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E280: Amy Bechtel
1.9k Plays8 days ago
On July 24, 1997, 24-year-old Amy Wroe Bechtel set out for what should have been an ordinary afternoon near Lander, Wyoming. A rising athlete with Olympic dreams, Amy was in the middle of mapping the course for a 10K race she was organizing. By the end of the day, her white Toyota station wagon sat abandoned, her to-do list unfinished, and Amy herself was nowhere to be found. Despite a massive search effort that involved hundreds of people, cadaver dogs, and aircraft, no trace of Amy was ever recovered.
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Transcript
Introduction to Amy Bechtel's Disappearance
00:00:00
Speaker
lander in 1997 was one of those small spectacular towns it's a mile above sea level nestled against fierce shark peaks it's known for its civility and its proximity to incredible wilderness this was home to a really specific intense group of athletes and rock climbers many of whom lived on a block jokingly called climbers row they lived by this intense mantra Positive mental attitude, focus, quitting is not an option.
00:00:28
Speaker
For them, life was about pushing limits in the great outdoors. It was here in this beautiful, isolated place so that an athlete known for her drive and discipline set out for a simple run that she had been eagerly planning. She taught her fitness class, ran her errands, and headed up the long gravel loop road with a purpose, to map out every mile, every switchback of the 10-kilometer race she was organizing.
00:00:52
Speaker
She was spotted by a few people that afternoon, jogging swiftly. Then the trail swallowed her whole, leaving behind nothing but a parked car, a half-finished to-do list, and an endless agonizing mystery.
00:01:03
Speaker
Today, we're diving into the case of Amy Rowe Bechtel.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:02:00
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee in Cases Podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive.
00:02:14
Speaker
So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
Amy's Background and Running Career
00:02:18
Speaker
feel like done a lot of Amy's. This is because I did Amy Bradley. Yeah. This Amy. And then I have another Amy that I'm researching. Wow. So.
00:02:28
Speaker
We've had a lot of Amy's in general then, too. Yeah, because Amy Mahal. Yeah. So, obviously, want to start at the center of the story, which is Amy. Okay. So, she was born Amy Joy Rowe in 1972 in California.
00:02:42
Speaker
So, I'm guessing when she got married, she made her... Birth name. her middle name. i Gotcha. Okay. My sister-in-law did that. Yeah. Did you do that? No, you didn't do that. Because your first name is not really Allison. Yeah, no. okay She's done here.
00:02:54
Speaker
She can see the little things. Anyway, so she was born in 1972 in California, but her childhood unfolded mostly in Wyoming because her family... relocated in Jackson and then later Douglas, Wyoming. And she was the youngest of four children, and she grew up surrounded by mountains, fresh air, and all these wide open spaces.
00:03:15
Speaker
want to go out there. Yeah, I do too. Maybe one day when we win the lottery. Right, when we have money. Yeah, when I'm not poor. Physically, Amy was small, though. She was about five five and she weighed about 110 115 pounds.
00:03:28
Speaker
ten two hundred and fifty okay very So she is skinny. And she had blonde hair and these striking blue eyes. But those who knew her said that despite being... Small in stature. Yeah, small in stature. She was big in personality. Her personality would fill the room.
00:03:43
Speaker
She was thoughtful and steady. She was often described as highly focused and well organized. She did have like a handful of scars that quietly marked errors of her life, like errors of her life. Okay. So she had some on both legs, one on her shin and her knee.
00:03:59
Speaker
and She had a scar on her lower back and then a small mark on her cheek that only showed up when she was like flushed with anger or cold. Okay. I feel like that's what mean. like as soon as I see it, uh-oh. He's angry. That's right.
00:04:13
Speaker
Everybody needs one of those. Then they know how you feel. So I found out with my youngest that the stork bites that babies are born with, they may fade over time, but they really don't go away. And they'll flare back up like when they get mad.
00:04:27
Speaker
So his on the back of his neck, after it goes away, they should flare back It's like a superpower emblem that just comes out. But for the parents, like, oh, God, I'm making him mad. Right. Unlike me, running was Amy's passion. Amy, that's not like me either. Though she wasn't considered a natural talent at running in high school, she had this drive and this...
00:04:50
Speaker
persistence that set her apart. So by college, her determination had paid off. So at the University of Wyoming, she rose to captain of both the cross country and track teams.
