CONWAY, Ark. — Larry Billings brought joy to many Arkansans over the years, but the story of the man who owned the Conway roller rink also comes with grief.
This fall marks 11 years since he was murdered and police are still searching for his killer.
"They could drop their kids off at the roller rink. And they knew that they were being taken care of and they were safe," said Larry's son, Michael Billings.
Alongside his five siblings, Michael spent a lot of time growing up at his dad's roller rink in Conway.
"I would come back and kind of help out where I could whenever he needed it," Michael explained.
The rink— and Larry— quickly became the heart of Faulkner County. A place for the community to come together and have fun.
"He brought joy. He had a great, a great personality. I didn't realize how much of an impact he had on the community until he was gone," he described.
On October 29, 2012, Larry was murdered with a single shot to the back of his head.
"Shock. I think there's always gonna be anger, not knowing fully what happened," Michael added.
11 years later— police have still been working to figure that out.
Now, Detective Jim Howington leads the investigation.
"I've read this case over and over several times," said Detective Howington. "Early in the morning time, a Monday morning that Mr. Billings was lying in bed and was murdered... The timing was planned... They wanted him dead..."
Police explained that Larry wasn't found until later that afternoon— when his 14-year-old son got home from school.
"He came home, went inside the house. Saw his dad still lying in bed and tried to wake him out and found blood. And that's when he ran to a phone and reported it," he said.
According to Detective Howington, Lavenia Billings, who was Larry's wife and step-mom to his kids, told police she left the home that morning to run errands.
We spoke with her back in 2013 to see what she had to say about that day.
"My son called and I knew something was wrong," Lavenia described.
Howington said that before that call, Lavenia had stopped at home to switch cars and noted that Larry's truck wasn't in the driveway.
"Thought that Mr. Billings was gone. And just went ahead and, and changed vehicles from one vehicle that she was driving to another vehicle and left again without going inside the house," Detective Howington added.
Larry's truck wasn't found until four days later— at a Kroger parking lot in Little Rock.
"The truck was parked so far away from the video the camera outside camera at Kroger that the vehicle could be identified but the individual could not," he explained.
However, police said that it didn't look like a random robbery, and there were no signs of forced entry at the home.
"He had no enemies, as far as anyone that I talked to knew," Detective Howington said.
So why would someone kill Larry? A man who was loved by so many.
Detective Howington focused on a motive, including one that had a 1.3 million dollar payout.
"Mr. Billings had plans to sell the skating rink," he explained.
Though money hadn't changed hands yet, a buyer was set. But not everyone was happy.
"The family was about to be separated, and the money was not going to be part of their life. It upset some folks," he said.
Detective Howington also said the marriage was in trouble, and since the rink had been bought before the couple got married, Lavenia wouldn't get any money from the sale.
Larry did however have $500,000 in life insurance policies.
"Another of [Larry] Billings' sons filed a lawsuit against his stepmother to stop the payment of insurance," said Detective Howington.
But the judge eventually ruled that there was an issue with legal jurisdiction so Lavenia got half a million dollars. Meanwhile, Larry's kids walked out empty-handed.
"The courts eventually gave the life insurance benefits to the wife without the family's involvement," said Detective Howington.
In that lawsuit, Michael's brother alleged that Levenia "planned, prepared... had caused Larry's death."
"There was some statements made from some of the witnesses that times and efforts and errands that were run did not match. There was some false statements made," he described.
Other documents in the lawsuit alleged that Lavenia forged Larry's signature on a check the day before he died, which transferred over $30,000 into her own account on the day of his death.
"There was money withdrawn from the bank account. That was too sudden... In my opinion, the motive was finances, money, and property," Detective Howington said.
In court documents, Lavenia denied allegations that she had a motive to kill her husband.
Also in that case were two Faulkner County Sheriff's Office reports.
One that detailed the crime scene, and another that documented a call made to detectives six months later. The call was made by Lavenia's son from a previous relationship who said that she had paid someone to kill Larry.
"He had made some statements about the murder. And he came up missing, returned back to Little Rock. It was shortly after that, that he came up dead," the detective explained.
Detective Howington said her son's death was ruled as "over intoxication."
During all of this, the roller rink that was once filled with joy— slowly fell apart.
"All the witnesses to all of this have either left, have been gone for a while, or have died. So the longer this takes, the less people that know about it," described Detective Howington.
Legal battles over the estate were never resolved, and the rink was torn down.
Larry's children were left to grieve the man that they loved.
"I can hear his laugh. You know, it's like it's an infectious laugh. And I missed that," said Michael.
Now, Detective Howington hopes someone comes forward so that he can finally get answers.
"Comes down to proving it and getting enough information from someone that can say I know this person did this," he added.
The family and community both want answers— answers for justice.
"If they know something, do the right thing," Michael said. "He cared. He cared about the community. He cared about what he did."
"He was always giving and never taking. And he deserves better than what happened," said Detective Howington.
We reached out to Lavenia BIllings for comment but never heard back from her.
Larry's family is offering a reward of $15,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone who is responsible. Anyone with information should reach out to the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office directly at (501) 450-4914.