Gearen, a legal secretary, and her 2-year-old daughter, Kyra, were staying with friends at a beach house on Crystal Beach on July 14 when Gearen walked outside a little more than a minute ahead of her friends at 11:56 p.m., Tuttoilmondo said. The friends heard a gate at the top of the stairs close and she was gone by the time they reached the bottom of the steps. "It happened in a minute and a half," Tuttoilmondo said. "She just vanished from this earth." Campers discovered Gearen's body in the surf about 6:30 a.m. The autopsy showed she had been raped, beaten and strangled, but investigators believe she put up a fight, said sheriff's Lt. Tommy Hansen, the lead investigator. TIPS: bridgettegearen2008@gmail .com