Life with Steve Bechtel and Settling in Lander
00:05:01
Speaker
Dang, okay.
00:05:01
Speaker
And she actually still holds some records there, I think for the 3,000 meter. I don't know. so Don't tell me meters. I don't know how far that is, but it's far far. Yeah, it's farther than I'm willing to run.
00:05:14
Speaker
Her sights were even set on something higher, and that was qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics and long-distance running. And you all know love the Olympics. I'm obsessed.
00:05:25
Speaker
So I get this because I once had a student who... wanted to be in the Olympics and do wrestling. Oh. And this was when I was in New Jersey. Like a high school student? Yeah. And this kid had, like, not lost a match since he was in elementary school. He was that good.
00:05:45
Speaker
And I think it was, like, a family tradition. But he put post-it note on his mirror, and he would look at it every day as determination to train and not lose focus. telling you, these athletes, this is serious business. I always said I wanted to go to the Olympics, but clearly that happen. I would like to a spectator. No, wanted to be in it for gymnastics, but clearly didn't happen.
00:06:09
Speaker
But I would like to be a spectator. That'd be fun. do we get So she had already completed the Boston Marathon in 1996, and she completed it in a little over three hours. So that's a long race, right? I don't know how long it is, but again we don't run longer than i would run. yes And her husband and friends believe that it was only a matter of time before she would be able to qualify for the Olympics. and I know how one qualifies for the Olympics. I think there are all kinds of like preliminary meets.
00:06:35
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But tip all this from someone who, in high school, they were like, mediocre. Yeah. Wow. It's like Michael Jordan, when he didn't make the basketball team, i bet that coach, like, yeah the back was like, whoopsies. Yeah, got that one wrong. Yep.
00:06:51
Speaker
So it was at the University of Wyoming that Amy met Steve Bechdel in 1992, and they were both that studying exercise fizzle physiology. Yeah, you know how you like see words in your mind and you can say them? That's one of those words. It's like rural to me. Physiology. Physiology.
00:07:11
Speaker
Sharing not only that career path, but then again, the love for outdoors. Which, again, you've got to have a match with that. yeah So hers was running, his was climbing. Now, if I had to pick between the two, would pick running. i am not going to climb up the side of a mountain.
00:07:28
Speaker
It makes my hands wet. I went to a, I don't even know what to call it, some kind of ropes course. And they had a rock wall. And I got about halfway up. And then I was like, what have I gotten myself into? What am I doing? And I was like, where do I put my foot?
00:07:45
Speaker
I mean, it was terrifying. But I made it up. Oh. And then I went all around up in the treetops. And then you had to. zip line down? Yeah, zip line down over a lake.
00:07:56
Speaker
Oh, great. Look at her. It was also terrifying stepping off of the platform to zipline down because you're like, hope it catches me. Well, I don't do, we've never done ziplines, Anthony and I, because he told me they weren't regulated by any Lovely. So any I might have lost my life that day.
00:08:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. very So after graduating in 1994, they moved to Lander and then were married two years later in 96. Okay.
Events Leading to Amy's Disappearance
00:08:24
Speaker
Steve then, 27, described Amy just like everyone else, driven, tenacious, and almost singularly focused on her pursuit. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.
00:08:34
Speaker
So the couple made their home on Lucky Lane. What nice name for a road. Lucky Lane. I guess it's not really that lucky. Oh. Well, nothing really happens on Lucky Lane, so I guess it's still good for me. Okay.
00:08:46
Speaker
They rented a small cottage from a renowned climber named Todd Skinner and his wife, also named Amy. Okay. The neighborhood was nicknamed Climbers Row. So this fits for them.
00:08:59
Speaker
And it was, like, viewed as a communal, free-spirited place. Most people didn't really lock their doors. They would leave their equipment outside. It was often just kind of shared equipment. Oh, okay. So you just borrow what you need.
00:09:12
Speaker
And then would pop but you could pop in for, like, meals and things like that. nice. Which, for some people, like extroverts, I feel like that would probably be fine. But Amy was a little more private. Oh, okay. So...
00:09:24
Speaker
And more orderly by nature. So she likes things to be, you know, all of her ducks in a row. And if people are coming in and out, they might. Yeah. Yeah. Also, ah my house is never, like, fully clean. So I need notice before people come over. should just say that's why my house is dirty. Oh, somebody must have come in. Sorry. did Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:44
Speaker
why there's dog hair everywhere. That's right. But she was ready to create a space of her own. So actually, just days before she had vanished, she and Steve had clothes on their first house in Ranch Stop in town. Yep.
