The Mysterious Death of Patrice Bell

The lady you see pictured above isn't a celebrity. She doesn't have a high profile case like Tupac or Biggie, which is exactly why I chose to write about her. Her story is only known among those of us who knew her. Patrice, affectionately known by family and friends as 'Cookie', was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana, a major city in the northern part of the state, close to Arkansas and Mississippi. Her whole life was dedicated to Christ and setting an example to others around her. Everyone that knew her loved her and said the same thing; Patrice was a woman of God. For this reason, the circumstances surrounding her death still haunt her family and friends to this day. Patrice was found in a wooded area of Tappohannock, Virginia, thousands of miles from her hometown, lying face-down in shallow water by two hunters. Virginia State Police ruled the death a suicide, but her family and friends are still looking for answers. Again, Patrice was a devout Christian and believed suicide was a sin. In addition to this, Facebook clues gathered by myself and others lead many of us to suspect foul play.

Backstory: When Patrice was reported as having been found by the Virginia State Police department on its Facebook page on September 25, 2015, I immediately began searching for answers. Clear on the page was what to her family and friends know is the first sign of foul play was a picture posted of her by the state police, the last known picture of Patrice. This is a red flag to us because she was a woman who took great pride in her physical appearance. So to see her hair uncombed and all over her head, her eyes looking tired and sad, we all knew something was wrong. Tappahannock and Monroe residents quickly took to the comments section to discuss Patrice's death. Tappahannock is a very small town and several people said they saw her around town, whether in the restaurants or elsewhere. One Tappahannock resident said she last saw her eating at Chili's sitting by a window alone. Reports say she was last seen at 2am on September 11, 2015. Others said they had seen her riding in a pickup truck with an unidentified male. When several of us asked if anybody knew where she was in the picture posted by Virginia State Police, a Tappahannock woman came forward and said it was a local motel that she worked at. This woman noticed the front desk and decor of the hotel. We asked if anyone might know who took the picture, who had her phone, any leads that might let us know anything...to this day, no one has come forward with any answers about who took the picture or the unknown male she was seen with.

What struck me as odd as well were two women from our hometown of Monroe in the comments section who were laughing and making light of a very serious situation. When they were asked what they knew and what could possibly be funny, they never answered. At this point, my god sister and I begin to comb Patrice's Facebook profile for clues. I had fallen out of touch with her since our days of going to the same church together as children, so I felt so guilty that it took her death for me to be concerned about her again. But as we sat in New Orleans in September of 2015 doing our own sleuthing, a few things became apparent: 1. Patrice in her naivete was lured to Tappahannock, VA. 2. Her death was NOT a suicide (opinion among those that knew her). 3. Her killer is still free to kill again.

1. Patrice in her naivete was lured to Tappahannock, VA. I had a few people that knew Patrice in Monroe reach out to me when the news first broke that she was dead. One lady, I believe she is a cousin to Patrice, let me know that Patrice had come into a lump sum of money that she inherited when a family member passed away. She hinted that she believed the money was motive for Patrice's death. I do not know if this information was ever given to Virginia State Police. After going back in her Facebook posts to the weeks before she went to Tappahannock, we learned a couple things about Patrice; she wanted to get into the fashion industry and she was a Chris Brown super fan, the latter of which explained a question that had been burning in my mind. Tappahannock is a very rural town. I've driven through it on the way to Maryland when I was stationed in Virginia, Beach in the Navy. Why would someone interested in breaking into the fashion industry choose to move to Tappahannock, Virginia of ALL PLACES?! Not New York, not L.A., rural, one-horse town Tappahannock. Anyone who has listened to Chris Brown's music knows he proudly represents Tappahannock, Virginia. So what connection does this have to her being lured and her subsequent death? Patrice made several cryptic posts about a mystery man she had met online. What she did say about him was that light skinned and handsome. WE HAD A DISCRIPTION OF A SUSPECT. She even went on so far as to say this man would be picking her up from the airport when she got to Virginia. We cannot be sure, but we believe that whoever this man was, he tricked Patrice into believing he could get her connections in Tappahannock for her career to take off. I'm sure that everyone from Tappahannock knows Chris Brown is from there, and we believe this man used that information and Patrice's love for him to get her to leave the safety of her hometown, not knowing that Tappahannock is a town smaller than her own hometown. It is not as if this is a metropolis where entertainers go to make it big, just this one person, Chris Brown, happens to be from there. It could also be possible that she revealed information about her supposed monetary inheritance to a man she didn't know. This brought us back to the two ladies in the Facebook post by the state police that made light of her disappearance and death. They were also from Monroe. Had she told them about this guy she met online and they tried to talk her out of moving? She had made posts about people being jealous of her making moves.

2. Her death was NOT a suicide (opinion among those that knew her). I have to reiterate that Patrice was a devout Christian and believed suicide was a guarantee to not see the kingdom of heaven. I don't think I can put into words how Christian she was. Suicide was just not the answer, and we all believe she would have left and come back to Louisiana before taking her life. It simply was not an option for her. In addition to that, when her body was discovered by two hunters, she was lying face down in water, her body already in various stages of decomposition due to the elements. Was she pushed in? Was she dead prior to being taken where she was found? Again, the last person she was seen with was a man. We don't know if this is the man she was chatting with online or someone she met when she arrived in the town. What we DO know again is that Tappahannock is a very small town. Someone knows this man, if he's even from there. Who knows if he lied and said he was from there, but really wasn't? What if he was from another part of Virginia, or even from another state entirely? As far as I know, no one knows an actual cause of death other than "suicide". Suicide by WHAT? Drowning? Asphyxiation? No one in Louisiana knows because Patrice's father wasn't even allowed to bring her body back home. The authorities in Virginia gave some lame excuse like her body being too decomposed, and so she was swiftly given an autopsy and cremated...in Virginia. No opportunity for an independent autopsy or anything, which reeks of a coverup. Decomposed bodies are often exhumed after burial. These days, evidence can even be extracted from cremated remains, so there was no excuse. What would it have changed for them to send her body back home to have a proper burial and funeral among people that actually knew and loved her?

3. Her killer is still free to kill again. Patrice's case was very open and shut. Everything happened very swiftly. I am a criminal justice graduate and professional myself. I know the ins and outs of forensics, rigor mortis, collecting evidence, the whole nine yards, and I know not enough time and care was taken on this case. I bet if it was the police's loved ones, a killer would have been brought to justice. Hell, the case would still be open if not. But Patrice was not given the grace of a careful autopsy. Her family and friends didn't even get to say goodbye to her. She was just burned up and her cremated remains handed to her grieving father, who I'm told has not been in good spirits since her demise. This situation is still upsetting and heartbreaking to all of us, and we are still searching for answers. I don't know if Vocal has the answers, I doubt it even. But if this story can be shared over and over again to bring awareness to it, I have done my job. Somebody out there knows more than what has been told this far. Some unknown mystery man who may know something, or who may even be a suspect, is still at large. Black women already get little to no justice in this country when it comes to crimes, and we believe that her race is another reason why this case was glossed over, but Patrice was loved, she was adored, and she was human. Rest in peace as well as you can Patrice, until we meet again. Just know that many people, including myself, have not stopped looking for answers. I hope you're in heaven having a hallelujah good time. I hate to think that someone may have taken advantage of how trusting you were.