Traci Kenley (left) and Bill Rundle (right)
Real Names: William Rundle and Traci Lynn Kenley
Nicknames: Bill (William)
Location: Hastings, Nebraska
Date: August 17, 2000
Bio[]
Occupation: Healthcare Specialist (Traci), Forklift Operator (Bill)
Date of Birth: 1972 (Traci), 1975 (Bill)
Height: 5'8 (Traci), 5'8 (Bill)
Weight: 150 pounds (Bill)
Marital Status: Dating (Traci), Divorced (Bill)
Characteristics: Blond hair (Traci)
Case[]
Details: On August 17, 2000, Bill Rundle and Traci Kenley left to drive forty-five miles to Traci's parents' farm in rural Edgar, Nebraska. They had vague plans to visit her boyfriend, Doug Wolfe, later that evening. They had met six months earlier and by all accounts their relationship was platonic. She was a healthcare specialist who worked with the elderly, and he was a forklift operator.
Bill and Traci got together at around 4:30pm to retrieve a second set of keys she needed, and he wanted to look at a truck that her father had been selling. At around 10:30pm, they said goodbye to her parents, got into his new black Jeep Wrangler Sahara, and headed for the highway. At around 10:45pm, they stopped at the Country Store in neighboring Clay Center to go to the bathroom and get something to drink.
After leaving the store, Traci called Doug at 11pm. He was working a 2pm to midnight shift in Hastings. She asked him what his after-work plans were and he said he was thinking about getting a beer at a local lounge. She said that she and Bill would plan to meet him at 12:30am. They said goodbye, and it was the last time anyone heard from them.
The next day, neither Traci nor Bill showed up at work. Nobody could understand why they weren't there and what happened to them. Cell phone records helped identify their location when Traci called Doug, which was at an intersection sixteen miles east of Hastings. The Clay and Adam County Police Departments conducted search parties around that area. Authorities believed that Bill may have crashed into a nearby cornfield but a search turned up nothing.
Police considered the possibility that Bill and Traci left voluntarily. According to one of Bill's friends, he was lonely at the time and felt close to her. Some suggested that they were having an affair, but no evidence was found to support this. Also, all they had was the money that they had taken with them. Since they disappeared, none of their ATMs, credit cards, or phones have been used.
One week later, Bill's hat mysteriously appeared at the same intersection where Traci had called Doug before they vanished. This was strange because the area had been searched the week before but it had not turned up then. Lab analysis confirmed that it was his. Police do not believe that he was wearing it when they vanished. There had been two inches of rain in the days following the disappearance, but it showed no evidence of being wet. Police believe that it may have been planted there.
Another strange thing about this case is that Bill's jeep has never been found. If they had been murdered, why would the killer take such lengths to conceal it? However, if they had left voluntarily, then it would probably still be with them. However, nobody knows what really happened to them. A $5000 reward is being offered in this case.
Suspects: None known; police suspect that someone driving through Nebraska may have came upon Bill and Traci and abducted them.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the July 5, 2001 episode. It also ran as an episode of Court TV.
Results: Solved. Two years after Bill and Traci vanished, on July 31, 2002, a farmer noticed the outline of a car in a run-off pond near the road they were travelling on. A drought had lowered its water level. Authorities raised the car, which was determined to be Bill's jeep. His and Traci's bodies were found inside.
Authorities believe Bill and Traci mistakenly turned off a narrow private road and while turning around they may have rolled into the pond where they remained unnoticed for two years. Neither of them were wearing their seat belts, and damage to the front of the jeep was consistent with a low-speed impact with water. Their deaths were ruled as an accident.
Sadly, Traci's brother, Billy, was murdered in 2007. Their father, William, passed away in 2010.
Links:
- Traci and Bill on Unsolved Archive
- TV program to explore mysterious disappearance of York couple's niece - July 5, 2001
- Jeep of missing man found in water - August 2, 2002
- Remains are those of missing pair - August 2, 2002
- Families accept deaths of missing pair - August 3, 2002
- "No indication of foul play" - August 6, 2002
- Family town struggle with deaths after Edgar shooting - May 12, 2007
- Bill Rundle on Find a Grave
- Traci Kenley on Find a Grave