00:09:57
Speaker
And she had thrown herself into preparing for the move. She was excited about having a darkroom for her photography and a lawn to tend to In those days leading up, she was busy organizing all of the things that you have to get together when you're moving into house. Oh, lordy be. So she had canceled a trip to visit her parents, telling them, basically, I have a million things to do. I just can't make it. Yeah, understandable.
00:10:21
Speaker
And to support herself, because ah feel like if you're training to be an Olympian, or that's pretty much a full-time job in and of itself. yeah So she actually juggled several part-time jobs. So she taught youth weightlifting.
00:10:36
Speaker
She weighted tables. And she was working part-time at Wild Iris Mountain Sports. But again, her favorite project that she poured herself into was planning this 10K race around Loop Road.
00:10:51
Speaker
Oh, so she was also planning a race? Yeah, from what I read, because at first I thought she was just going to be running in a I feel that takes a lot of organization to get. But think was, like, trying
Investigation and Search Efforts
00:11:00
Speaker
to plan one. Yeah.
00:11:02
Speaker
Well, okay. Thursday, July 24, 1997 was an unusually hot day in Lander, and Amy and Steve had breakfast together around 9.30 and then went there separate ways because Steve was planning need to take their dog and drive 70 miles to meet a friend named Sam to scout some climbing areas. Okay, because that's his passion. Because that's his thing.
00:11:25
Speaker
Amy Meanwhile began tackling her huge to-do list, because remember, she has right all the things. Yes. She taught her. And it doesn't sound like Steve is helping her very much. Yeah, I thought that, too, because I'd be like, we here's my half. Here's your half.
00:11:42
Speaker
But instead, she taught her 90-minute youth weightlifting class. The owner of that business said that she had appeared to be in a good mood, nothing out of the ordinary. She is moving into a new house, and that's exciting.
00:11:53
Speaker
And then came the other errands. So she had to, i think, turn on the phone, the gas, and call insurance to get, instead of renter's insurance, homeowner's insurance.
00:12:06
Speaker
And then she also dropped off the recycling. Okay. She's a busy gal. Yeah. She was last seen at a photography business. She visited Camry Connections on Main Street, and she was seen there wearing a yellow shirt, black shorts, and running shoes.
00:12:21
Speaker
She went upstairs to Gallery 331 to talk with Craig Wagner about framing some photos she'd taken for a contest. And he remembered when he would later talk to investigators that she checked her watch a few times.
00:12:33
Speaker
But it's not like... lot to do. Yeah. And it's not like she had a smartwatch, right? Right. she probably is just making sure she was staying on schedule. Yeah. And she left that business about 2.30 p.m. If she needs to do all these things and make all these phone calls, she might be like, okay, recycling closes at whatever time. At 3 or whatever. Yeah.
00:12:48
Speaker
She also, remember, was going to be going through that loop for the 10K. And I feel like that would take a while. I mean, I don't know how long it takes to do that, but I think it would be a while.
00:13:00
Speaker
And so it's at this point, though, our sources say, quote, everything about Amy Rowe Begdell becomes subject to speculation. Oh, yes. he's this Greg Wagner sees her and we have the time around two thirty.
00:13:16
Speaker
But everything else is going to be like, well, I think I saw her. OK. Yeah. All right. So we know that she had planned to run. Her to-do list would later be found, and she had several items checked off except run.
00:13:32
Speaker
That was the only that she hadn't checked off. Okay. So investigators found a milepost description of landmarks jotted down at the bottom of her list, suggesting that she was driving and marking the route for a 10K race along Loop Road rather than physically running all of it. Gotcha. Gotcha.
00:13:50
Speaker
So here are the eyewitnesses that it's like, yeah, maybe it was her that placed her along Loop Road that afternoon. Okay. Which is where she's plotting the tin bear Yeah.
00:14:03
Speaker
We had a mechanic named Earl Osborne who saw a blonde female jogger matching Amy's description running uphill on the switchbacks wearing, he said, a light-colored shirt.
00:14:14
Speaker
and Okay. You couldn't tell, but yellow is light. Black shorts and fanny pack sometime after 1030. Well, we know she's at this photography place at 1030. if you say sometime after 1030, that's like...
