{"id":388473,"date":"2026-07-28T01:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/388473\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T01:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:31:13","slug":"arrest-made-after-body-of-mother-of-two-recovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/388473\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrest made after body of mother of two recovered"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vera<\/p>\n

Vera Pitulic posing in front of Big Tex at the State Fair of Texas in October 2025.<\/p>\n

Facebook screenshot<\/p>\n

The Grapevine community is reeling after a 41-year-old substitute teacher and mother of two was found dead after being reported missing earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Carrollton police officers and firefighters found Vera Pitulic in Carrollton on July 21 at around 8 a.m after responding to a call about an unconscious person in a car on the shoulder of the 2500 block of southbound Interstate 35.<\/p>\n

First responders found Pitulic dead inside the vehicle, police said.<\/p>\n

According to family and friends, Pitulic and her boyfriend, 38-year-old Donny Benedict, were at a club on July 18 when they had an argument. That was the last time she was seen by friends and family. Her family reported her missing to the Grapevine Police Department on July 20.<\/p>\n

Grapevine officers used a license plate reader to locate her car. While Carrollton police was on-scene, Grapevine officers arrived to say Pitulic had previously been reported missing. The Grapevine and Carrollton police and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated together.<\/p>\n

Carrollton police got a search warrant for Benedict\u2019s home, where they found evidence to put out an arrest warrant for Benedict. Carrollton police located him, arrested him and charged him with murdering Pitulic, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

Benedict was taken to the Carrollton jail and then transferred to the Collin County jail. He has a prior arrest for domestic violence in Collin County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018She was my rock\u2019 \"Vera Vera Pitulic was found dead on July 21. Her boyfriend has been arrested and charged with her murder. GoFundMe <\/p>\n

According to the Grapevine-Colleyville school district, Pitulic was employed as a substitute at GCISD since January 2023.<\/p>\n

Community members and staff have said on social media that she frequently substituted for classes at Dove Elementary, and that her presence will be missed.<\/p>\n

Pitulic, who was originally from Serbia, moved to North Texas in 2013 and made a life for herself and worked in the same district that her two young sons attended.<\/p>\n

Pitulic\u2019s cousin Marijana Pitulic told the Star-Telegram\u2019s media partner WFAA<\/a> that Pitulic was her rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never think this would happen to her,\u201d Marijana told WFAA. \u201cI would never think in a million years that this is how far it\u2019s gonna get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitulic\u2019s family is raising money to bury her in Serbia, close to other family members. The family has set up a GoFundMe<\/a> and is asking for help with the cost of the administration work and flying the body back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith both of her parents already gone, her brothers are now facing not only an unimaginable loss, but also the responsibility of bringing her home and giving her the dignified farewell she deserves,\u201d the campaign reads.<\/p>\n

Officials are requesting the public\u2019s help and ask anyone who has more information about the incident to call Carrollton police at 972-466-3333 or *247.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Fousia Abdullahi<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Fousia Abdullahi is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram news reporter who covers suburban cities including Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Keller. She enjoys reading and attending local events. Send tips by email or phone.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vera Pitulic posing in front of Big Tex at the State Fair of Texas in October 2025. Facebook…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-388473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}