Scary Terri | 1. The Mysterious Death of Devereaux Cleaver
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Who was Devereaux Cleaver and what happened to her?
The Binge. Feed your true crime obsession. The Binge. When I started looking into a string of mysterious deaths in Dallas, Texas in the 1970s and 80s, I had no idea what kind of madness, carnage, and darkness I'd find there. I also didn't think I'd stumble across another Charlie Manson. Devereux Cleaver had just turned 14 when her mom, Sandra Cleaver, invited her to go on a vacation to Hawaii. Her mom's fiance, Lynn Fairchild, would be there too. And her close friend and mentor, Terry. Devereaux's stepmother, Gail Cleaver, remembers her as a bright girl, sweet and shy, tall.
Long, beautiful, curly, blonde hair. Like Chuck used to say, she had legs all the way to Bakersfield.
She loved animals and basketball and her new step-siblings. Gail had a son and two daughters from a previous marriage. They were this Brady Bunch type family, a friend of hers told me. Devereux was excited to go, but Chuck and his new wife Gail were worried about the trip. They really didn't care for the people Sandra hung around with, especially her friend Terry, to whom she was practically attached at the hip. But spending quality time with her mom was something Devereux didn't get to do very much, and Chuck and Gail didn't want to get in the way of that. The Wailupe in O'ahu. A windy peninsula southeast of Honolulu. It means literally kite water on account of the breezy Pakata coastline where they could take flight and nearly touch the sky. You can see them today, guiding surfers across the water like disembodied souls under the bright sun. Hawaii was an exotic wonderland for Devereaux.
Far from the dusty horizon, the muscular cloud clusters miles high, and the hot blanket of air draping Dallas like a set piece in a movie.
Chuck and I had been out at a couple friend of ours that night, and we'd gotten home late, and we crawled into bed, but it was about 1.30 in the morning. And I answered the phone.
Hello?
I handed the phone over to Chuck, and the next thing I remember hearing was, and he sat bolt right up in bed and said, what do you mean she's missing? I'll never forget that as long as I live.
Sandra and Devereaux had gone swimming that day, after lunch. Just 20 or so minutes from their hotel in Honolulu was a beach. More like a lagoon, actually. It was ankle deep for about a half mile out from the shore. An odd choice for swimming. Lynn, Sandra's fiancé, stayed back, napping off one too many glasses of champagne after lunch. Go on, have fun, he told them. Suddenly, underneath them was a patch of coral reef, tough and sharp, like knives and sandpaper. The water was deepening now, too. That far out, it's hard to gauge the size of a wave. That's when one wave came roaring past, knocking them off of the raft. Another wave, and she was gone. Sandra looked over and couldn't see her daughter. She'd been swept under by the current.
She dove underneath, looking for her. She couldn't find her. That's where Sandra's account trails off. She woke later on the rocky shoreline, calling for help. Meanwhile, Lynn woke up from his catnap, recognized something was wrong. He alerted authorities on the beach, who dragged Sandra back in.
They had gathered Sandra up off of a coral reef, bleeding all over, but Devereaux was missing.
Chuck got out of bed and headed towards the airport. It was like an eclipse flashed across the sky. A dark pall covered their world. A chill shot through them that they would never be able to shake.
We've lived in the darkness of how this hovered over our lives.
Their daughter was gone. Life would never be the same. And from the moment their phone rang that awful night, Gail had a creeping suspicion that would soon overcrowd everything. This wasn't a freak accident.
My theory is, my brain, what I think was supposed to happen, and this is just me and my brain thinking, it's not a fact, I think they were both supposed to die that day.
Devro and Sandra were collateral damage in a sick and deadly conspiracy. And the terrible truth is, I think Gail was right.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who was Devereaux Cleaver and what happened to her?
0:00–8:19
2
What were the circumstances of Devereaux's disappearance?
8:19–12:46
3
How did the Cleaver family react to Devereaux's disappearance?
12:46–17:14
4
Who is Terry Hoffman and what influence did she have?
17:14–18:03
5
What conspiracy theories surround Devereaux's death?
18:03–23:03
6
What impact did Terry Hoffman have on Sandra Cleaver?
23:03–28:01
7
What were the legal battles over custody related to Devereaux?
28:01–32:51