00:14:28
Speaker
All day. yeah It could be 7 o'clock at night. That's sometime after 1030. That's But he thought that it was, quote, unquote, odd to see a runner in that area. Though this is where she's planning the thing. So, okay. Then we have a road surveyor independently reported seeing a woman matching her description on Loop Road around the same time. So, again sometime after 1030? Mm-hmm. My goodness. Mm-hmm. Then we have a couple, Jim and Wendy Gibson, who owned a lodge, and they recalled passing a slender blonde woman in dark jogging shorts high up in the hills later that afternoon, which I think fits better. Yes, that's definitely more fitting.
00:15:09
Speaker
So remember, Steve is out on this climbing route. Yeah, he's doing an excursion. And not helping back. Yes, or turn on their water or whatever. He returns home to Lucky Lane earlier than he expected, around 4.30 p.m. because the climbing trip didn't pan out. It started raining and it just wasn't what he thought it was going Well, maybe he was coming back to help. To help. Yeah.
00:15:31
Speaker
There we go. At least he didn't go hang out with the boys after. true. Phone records confirm that he did make it home because he made a a phone call from their landline at about 4.43 p.m. Okay, so this is only like two hours after she's last seen. And she wasn't home when he was there. Okay.
00:15:48
Speaker
And, of course, he's not immediately concerned because he knows she had that list of things to do. and they weren't a couple that... left notes and they obviously didn't have cell phones not many people did in 1997 by 8 15 he stopped by the skinner's house for dinner so remember that's the friends they're also renting off a man and he was slightly concerned by 10 p.m he called amy's parents using what he said was a casual white lie Just to see if she was there, but then like, oh, you no, nothing's wrong. I guess he didn't want to worry him if we're playing doubles. Okay, yeah. yeah
00:16:26
Speaker
I get that. Yeah. it If he says, you know, don't be worried yet, just wondering if she's there. Because she was going to visit them, um which she canceled, we know. Right, and but her plans could have changed and maybe she didn't tell him. Yeah. Okay.
00:16:39
Speaker
So finally around 1045, Steve ends up calling the sheriff's office to report her missing. So she was last seen at 2.30 p.m. Or eight hours later. Todd and Amy volunteered to search Loop Road when they returned home from a movie. So he eats dinner with them They're going movie. Okay, they're going out.
00:16:54
Speaker
And then when they come back, he's like, hey, Amy is still not home. And so they volunteer to search the road that she was scouting. And this was probably around the time that he called. I'm assuming probably around 11 he went to like a 9 o'clock movie.
00:17:09
Speaker
Around 1 a.m., m so early morning of the 25th, they found her white Toyota parked at a turnoff. for Burnt Gulch. Is this in that And that's in that loop. Okay.
00:17:22
Speaker
So when they approached the car, they realized it was unlocked. No one was inside. The keys were on the passenger seat under the to-do list next to a super expensive pair of sunglasses she had. They were about $120 1997.
00:17:37
Speaker
The only thing that was missing was her wallet, but she never carried that when she went running. Oh. Okay, so this tells me Number one that if someone took her, robbery was not the motive because the glasses they would have taken.
00:17:59
Speaker
Or they would have stolen the car. Yeah. Unless she had a lot of money in the wallet and they were like, these glasses are pointless. I mean, we're trying Oh, no. But the...
00:18:10
Speaker
The fact that she never took her wallet running is the thing that bothers me because I thought maybe... Maybe she decided to run part of it to see if it was too difficult or whatever. maybe ran out of gas and had to take her wallet to get... we know anything about that? We just know it's unlocked. We don't know if it was disabled in any way or out of gas. We do. was just saying, maybe when you first approach it, you're maybe she just ran out of But no, it wasn't it was working. It was in working order.
00:18:39
Speaker
I'll talk about that later. Okay. So that's, yeah, that's a little weird. When the car was found, Steve was notified, and that he initially thought that maybe Amy just twisted her ankle, and she stuck along this loop somewhere.
00:18:54
Speaker
So they searched all night, he and his friends, and the official search began early July 25th. And then it turned into this massive, over 500 people, and National Guard, cadaver dogs, horses, ATVs, aircrafts with infrared heat-seeking technology. Okay.
00:19:10
Speaker
And they scoured 30-mile radius, but nothing. And they this was even quoted, this search was, quote, the Rolls Royce of searches.
