Body of woman missing since March may have been dumped near Stephens County, according to Fort Worth police

November 30

19:25 2023

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By Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Law enforcement investigators from Fort Worth are looking for the body of a woman they believe was last seen alive in Breckenridge in March. Earlier this year, the Breckenridge Police Department and Stephens County Sheriff’s Office assisted Fort Worth detectives in an investigation into her disappearance.

According to a bulletin from the Fort Worth Intelligence Exchange fusion center, a Texas center that works with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in fighting crime, Sheri Lynne Vickers is believed to be deceased and her body may have been dumped within an hour’s drive of Stephens County.

The bulletin – which was shared Wednesday, Nov. 29, on the Facebook page “Shackelford County Sheriff’s Office” – was issued on Sept. 27, 2023. It states that Vickers, was last seen alive on March 23, 2023, in Breckenridge. She was 44 years old at that time.

John Brown Lewis IV (Courtesy of the Taylor County Jail Records webpage)

Earlier this year, the Fort Worth Police Department also issued a missing person bulletin about Vickers. At that time, her last known location was in Fort Worth. Since then, additional information was discovered, leading investigators to believe that Vickers was in Breckenridge the last time anyone saw her alive.

When she was last seen, she was in a white Dodge Ram pickup with John Brown Lewis of Abilene, age 57, according to the FWIE bulletin. Vickers was wearing a white tank top, jeans and red sandals and was in possession of a bag of clothing.

The Taylor County jail records webpage shows that a man named John Brown Lewis IV was booked into the jail in Abilene on Sept. 12 on charges of a parole violation for original charges of possession of a controlled substance. The website does not show a release date for that arrest.

Breckenridge Police Chief Bacel Cantrell said that a Fort Worth homicide team came to Breckenridge earlier this year and interviewed people who may have known something about the situation with Vickers. Cantrell said the Breckenridge Police Department helped identify people in some photographs that the Fort Worth detectives had and helped set up interviews.

Stephens County Sheriff Kevin Roach said the sheriff’s office also assisted with the investigation, helping to locate possible witnesses and searching some areas of the county.

Cantrell and Roach said that they don’t think that Vickers’ body is in Stephens County, although it may be nearby. Additionally, Cantrell said that Vickers is not known to be related to anyone in Breckenridge and has never lived here.

News of Vickers being missing recently caught the attention of the media in Abilene, but the Fort Worth investigators have issued missing person bulletins several times this year, Cantrell said. If anyone knows something about what could have happened to Vickers or where her body might be, they can call the Breckenridge Police Department at 254-559-2211.

“She needs to be found; she needs to be taken back to her family,” Cantrell said.