In July of 1997, an avid runner spent the afternoon running errands before driving into Wyoming's Shoshone National Forest to map out a 10K route as part of her marathon training. When she didn't return home by nightfall, her husband knew something was wrong. Friends, family, and volunteers quickly began searching the trails, believing she may have been injured somewhere along her run. But after an extensive search turned up no sign of Amy, investigators began to consider that she may no longer be in forest at all and that her disappearance was the result of foul play.

As the investigation unfolded, attention turned to Amy's husband. His actions in the days after her disappearance and his limited cooperation with investigators led to years of public debate. Some believed he had been unfairly judged, while others felt there were too many unanswered questions to ignore. At the same time, investigators never ruled out the possibility that Amy had crossed paths with a stranger. That theory gained renewed attention years later when a suspected serial killer was placed in Lander around the time Amy disappeared.

Nearly 30 years later, Amy Wroe Bechtel's disappearance remains one of Wyoming's most enduring mysteries. Was she harmed by someone she knew, or did she become the victim of a chance encounter while out on a training run? After decades of investigation, no one has been able to explain what happened after Amy set out that afternoon.

TIPS:Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 332-5611
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