Arlington police’s investigation into a string of unlicensed boarding homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where nearly two dozen people have allegedly died since fall 2022 has broadened to include accusations of fraud and theft.
Authorities began investigating Love and Caring for People in November. Arlington police, while responding to one of the group homes, at 1210 Woodbrook St., spoke with two neighbors about how business owner Regla Becquer had come to own the home after caring for the home’s previous owner, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News. Police were responding to call about a man who used a wheelchair had reportedly fallen in the backyard.
The previous owner of the Woodbrook Street home, the neighbors told police, did not suffer from “any type of mental deterioration” but was “suddenly” in Becquer’s care, an officer wrote in the affidavit. The previous owner’s health deteriorated in the following months, leading to her death, they told police. Becquer took possession of the house — an outcome that surprised one of the neighbors because the house “meant a lot” to the previous owner, according to the affidavit.
What police found and heard from neighbors Nov. 20 at the Woodbrook Street house would spark a criminal investigation into more than 20 instances since fall 2022 in which people died while in Becquer’s care, according to the affidavit.
Becquer, who is facing a murder charge in connection to the death of a different client, remained in Tarrant County custody Wednesday. The court-appointed attorney representing her declined to comment on the allegations detailed in the affidavit. On Feb. 15, Becquer was booked into jail on one count of abandoning and endangering an individual, imminent danger of bodily injury.
Becquer was charged with murder after the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office determined one of her former clients, Steven Pankratz, 60, died as a result of mixed drug toxicity. Pankratz’s brother has sued Becquer and is seeking more than $1 million in damages.
The Woodbrook Street house was previously owned by Karen Walker, who died at 62 while in Becquer’s care. Walker’s cousin told police that a hospital — which is not identified in the affidavit — recommended Walker go into Becquer’s care after her health began failing.
Walker told her cousin that “people inside the home were trying to kill her,” and she sounded disoriented, according to the affidavit. Two weeks after the cousin talked with Walker about becoming her power of attorney, the cousin was told by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office that Walker had died.
Police obtained a one-sentence will from Walker leaving the entirety of her estate to Becquer, according to the affidavit. The will is the subject of a forgery investigation by police.
Love and Caring for People had operated homes in Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield, police have said. Becquer filed to establish the business in May 2022, according to Texas Secretary of State records, and fell into delinquency on tax payments on Feb. 23, 2024 — eight days after her arrest.
Family members of other clients told police the health of their relatives worsened in Becquer’s care. Some described not being able to get in contact with their relatives, according to the affidavit, while clients described being given unknown medications. Another client reported that she was not allowed to leave and was being held at the Woodbrook home against her will.
Detectives said they believe Becquer “stole money from the patients, abused their debit/credit cards, forged documents and wills, and administered dangerous medicines” that led to similar patterns of disorientation and declines in the health of her patients “for her own financial gain.”