00:19:21
Speaker
so So they pulled No holds barred. u So this was top of the line for a search. Mm-hmm. Yet they find nothing. Right. And 30 miles. It's significant. Yeah.
Scrutiny of Steve Bechtel
00:19:35
Speaker
They do search for eight days, but not a single useful clue was recovered. Right.
00:19:46
Speaker
But there are some red flags. Okay. As Sheriff King stated, if Amy had just been a runner up there, they should have found her, whether that was she was attacked by an animal. Yeah.
00:19:57
Speaker
They should have found her remains or her clothing. If she had a twisted ankle, they would have found if she had fell somewhere, all of these things. The investigation quickly transitioned into a criminal one. Oh, so what did they see that made them think?
00:20:10
Speaker
I think it's just because they don't see her at all. so they're saying, okay, this can't be simple explanation. because 30 miles is a lot of space. A lot. you're hurt running or killed by an animal, you'd think it would happen inside a 30-mile radius.
00:20:25
Speaker
So then they're like, okay, it has to be something else.
00:20:39
Speaker
With the FBI obtaining satellite photos from NASA and even... The Russian space station. The mirror? The mirror, yeah. and it It revealed nothing.
00:20:51
Speaker
That's wild that they can be like, call up NASA. man Houston, we have a problem. We have some coordinates. Give us some pictures. crazy me The consensus was Amy was not the type to vanish voluntarily, so they ruled out suicide and running away. So we ruled out suicide, running away, animal attack. She's getting new house. She's not going to run away.
00:21:15
Speaker
And again, the suicide, she seemed in a good mood, you said earlier. Unfortunately, the early stages of the investigation were riddled with critical mistakes because... And I will say this in defense of the police, because when they first arrive on the scene, they're thinking that they're looking for an injured hiker.
00:21:34
Speaker
So there was a footprint that everyone believed to be Amy's. It was found, but in the search for her was trampled over. It wasn't preserved in any way.
00:21:46
Speaker
The Skinners, so the neighbors, and were allowed to drive Amy's car home. Ugh. ruining potential evidence within that vehicle. Oh, no. And the initial lead investigator, Dave King, who had just been promoted from jailer, joined the search days later because he was away on a horse trip.
00:22:07
Speaker
And he ended up later resigning and was even convicted of stealing cocaine from the evidence room. Yeah. Okay. Detective Sergeant John Zerga, who took over the cold case later,
00:22:22
Speaker
lamented that they quote unquote actually ruined it. because they didn't treat it as a crime scene or any of those things. Again, let's give benefit of the doubt. have covered cases where, like even Brooklyn Farthing, our very first case ever, where we talked about the fire department coming in and they're putting out the fire. They haul the couch outside. They leave it in the elements. Right, without realizing it could be a clue. yeah And I think when you're in a situation like Amy's,
00:22:54
Speaker
And she's an experienced runner, and you're in a town where everybody basically knows everybody. i think going to possible abduction wouldn't be the first thing to think. You're just thinking, and we're going to find her along this path. Yeah.
00:23:10
Speaker
So now that you know a gist of what happened to Amy, I thought we could talk about suspects. Okay. So theory a is the husband. Oh, look how you're going to letters this time instead of numbers. Theory A. i think that's like mix it up a little.
00:23:26
Speaker
So, Steve. Okay. I'm ready to hear this one. And obviously they're going to focus on him because statistically. and Right. He's the person closest to the partner. Yeah. But other than living with her and being the partner, there were things that were a little...
00:23:44
Speaker
About Steve. Okay. Investigators were able to get a search warrant. And I don't know if there was something other than him just being her partner, that like her husband, that pointed them to Steve.
00:23:58
Speaker
But they get a search warrant. Okay. they find these journals. Okay, not weird. People keep journals. Right. People journal. right And... Wait, Amy had journals or Steve had journals? Steve had journals that he had been keeping since high school.
00:24:13
Speaker
Okay. Okay. And Sheriff King, because he's still over it at this time, said that he found the writings incriminating. So in these journals was a recurring theme of power and death and killing people.
00:24:25
Speaker
It's a little morbid. and Unless, maybe he's like, you know what, I'm going to write Or like a fantasy world, right? Maybe he's writing a series of short stories or novels. I don't, I would think though. No.
