More than 21 years after hunters found Bee Bee Lewis’ body in the Pinal County desert, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office is asking the public for information about her disappearance and death.
The office’s cold case unit was assisting the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in the ongoing investigation, according to a Sept. 17 announcement.
Bee Bee Lewis reportedly left her Oro Valley home about 6:45 a.m. Jan. 28, 2005, for work at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Hotel and Resort, which had previously operated as the Sheraton El Conquistador, the Attorney General’s Office said.
She never arrived for her shift, and coworkers later noticed her vehicle in the hotel parking lot, outside her usual space, the office said.
Hunters found her nude body the
following morning near Willow Springs Road and State Highway 77, according to the office.
Bee Bee's widow, Dr. Alvin Lewis, 75, welcomed the renewed appeal but expressed concern with the investigation in a Sept. 19 interview with The Arizona Republic.
As he grows older and the case becomes colder, he said he still hopes for answers, even as he questions what investigators can learn after so many years.
Remembering Bee Bee Lewis
Alvin Lewis wants his wife remembered as “a wonderful mother, a good wife,” a valued employee and a friend, he told The Republic. Together, the pair raised two sons.
He met Bee Bee in Malaysia in 1980 while he was serving in the Peace Corps, he said.
“She was very social and outgoing and friendly,” Alvin Lewis said.
Bee Bee Lewis was born in Malaysia to parents born in India, he said, and grew up in a close family.
They married in January 1982 and moved to Virginia later that year, he said.
The family moved to Arizona for Alvin Lewis' work in 1994.
Marriage and working life
At the resort, Bee Bee coordinated conventions and other events, sometimes beginning preparations a year in advance, Alvin Lewis said. He remembered how much she enjoyed working close to their family home in the nearby La Reserve neighborhood.
The family ate at the resort’s restaurants and brought visiting relatives, he said. At home, Bee Bee welcomed friends for meals. Alvin Lewis called Bee Bee an “excellent cook,” whose food people still talk about.
Alvin Lewis worked in mental health and later taught at Pima Community College, the University of Arizona and the University of Phoenix until he semi-retired in 2013, he said.
His schedule at the time included teaching and additional work that sometimes meant overnight shifts on weekends, he said. He wanted to provide a comfortable life for his family, but looking back, he said wished he had struck a better balance between work and time at home.
Alvin Lewis said Bee Bee wanted him to cut back, particularly so weekends could be family time. The couple discussed a trial separation before her death, he said.
Lewis said they were working through their differences and were both open to counseling. He recalled a conversation with his wife where each told the other, “I’m married to you for life.”
Questions about the investigation
Bee Bee had described tensions with coworkers and considered changing jobs before her death, Alvin Lewis said.
He encouraged her to consider another hotel including another Sheraton property in the area, though she valued working so close to home, he said. He recalled asking whether she had raised her concerns with her supervisor but said he did not know whether she had.
He shared those concerns with investigators and questioned whether they had sufficiently examined her workplace, Alvin Lewis said.
“I guess the word is disappointed,” he said of the investigation into his wife's death.
But he welcomed the public appeal and hoped it would produce new information about Bee Bee’s death. He questioned what investigators could learn so many years later, when people who knew her at the resort might have retired, moved away or died.
“I hope and pray that something comes out of this,” he said.
Alvin Lewis said he had not heard recently from investigators and had not been contacted by the Attorney General’s Office about the public appeal. If investigators contacted him now, he said, he would ask, “What’s going to be different now?”
A family’s hope for answers
Alvin Lewis keeps family photographs in his nightstand and said he recently looked through them, remembering Bee Bee and their sons. One of them featured Bee Bee standing at a scenic overlook at the Grand Canyon.
He recalled “a good time in our lives when I look back at those pictures.”
After Bee Bee’s death, he remembered waking up expecting to find her beside him and finding reminders of their shared life throughout the house. “You open the closet and there's her clothes and there's my clothes,” he said.
Relatives came to Tucson to support the family, and Alvin Lewis said he later cut back on outside work to spend more time with their younger son while continuing to teach.
His faith, family, friends and work helped him through the loss and continued to encourage and support him during the renewed push for information about Bee Bee's death, he said.
Anyone with information can contact the Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit or submit an anonymous tip to Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or silentwitness.org.
Have a news tip? Contact The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com at newstips@arizonarepublic.com.
Rey Covarrubias Jr. is a reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email him at: rcovarrubias@azcentral.com, and connect with him on Instagram, Threads, Bluesky and X (formerly Twitter) at @ReyCJrAZ.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Hope and pray.' AZ husband welcomes cold case tip push | Exclusive
