Ministry volunteer found dead in 2014, cops say. Now DNA leads to co-worker’s arrest

A 59-year-old man was arrested after being accused of killing his co-worker in 2014, New Mexico police said.

In 2014, Danette Webb, a 53-year-old woman was found dead and duct taped in her home in Albuquerque after co-workers grew worried when she didn’t show up to her volunteer job at Noonday ministries, according to a police news release.

“I remember the second time I met her, she hugged me like we were old friends. She was a good, good person,” Webb’s friend Audrey Viera told KOB 4.

Webb was found tied up and naked in her home’s living room with $3,000 in a lock box beside her, police told the outlet.

Officers said there was no blood at the scene and that an autopsy report deemed her death “undetermined” with no signs of struggle, police told KOAT.

McClatchy News reached out to Albuquerque police on Dec. 27 for more information and was awaiting a response.

The case went cold until 2023 when detectives got a lead on a potential suspect, later identified as 59-year-old Lance Beaton, police said.

Beaton had previously worked with Webb at Noonday ministries, officers said.

On Dec. 20, Beaton was interviewed, then detectives went to his house on Dec. 21 to perform a search warrant for his DNA, police said.

On Dec. 22, detectives learned Beaton’s DNA was a match for the DNA found at the 2014 crime scene, officers said.

Beaton was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and charged with one count of murder, the release said.

Beaton appeared in virtual court on Dec. 26, and his next hearing date has yet to be set, KOAT reported.

This story was originally published December 27, 2023 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Ministry volunteer found dead in 2014, cops say. Now DNA leads to co-worker’s arrest."