00:24:37
Speaker
and I would hope, like, if I decided to do something like that, that out of 2,000 documents, one might have that morbid theme in it, not 2,000 of them. so And I don't know it was recurring enough that it stuck out. okay So there may have been other things that he wrote about, but it was recurring enough that they were like, this is weird. Okay.
00:25:04
Speaker
These journals suggested, quote, a desire for power and control that people who have examined these believe to be the type of psyche that could lead to murder. Mm-hmm.
00:25:18
Speaker
But, and well, Steve obviously is like, no. But then even his friend Todd and Amy, the ones he wrote it from, are like, no. These were just like maybe song lyrics he was writing story type things. This doesn't seem like him. This is taken heavily out of context.
00:25:37
Speaker
So that's their stance. Okay. Okay. There was also I don't want to say allegation because I think it carries heavier weight, that word does.
00:25:48
Speaker
A statement? Yeah. Okay. Or a question of abuse. Amy's brother talked about once they were over for dinner and... He notices like a big bruise on her arm, and he's like, Amy, how did you get this bruise?
00:26:03
Speaker
And she just kind of laughs it off, and he was like, no, really, like that's a bad bruise. How did you get this bruise? And she said, oh, Steve gets a little rough sometimes. Did she say it seriously, or was she like, you know how some people, they think, iolt I would never joke that way. Oh, but they, yeah. Yeah.
00:26:21
Speaker
if Like if it happened when she were climbing with Steve or something and she said, oh, yeah, Steve gets a little rough sometimes. I think that's poor taste to joke about something like that. But I don't know if she, I mean, you said she had a big personality. Like, would she joke about something like that?
00:26:37
Speaker
And then her brother's like, was that a joke or was that not a joke? Or is kind like us? think was like trying to blast it off and be like, it's not that big of a deal. Okay. But her brother was like, I think it might have been. Yeah, is big deal.
Serial Killer Suspects in the Area
00:26:50
Speaker
Okay. Yeah.
00:26:51
Speaker
Also, stacking up against Steve are these witnesses that we have that were camping at the time of Amy's disappearance. A female camper claimed on July 24th she saw a blue pickup truck matching Steve's driving fast on the mountain close to Burnt Gulch, which is where it was.
00:27:10
Speaker
And she thought she saw a blonde woman in the passenger seat. Then, even more, and okay like yeah to this is that she saw the same truck at the search site the next day and so then she people are like oh it has to be steve's because who else would be at the search site unless you're like a murderer and you're returning to the scene of the crime okay let's assume that it was steve and he came there and he picks her up right first of all how would she have gotten a hold of him
00:27:46
Speaker
Unless there's no cell phone, right? Because you didn't mention, like, her cell phone is missing. They don't have a cell She didn't have cell phone. So she would have had no way to get in touch with him. I mean, unless, though, he's the plan is to kill her and he just drives along this route until he finds her because he knows where she's going to be. Or they had plans, like, I'll pick you up around blah, blah, blah time. Right.
00:28:08
Speaker
See, because I was, unless he was supposed to meet her there. good I don't know. But I was just thinking, well, she wouldn't have had a way to get in touch with him. And why would she have left her car keys in the car instead of taking them? Unless she put her keys down and she put the list on top of it.
00:28:26
Speaker
And then he's like, grab your wallet. We need to go do whatever. And she pulls a Maggie and forgets that her keys are in her car. Yeah.
00:28:36
Speaker
It's true. So let's just start saying that. Pull the Maggie when you forget something. But here's the, I guess, problem with this is that this camper thinks it's around 5 p.m. that she sees the truck, but we know he made the phone call from their house around 4.43, and the drive there was more than 15 minutes unless her time was off. How long did it take to get to the work car? About 45 minutes. Oh, okay. Yeah.
00:29:01
Speaker
You can't do that in 15. No. I mean, you could shave a few minutes off, but not that much. no Another thing that people have, and we've talked about this, kind of raised an eyebrow at is Steve was interviewed four different times.
00:29:13
Speaker
But when an FBI agent approaches him and is like, hey, we have some pretty incriminating things, Steve hired an attorney and then refused to talk. But again, I would too.
00:29:27
Speaker
yeah Especially if they're trying to be like, we know you did this, and you're like, I didn't, then... Yeah, because I think any little thing you say can be turned into something that it's not. and He also refused to take a polygraph test on his lawyer's advice because his lawyer said they're unreliable, they're inadmissible in court, they are prone to false positives, and he was like, I would never recommend Any of my clients ever take polygraph. Which we've heard in multiple cases. Like, this is not coming out of nowhere.
