Crystal Beach murder

CRYSTAL BEACH, Texas (AP) - A 28-year-old mother whose beaten body was found by campers on a popular stretch of beach near Galveston was brutally raped, the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday.

Bridgette Lynn Gearen, of Orange, also had been strangled, but the medical examiner has not determined whether that was the cause of death, Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said.

Gearen disappeared late Saturday night, around the time she and some friends staying at a beach house were leaving to take a late-night drive, Tuttoilmondo said. She walked outside first, but was gone a few minutes later when her friends left the house to join her.

Campers found her body Sunday morning about 100 yards from the beach house where she and her 2-year-old daughter were staying, Tuttoilmondo said.

Investigators are unsure whether Gearen knew her killer or was abducted by a stranger.

"We're still kind of torn on whether this was a random act, or someone who knew her," Tuttoilmondo said. "Right now we don't know."

The beach is known by locals as the "zoo" because tourists are known to throw loud parties. Underage drinking is sometimes a problem, but violent crime is unusual, residents said.

The last murder investigation in Crystal Beach was in 2004 when a store clerk was shot during a robbery.

"During the holidays it's a bit rowdy, but it's really unusual for someone to get murdered," Crystal Beach resident Johnnie Denena said. "I was shocked."