Genealogy Wylie » Beverly Jaye Potter (1963-1987)

Personal data Beverly Jaye Potter 

• She was born on December 5, 1963 in New Hanover County, North Carolina.Source 1
• She died on February 23, 1987 in Leland,Brunswick County, North Carolina, she was 23 years old.Source 1
• This information was last updated on August 12, 2006.

Household of Beverly Jaye Potter

She is married to William Alan Mintz.

Permission for the marriage has been obtained in 82-00000230 on .Source 1

Child(ren):

1. (Not public)

Notes about Beverly Jaye Potter

15 Brunswick murders still unsolved
Monday, August 14, 2000
BY CECE VON KOLNITZ, Staff Writer
Wilmington Morning Star
Copyright 2000 Wilmington Star-News

Sometimes when Lou Smith visits her son's final resting place in OleanderCemetery, she finds golf balls or a little skateboard at his grave.

One friend leaves a single red rose almost every holiday.

Bryan Keith Smith would have been 27 years old this month, but he wasstabbed and his throat was slit in 1994. The athletic 20-year-old, whoshared an apartment with his twin brother in Wilmington, was found deadMay 8, 1994, in Town Creek in Brunswick County.

On one visit to the cemetery, Bryan's mother wrote some of her feelingsabout the death down on a scrap of paper.

"I cannot always face the truth of my son's murder. It's so much easierto pretend that he will soon come home to me, and yet I know so much theson I loved has died, and in such a brutal manner.

"Reality is cruel and harsh, but cannot be denied. My soul is strugglingfor answers and asks the public for help," Ms. Smith wrote.

Bryan's death is one of at least 15 unsolved murder cases in BrunswickCounty that date back to 1974. It is one of hundreds in the state. Todetectives at the Brunswick County Sheriff's Department, his case is alsoone of the most frustrating mysteries.

"There's been so many times we thought we had a good suspect and it kindof fizzled out," said Lt. David Crocker, head of the department's majorcrimes unit.

Detectives have written the names of victims in unsolved cases on adry-erase board in the major crimes office. For the victims' families,not being able to see justice done is almost as bad as the grief.

Ms. Smith wants to see her son's killer sent to prison, but she knows itwon't mean the end of her suffering.

"There's no such thing as closure, ever," she said. "It's just a piece ofthe puzzle."

Another frustrating case for the two sheriff's department detectives whowork homicides, Lt. Crocker and Capt. Gene Caison, is the slaying ofBeverly Jaye Potter Mintz. The 23-year-old mother of two sons was killedat her home in Leland in 1987.

Ms. Mintz' mother, Lorene Potter, found her daughter dead in her bedroom.She had been stabbed, sexually assaulted and her throat was cut.

"Just the scene of finding her like that. Your mind doesn't want toaccept it," Ms. Potter said. "It actually feels like your heart isbreaking."

The tragedy has taken its toll on Ms. Potter, who recently had surgeriesat New Hanover Regional Medical Center and in Chapel Hill for brainaneurysms. She still has trouble sleeping, but she no longer hasnightmares all the time.

Ms. Smith said she believes law enforcement officers could be doing moreto make arrests in her son's slaying.

"You never give up hope," Ms. Smith said.

Both Ms. Smith and Ms. Potter attend groups where they can associate withother grieving families.

"At this point, I think if they solve it, it's just going to take amiracle from God," Ms. Potter said. "My husband doesn't feel like they'llever catch who killed her. I've just got to have faith that somethingwill happen."

In one of the most recent unsolved cases, 70-year-old Melvin JuliusRobinson of Supply was found shot dead near his gold 1998 Saturn sedan.The detectives are also looking for information to help solve that case.

"All it takes is that one simple phone call," Lt. Crocker said.

Time can be an advantage.

"Peoples' consciences start to bother them," Lt. Crocker said. "The olderthey get it seems like if they know something they kind of want to get itoff their minds."

Anyone with information on these or other murders in Brunswick Countyshould call the Sheriff's Department at 1 (800) 672-6379. In many cases,including the shooting death of Melvin Robinson, rewards are beingoffered.

OUT FOR JUSTICE
Families ache for answer
By Helena Oliviero
The SUN NEWS
Monday, November 19, 2001 Issue:

LELAND, N.C. It was early, sometime before noon Feb. 23, 1987, when23-year-old Jaye Potter Mintz opened her door and let someone inside.

Mintz, who had recently put an ad in a newspaper to sell her water bed,was home with her 2-year-old son.

Mintz's visitor stabbed her eight times and disappeared.

Mintz's killer has not been caught.

Her death is one of nine unsolved killings in Brunswick County, N.C.

Mintz's mother, Lorene Potter, not only mourns her daughter's death butstruggles knowing the killer roams freely.

Hope that the killer would someday be caught has dwindled over the years.

But six years ago, Mintz regained some of her strength and confidencethrough Justice for Citizens, a support group for victims' families.

The group was formed by Birdie Frink, whose teen-age daughter was killedJune 23, 1994, after being tortured, raped and run over.

"Birdie is a great help," Potter said. "Before, I had no support. Just myfamily."

The support group, the first of its kind in Brunswick County, meets oncea month from January to May in a room at Brunswick Community College.

As many as 60 people attend the meetings, where Birdie Frink talks aboutany pending legislation related to victims' rights and then opens thefloor for victims' families to talk.

Frink is available around the clock - to help victims through the courtprocess, to keep pressure on detectives so cases stay alive and to listento devastated families.

Once a year, Justice for Citizens holds a candlelight vigil.

"When Amy died, Barry and I wanted to do something to help others," Frinksaid. "It's hard, but I feel I can really help by listening to them.Unless this has happened to you, you really can't understand."

Brunswick County detective Gene Caison said Frink feels comfortablecalling him and that she often calls on behalf of victims' families.

"Instead of staying at home and sulking," Caison said, "she puts all ofher negative energy into this."

Frink is also patient. She waited four years before the first arrest inconnection with her daughter's killing.

When Frink hears about a homicide in Brunswick County, she gives thevictim's family a card with her contact information and gently tells themthey can call her if they need to talk.

Potter said the support group boosts her spirits, especially as the yearspass and her daughter's case gets colder.

Caison said the leads tend to fall off as the years pass without anarrest.

"But every once in a while I'll get a call and the person will say, `I'vebeen thinking about this for a long time"' Caison said.

"The person likely lived nearby, and he'll say he remembers somethingsuspicious about someone in the neighborhood."

Potter said her husband has lost all hope that Mintz's killer willsomeday be captured.

But she remains hopeful.

"Someone has to come forward," Potter said. "That's what it needs totake."

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