LAS VEGAS -- The children of murdered school teacher Mary Beth Franta are speaking out for the first time. Their mother is dead, their father is accused of her murder and now they have been hit with a huge bill.
Their mother's vehicle, which police suspect transported her body, has been sitting in a local tow yard since mid-November. The towing company wants several thousand dollars to release it to Franta's children.
Late last year, Brandon and Ashley Franta effectively lost both of their parents. Police found their mom's body in a desert lot and arrested their dad for her murder. In the months that have followed, 24-year-old Brandon has assumed responsibility for his parent's affairs.
Brandon Franta last saw his mom's car in late October during his dad's birthday weekend. Now, it sits in a fenced off part of The Ewing Brother's tow yard.
It was locked up -- at the request of the Metropolitan Police Department -- until recently. It was considered evidence in his mother's murder.
"This is something from a Law and Order or a CSI show. This isn't something that's supposed to happen in real life. And for it to. I'm sorry. For it to actually have happened to us. It's hard, I don't know any other way to put it," he said.
Brandon's father, Mark Franta sits behind bars accused of killing his mom Mary Beth in mid- November. Police suspect his mother's killer used her SUV to dump her body behind the grocery store where they found the vehicle.
According to the towing records, investigators towed the SUV from the grocery store parking lot to the crime lab for processing then to the tow yard for storage the same day. Yet Metro prevented the vehicle's release for more than a month-and-a-half to ensure that it was no longer needed for its evidentiary value.
"It just sat there," said Mark Franta's attorney Christy Craig. She has asked the court to release the vehicle to Brandon and his sister at no cost. The bill for its return, as of Thursday, is more than $2,700.
"When you're looking at who should pay for this between the Metro police department, the District Attorney's office and Ewing brothers, the battle should be between those three. It shouldn't be on the backs of the children of Mary Beth Franta. They've lost their mother and it just shouldn't be compounded by having to pay horribly exaggerated fees to any agency to get back some of their mom's property," Craig said.
Brandon understands that Ewing Brothers is a business but he says he can't afford to pay the bill. And while his dad remains in jail, Brandon is using his parent's limited resources to maintain their home.
"At this point, my dad is still innocent until proven guilty and for him to get out of jail and not have a life to come back to that would be disastrous for him in more ways than what his life has already been," Brandon Franta said.
He joked that his mother practically lived in her SUV and he had hoped when he finally saw the vehicle at the towing yard some of her things would be in it but he was disappointed to find nothing.
"I miss my mom."
Though the 2002 Mazda Tribute may not be worth much, Brandon says it's paid for and his sister could really use it. Also, it was something that belonged to his mom so he doesn't want to leave it behind.
"It's been almost two months now and it still feels like a bad dream that you just want to wake up from."
He's in town for hearings Friday in his father's case before Judge Eric Goodman including the motion to release the SUV without cost or to prevent its sale at auction which is scheduled for later this month.
Mary Beth Franta
