me and her folks, no one knows... funny, im sure they would take this into consideration but she would be 5'6 if straightened she is 5'5 as it is..

Shin - Both have DNA submitted and I think I read that means they are automatically tested against the rest, so I would think that mean she should be ruled out. However, I could be wrong about that. There's enough there, that I think you should send the match in.

IMO Tara's boyfriend is the spitting image of the sketch of the rapist who entered the home and assaulted a Gigi's employee.

Mountain Mama said:

IMO Tara's boyfriend is the spitting image of the sketch of the rapist who entered the home and assaulted a Gigi's employee.

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The sketch referenced above not only raped that woman, but was also identified by DNA as the perp in the murder of Cheryl Henry & Andy Atkinson:

TX - TX - Cheryl Henry, 22, & Andy Atkinson, 21, Houston, 21 Aug 1990

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Any updates in Tara’s case?

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CastlesBurning said:

The Drive Home that Went Mysteriously Wrong

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I wonder if LE has compared this handwriting to the note sent to LE in Cheryl’s and Andy’s case?

ETA / From Cheryl’s and Andy’s thread:

mocity said:

Posting a picture of the note that was sent to HPD related to Cheryl and Andy's case and a picture of the note in the Tara Breckenridge case. A friend of mine pointed it out and thought they appear similar. Thoughts?

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Link courtesy of @jaejae from Cheryl’s and Andy’s thread:

The Houston Stalker Part 3– Breckenridge Disappearance
1/31/2019

Bump

I'm not sure if WH was involved in TB's disappearance (and presumed death).

If WH wasn't involved, a good possibility is that TB was driving home from work that night & something happened with the car so that she had to pull off to the side of the road (where it was found the next day). Cell phones were not common-place in 1992. So, if TB didn't have one she couldn't have called anyone. And, maybe someone pulled off to the side of the highway to "help" her & had more nefarious purposes in mind. TB, being desperate to get home, may have gone off with this stranger - never to be seen again.

So, I don't necessarily think her disappearance was connected to WH or anyone at the club - it could have just been a random criminal who saw a sick opportunity & took it.

30 years ago.... in remembrance....

Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 7, Episode 16 - Full Episode
Her story starts at 10:18....

A series of unsolved crimes in west Houston in the early 1990s, at least some of which are connected:

1990 (June 20th).
At 2 a.m. a woman leaves her work at GiGi's, returns to her boyfriend's home (her boyfriend is out of town) on Terra Cotta Drive; she is assaulted upstairs by intruder already in the home waiting for her.

1990 (August 22nd).
Murder of Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson in the vicinity of 1300 Enclave Parkway. DNA ties the perpetrator of these murders to the June 20th assault. A note on chronology: numerous articles and posts online have contradictory dates, describing how Cheryl and Andy went on a date to Bayou Mama’s Nightclub, were last seen sometime before midnight, and were reported missing the next day. Their date to Bayou Mama’s has been listed in media sources alternatively as August 21st, 22nd, and even August 23rd. The Houston Police Department's featured cold cases webpage describes it like this:

"On August 22, 1990, Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson were last seen at Bayou Mama’s Nightclub around 10:45 p.m. The next day, neither one reported to work, so a missing person’s report was filed."

1990 (September 8th).
Stephanie Michele Buehler parks her car with flat tire near the intersection of Westheimer and Beltway 8. It's believed she intended to walk home but is never seen again.

1992 (August 4th).
Tara Suzette Breckenridge is last seen leaving work at The Men's Club on the 3300 block of Sage around 1a.m., her car is later found abandoned on the 1200 block of West Loop North.

Addresses:

The Men's Club
3303 Sage Road Houston, TX 77056

Fat Freddies Family Pool Hall
5112 Antoine Dr.

The apartment
5655 De Soto St.
Their shared apartment, the Candlelight Trails Condominiums (as per posted elsewhere online).
The Houston real estate site, Swamplot, lists various buildings' addresses of this complex at 5625, 5655, and 5675 De Soto Street, just off Antoine (torn down in 2010).

Car found at:
1200 block of 610 West Loop North near W. 12th Street
29.791306882301186, -95.45194538881698