067 - The Disappearance of Amy Wroe Bechtel

Trace Evidence

Steven Pacheco

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2019

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Twenty-four year old Amy Wroe Bechtel was putting the future together. Along with her husband, Steve, they had moved to the picturesque town of Lander, Wyoming and in the Summer of 1997, they had just closed on the purchase of their first house.

On July 24th, both had the day off from work and while Steve planned to go rock climbing, Amy was going to run errands and then go running, her favorite activity. This day though, it was partially work as she was mapping out the path of a 10k she was organizing. Amy drove up into the Shoshone National Park and never returned.

Steve returned home and after waiting for hours, grew worried and called the Sheriff's Department. Amy's car was discovered parked on the side of the road but there was no sign of the young woman. Amy's disappearance kicked off a massive search and rescue effort but after days of searching and yielding no results, investigators began looking at her husband.

Over the next twenty-two years many theories would develop, Steve's connection to investigators and his in-laws would be severed and a convicted killer would become a possible suspect. Join host Steven Pacheco as he asks what happened to Amy Wroe Bechtel on July 24th, 1997?

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Source: https://www.trace-evidence.com/amy-bechtel

Transcript

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0:00.0	Amy Rowe Bechtel loved to run. Ever since she'd been a teenager, she'd found something
0:14.0	in running that brought a calmness and joy to her life. Throughout high school and
0:19.2	later college, she pursued running and had even participated in the Boston Marathon.
0:25.6	Nothing else in life was consistent running always was.
0:31.2	Newly wed to her college sweetheart, Steve Bechtel. Amy was happy about building a future.
0:37.6	The young couple had recently closed on a home in land or Wyoming, and there was a lot to get done.
0:44.5	On July 24, 1997, Steve kissed his wife goodbye as he headed over an hour away to do some
0:52.0	rock climbing with a friend. Amy planned to take care of some errands and then go for a run.
0:59.2	Later that afternoon, Amy drove up to the Sinks Canyon Campground area of Shoshone National Park.
1:06.8	She was planning to organize a 10k race and wanted to begin plotting out the route.
1:12.7	After she finished, Amy parked her car on the side of Loop Road, a steep,
1:18.1	curvy stretch of road leading up into the higher elevations. Dressed in her yellow tank top and
1:24.5	black shorts, Amy left her keys in the unlock car and began running. She never returned to her vehicle.
1:33.2	As the hours passed, Steve became worried about his wife and began calling and looking for her.
1:39.9	When 11pm was approaching, he finally called 911 to report her missing.
1:46.1	This call would kick off one of the largest search and rescue operations in the history of Wyoming,
1:51.9	but would ultimately turn up nothing. With nowhere else to look, authorities begin wondering if Steve
1:58.8	might know more about his wife's disappearance than he had admitted to, while Steve believed
2:04.8	someone had abducted his wife and all the energy spent investigating him was allowing that person
2:11.2	to get away. This is Trace Evidence, episode 67, The Disappearance of Amy Roe Bechtel.
2:28.0	Welcome to Trace Evidence. I'm your host, Stephen Pacheco. Today, we examine the 1997
2:35.4	disappearance of Amy Roe Bechtel, a confusing and baffling case full of sadness, tragedy, and
	...

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