00:29:57
Speaker
But many saw this refusal as, like, a major red flag because he was a coward. He didn't cooperate. Of all the things, this is not the one that stands out to me. Right. This is not the hill I'm going to die on. Right.
00:30:09
Speaker
Steve has maintained his innocence, claiming his alibi was airtight and corroborated by his climbing partner, Sam, and he would vouch that they were together for most of the day. We're looking at the climbing routes, and we know he made the call from home.
00:30:25
Speaker
and Unless somebody else, if it's a communal neighborhood, pops into his house. That's true. hadn't thought about that. Then Theory B is the serial killer, Dale Wayne Eaton. Three names, all right. Three names. I mean, it tracks y'all. Yeah, it does. yeah Steve and his friends believed that the police fixation on him hampered the search for the real killer, and we've talked about that as well. Yep.
00:30:49
Speaker
So the detective that took over the cold case 2010, Zerga, started to agree. Because remember, he says, like, yeah, we have missed a lot. We messed it up.
00:31:01
Speaker
So they talk about this convicted killer, Dale. That is, quote, a monster who fits every profile of a serial killer. At the time was on Wyoming's death row.
00:31:15
Speaker
for a 1988 kidnapping, rape, and murder of Lisa Marie Kimmel. So DNA linked him to that crime, and Kimmel's buried car was found on his property. Well, but if he so he took her car, but he didn't...
00:31:31
Speaker
Take Amy's? Right, I guess. There was a local connection, though, that could place him in the area at the time because his brother, Richard, gave a tip to authorities that Dale was camping near Burnt Gulch area where Amy's car was found at the time of her disappearance in July of 97.
00:31:51
Speaker
But they frequented this area a lot. The brothers did? On a hunting and fishing trips, so it Which I guess makes it even more plausible, right? Like, that he would be there often instead of it being just a random. Again, why take her wallet?
00:32:08
Speaker
that's Like, even if she saw somebody and she's like, oh, maybe I can ask him about, you know, this area or whatever. Or maybe she's smart enough to think. he flags her down. Or she's smart enough to think, let me grab my wallet in case, like, my body is found. It'll have, i know that's morbid. Oh, like identification?
00:32:29
Speaker
But I wouldn't go, like, personally, my brain wouldn't go there to begin with. Because the only thing I can think, well, even if somebody impersonated a cop, they wouldn't say, give me your wallet and registration. They would say, give me your license and registration. I don't know. i don't know.
00:32:45
Speaker
So this serial killer is suspected of being the Great Basin serial killer, potentially responsible for the murders of at least nine women across the Western states from 83 to 97.
Theories and Family's Perspective
00:32:55
Speaker
Oh, so again, we're right here in... Right in the prime. And these murders stopped around 1997, and that's when he was incarcerated for the other things. Okay. Okay.
00:33:08
Speaker
But despite multiple attempts by detectives and the FBI, he has consistently refused to speak about other cold cases, cursing ad investigators and saying like he's not talking to anybody about anything. So this includes other ones that he's suspected of that he's not. OK, so it's not just Amy's case that he says, no, I'm not. Yeah, it's so it's a plethora. OK.
00:33:29
Speaker
And investigators now, most of them especially Zerga, is convinced that he is somehow in involved, noting that the tip about him camping in that specific site, unusual area, you know, and it just kind of...
00:33:45
Speaker
pushed him to the top of right the suspect list for that man. Right, because it's hard to say. I mean, if you if you've got to two theories and one of them has never committed a crime and the other is a known serial killer who we know was right where her car was abandoned, logically, I'm going to feel like that's the more likely. That's the guy.
00:34:08
Speaker
Theory C is just random scenarios that could possibly have happened. So some people think could it could have been a hit and run. a motorist maybe be accidentally struck Amy, panicked, and disposed of her body. I just don't think. I know it happens.
00:34:23
Speaker
But my brain just would not go there initially to be like, oh, my God, I killed this person on accident. Let me dispose of their body. No, no, no, no. I wouldn't. now yeah I would call. Right. And and the only thing the only reason that theory I'm thinking is,
00:34:37
Speaker
I'm not ruling it out automatically. It's because if she were running and if someone did hit her and let's say she's injured badly enough that she can't drive and they say, let me drive you to the hospital.
