In July 2006, eighteen-year-old Roxanne Paltauf vanished from a Budget Inn near Interstate 35 and Rundberg Lane in Austin, Texas. Just hours earlier, she had promised her mother she would be home the next morning.

Roxanne was the oldest of five children and shared an immensely close relationship with her family. She was working toward her GED, holding multiple jobs, and planning for her future. But those closest to her worried about her volatile relationship.

After she went missing, her boyfriend Louis Reginald Walls called and claimed the couple had argued and that she stormed out of their motel room carrying nothing. He said she left behind her purse, jewelry, clothing, and cellphone, a story that immediately alarmed her family, who knew Roxanne never went anywhere without her belongings.

As detectives began looking into her disappearance, after initially treating her case as little more than a lover’s spat, troubling details emerged. Walls waited nearly twenty-four hours to report Roxanne missing and continued using her cellphone in the days after she vanished. Friends and family also shared allegations of abuse and growing concerns about the relationship.

Despite mounting suspicions, The Austin Police lacked the evidence needed to prove a crime had occurred.

Twenty years later, Roxanne Paltauf remains missing.

Part one of two.

Roxanne’s family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction — or for information that leads to finding her remains. If you have any information about what happened to Roxanne Elizabeth Paltauf, you can submit a tip anonymously at roxannepaltauf.com or call the Austin Police Department at (512) 974-5250.

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