Mary Pulley, FOX 4 News
A man under suspicion in the disappearance of Kara Kopetsky is in jail for domestic abuse. Kylr Yust is Kopetsky's ex-boyfriend. He pled guilty to choking his newest girlfriend who is pregnant. According to police reports, Yust is also accused of beating the woman and threatening her and her family.
Kara Kopetsky's parents spoke to FOX 4 on Tuesday and said their daughter suffered something similar when dating Yust. The family says they're reliving the troubling nine months after their daughter dated Kylr Ust.
"He choked her," said Rhonda Beckford. "He made threats against us, her family."
The woman who is currently accusing Yust of abuse said he would sometimes choke her until she was nearly unconscious and punch her legs to keep her awake. The police report says Yust claimed he could dispose of body part in a pig pen on a family ranch. He also claimed he killed former girlfriends.
FOX 4 went to Yust's home where the abuse was reported. No one answered the door. Meanwhile, Kara Kopetsky's family says it's a shame someone else's daughter also suffered through a relationship with Yust.
"The abuse continued to escalate during the nine months of their relationship," said Jim Beckford.
A Myspace message is one of the last things Kopetsky wrote before she went missing. The message said she spent too much time focusing on Yust and not her family. Jim Beckford said he noticed there was trouble one night at dinner.
"I noticed a bruise on Kara's arm, and I asked her how it got there," Beckford said. "She said that she and Kylr were just playing around."
The family got a bigger shock when they say Yust kidnapped their daughter from work one night. Days later, Kopetsky and her mother filed a restraining order.
"She really didn't know what to expect from him, what he would do next, and she was fearful of him," Rhonda Beckford said.
That restraining order wasn't granted until after Kara Kopetsky disappeared. The Beckfords urge parents to look for warning signs.
Parents and friends are still searching for Kara Kopetsky. Her disappearance will be featured on the show "Vanished" on the Lifetime network September 10.
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