Body in Barrel Could Be Long-Missing Wife’s

Nearly 30 years ago, Francis Adams -- a wife and mother of a 20-year-old daughter -- was reported missing from the San Diego area and, despite a thorough investigation, was never found.

The mystery of Adams’ disappearance began to unravel after her husband, 84, and his 85-year-old companion died in a fire March 15 in the house they shared in Yucca Valley. Two weeks later, a cleaning crew found a sturdy wooden crate in the garage. Inside the crate were a cross, a Bible, a business card and a 55-gallon barrel. In the barrel, they discovered a decayed corpse -- a body that San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators believe could be that of Adams.

Investigators began to suspect the body was that of Francis Adams after interviewing her daughter Wednesday and learning that she had reported her mother missing in November 1975.

The daughter now lives in Nevada. She could not be reached for comment.

“In light of this information from the daughter ... a lot of the information now is pointing in the direction that it’s very likely that this was Francis Adams,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Beavers.

Beavers said Adams’ daughter told investigators that she had not suspected her father, Robert, was involved in her mother’s disappearance. Adams’ daughter spoke with her father by telephone on March 14, the day before he died in the fire, Beavers said.

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place Wednesday when the San Bernardino County coroner’s office determined that the body was that of a female, who died between the ages of 42 and 71.

Francis Adams was 50 and living in Poway, north of San Diego, when she disappeared, authorities said.

Investigators are examining the body’s dental features in hopes of comparing them with Francis Adams’ records. They may also use DNA evidence to confirm the identity.

Robert Shaw, San Bernardino County’s lead supervising deputy coroner, said his office has determined that the corpse had been slain, because “people don’t usually leave dead bodies in their garage.”

Shaw also said the body showed signs of injuries consistent with a slaying, although he declined to name them. A forensic anthropologist had not determined when the woman died, he said.

“We’re trying to compare our results against those of whoever is presented to us,” Shaw said, “but we don’t have much direction.”

According to state business records, Robert Adams was an accountant who launched A. and R. Associates Inc., a tax services business, in Escondido in 1972.

Seven years later, records indicate, he moved the business to the high-desert town of Yucca Valley.

The business, registered to the address of the Yucca Valley home he shared with Virginia Beiser, was dissolved in 2001.

One of Adams’ longtime customers, Nancy Jo McIntosh, said Adams had become her accountant soon after she opened a computer design business in Yucca Valley in the mid-1970s. She said he had become a good friend and even attended her wedding.

McIntosh said Adams rarely spoke about his wife, and she assumed he was divorced. McIntosh’s husband, Cal, said Adams gave him the impression that his wife was dead.

McIntosh said she had not spoken to Adams for several months because he had become seriously ill and she didn’t want to disturb him.

Robert Adams and Beiser died in the March 15 house fire that investigators believe was started by a cigarette Beiser was smoking in bed. Beiser had owned the home since 1998, but friends and neighbors are not certain when Adams moved in.

On April 2, a cleaning crew and representatives for Ira Tuck, Beiser’s estate attorney, discovered the body while documenting her assets. Robyn Berry, a secretary for Tuck, was the first to see it. She said she had also found the cross, the Bible and the business card, but doesn’t remember whose name was on the card.

Sara Pallante, a paralegal at Tuck’s office, said Beiser had said that she had no children or other relatives and that she wanted her financial assets and valuables given either to Robert Adams or to a charity if he died before her. Tuck declined to name the charity.

Documents found in the home may help determine whether Beiser or Adams had any other family members, but Pallante said many papers were burned or buried in deep ash.

“Between the fire and the finding of the dead body, this has changed our job,” Pallante said. “We now want to fit the puzzle together. It’s a whodunit mystery.”

Times staff writer Sandra Murillo contributed to this story.