A missing Richardson ISD teacher was found dead Monday in New Mexico, and her boyfriend now faces a murder charge.
Emily Lambert, 30, was on a weekend trip to New Mexico to join her boyfriend who was there on a job assignment. On Sunday morning, her boyfriend reported her missing.
Eddy County authorities said Wednesday they have Robert Earley in custody on three charges: murder, fugitive from justice and tampering with evidence after he reportedly admitted to killing her.
Legal documents indicate Earley was arrested after taking a polygraph test and giving investigators at least one false version of what happened to Lambert.
An arrest warrant affidavit states Earley got into a fight with Lambert on Saturday evening where she bit him and he punched and kicked her in the mouth multiple times. She became unconscious, and Earley loaded her into his car and drove her to a remote location.
Lambert regained consciousness and began to fight Earley again. Earley hit her multiple times with an air pump he had in the back of his car.
Earley then took some rope, made a loop and put it around Lambert’s neck. He wedged the rope in the car door and dragged her behind a metal shed and left her.
Earley returned the next day and saw that Lambert was dead.
Carlsbad, New Mexico police said in a statement late Tuesday they are investigating the incident as a homicide. The teacher’s body was found in a deserted area outside of Carlsbad.
The arrest warrant said the two got into a fight about another man flirting with and hitting on Lambert at a bar on Saturday. Originally, Earley told police that an unidentified man hit Lambert in the face with a pipe.
“I’m still in shock, and my heart goes out to their family, and that’s all I can really say,” said Earley’s brother, Kyle.
Earley has a fairly lengthy criminal history, which includes burglary, evading arrest, theft and at least two DWIs.
Parents of students at the school where Lambert worked, O. Henry Elementary School, say Lambert always went the extra mile, even texting a student’s progress to one parent.
“My staff is broken up, and we are very disheartened right now and we just want to support Emily’s family,” said Glenda Howell, the principal of O. Henry Elementary.
Lambert’s parents told FOX4 their daughter drove to Carlsbad on Friday for the weekend, and they last spoke her on Saturday. They said she called them and seemed to be having a good time.
Then, on Sunday, her boyfriend called and said she had gone missing.
Lambert has two daughters, ages 4 and 5, from a previous marriage.
Source: MyFoxDFW.com