00:34:50
Speaker
Where's your wallet? Cause you'll need that, you know, to register at the hospital. But I don't even know if I would think that cause I, my adrenaline would be running and I would be like, I've just got to get them to the emergency room. But maybe maybe, and then Or she says, hey, grab my wallet because I'll need it, whatever, treatment. Or maybe it's just like a broken leg. Or my insurance card or whatever. And they go grab her wallet and they take her, but something happens along the way.
00:35:17
Speaker
i don't know. But again, go to finish going to the emergency room. Yeah, and where is she? if Yeah. Some people think could it have been stranger that abducted her, and Steve kind of hoped or did hope that it was this theory just because it gives the unlimited scenarios for possible survival, right? Oh, okay. She just hasn't made her way back to him. Okay. Okay.
00:35:42
Speaker
Amy was declared legally dead by Steve in 2004. 2003, hikers found an Iron Man digital watch near a local river that matched one that Amy had been wearing, but police were unable to definitively confirm if it was hers. Okay. Okay.
00:35:59
Speaker
Today, Detective Zerga continues to work the case, struggling with the damages done by the initial investigation. Amy's family still suffers with yeah this anguish yeah that they're always, until we figure out what happens to her, going to have. Her brother remains intensely frustrated with Steve because he feels that he just refused to cooperate fully.
00:36:24
Speaker
I've never been in that situation. I hope I never am. Right. So I don't know. what Everybody's response, I think, is different. I get why legally he wouldn't want to take it, but I also understand why he would be frustrated he cares about Amy's family, he might want to take it just so they feel better.
00:36:46
Speaker
Amy's mother wrote that not knowing what happened or who is responsible is, quote, consistently in my thoughts, which makes me very frustrated and angry. Amy's case highlights a devastating statistic that fewer than 1% of people are reported missing are... They're never found? Yeah.
00:37:05
Speaker
Fewer than 1%? Mm-hmm.
Current Status and Call for Information
00:37:08
Speaker
So almost 30 years later, right, if my math is correct, is it 28 years? Yeah. She just has vanished. So her loved ones have had no real final memorial for her. The community is still wondering what happened to her. Those that...
00:37:28
Speaker
side with Steve that he was involved those that say he wasn't so it even kind of split their little community a little bit I don't know what are your so I definitely feel as though there's foul play yeah um and I I get why you would narrow it down to theories a and b but like I said earlier if I'm just speaking logically I feel like theory B, the serial killer, yeah seems much more plausible. Mm-hmm.
00:38:01
Speaker
It's been close to 30 years since Amy vanished. The fiscal evidence in the mountains has long since faded, but the fact remains that a vibrant, goal-oriented young woman was literally preparing for the biggest athletic challenge of her life vanished into thin air after checking off her list of ordinary errands.
00:38:18
Speaker
We've seen how easy it is for an investigation to get focused on one theory, the statistical suspect, the grieving husband. and how that focus might have cost precious time and attention that should have been spent tracking a true monster, ah serial killer who was known to be camping right in that area. The tragedy here isn't just the loss of Amy's life.
00:38:37
Speaker
It's the fact that her family has been robbed of closure. They're stuck in a place of not knowing, a place Steve himself described as hoping she was abducted, because that at least offers unlimited scenarios, though he knew it was unlikely.
00:38:49
Speaker
We know the danger that initial investigative blunders caused, and we know that even years later, men like Dale Wayne Eaton have refused to give a single word that might set the Rowe family free.
00:39:01
Speaker
But Detective Zerga and others haven't given up, and neither should we. Sometimes the smallest detail, when looked at with fresh eyes, can unravel a quarter century of silence. Maybe you were driving the Loop Road that day. Maybe you saw a detail about the blue pickup truck that the camper missed.
00:39:18
Speaker
Maybe you know someone who had a suspicious encounter with a man like Eaton in the Wyoming wilderness around July of 97. If you have any information, no matter how insignificant it seems, about the disappearance of Amy Rowe Bechtel from the Loop Road area near Lander, Wyoming, on July 24, 1997, please reach out to the Fremont County Sheriff's Office.
00:39:40
Speaker
Don't let Amy's story remain trapped in the silence. Pick up the phone and help bring her home. Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases Podcast, to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode.
00:39:54
Speaker
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00:40:05
Speaker
Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon. Stay together.
00:40:16
Speaker
Stay safe. We'll see you next week.