Key facts
- Name: Amy Joy Wroe Bechtel
- Born: August 4, 1972, Santa Barbara, California; raised in Jackson and Douglas, Wyoming
- Age at disappearance: 24
- Last seen: July 24, 1997
- Location: Loop Road / Burnt Gulch area, Shoshone National Forest, near Lander, Wyoming
- Height / build: 5’6″, distance runner’s build
- Status: Still missing — declared legally dead in 2004; case open and under investigation
- Investigating agency: Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, (307) 332-1000; Lander Police Department, (307) 332-3131; Wyoming DCI, (307) 777-7181
The run she didn’t come back from
Amy Bechtel was the kind of runner who made it look like breathing. A record-breaking distance runner at the University of Wyoming, she had her sights on qualifying for the 2000 Olympics. On the afternoon of July 24, 1997, the 24-year-old drove out of Lander to scout a course in the Shoshone National Forest — the Loop Road area of the Wind River Range, near a turnoff called Burnt Gulch. She was practicing for an upcoming 10K.
She was last confirmed in downtown Lander around 2:30 p.m., after stopping at an art gallery. Her husband, Steve Bechtel — a well-known rock climber — had spent the day climbing in Dubois. He came home that evening to an empty house. At 10:30 p.m., he called the police.
Around 1:00 a.m., searchers found her white Toyota Tercel at the Burnt Gulch turnoff. It was unlocked. Her keys, her sunglasses, and her to-do list were inside. The only thing missing was her green Eagle Creek wallet.
What happened in the first hours would haunt the case for decades. Before the car could be processed, friends drove it home to Lander — contaminating whatever evidence it held. Searchers trampled a footprint matching Amy’s shoe size near the turnoff. One of the most extensive search operations in Wyoming history began with its two best pieces of evidence already ruined.
Amy had been shy, quiet, disciplined, goal-oriented — a woman who photographed and climbed and ran, married just a year earlier, in June 1996. She had bought a house with Steve days before she vanished. She never came home to it.
The husband, the neighbor, the killer
Steve Bechtel was the first suspect, as husbands are. He was questioned extensively. His alibi — climbing with his friend Sam Lightner most of the day — was confirmed by phone records placing him home at the key hours. But the investigation cut deeper: a search warrant at the couple’s home turned up journals with passages investigators read as references to violence against women and to Amy herself. Steve said they were song lyrics and poetry he’d written in high school. His brother-in-law, Nels Wroe, believed at least some of it was about Amy — he’d observed controlling behavior, and once saw finger-sized bruises on Amy’s arm.
After an FBI agent directly accused him, Steve got a lawyer and stopped talking to law enforcement. He declined a polygraph. By 1998, investigators no longer considered him a suspect for lack of evidence, though he remains a person of interest until the case is solved. In 2004 — the year Amy was declared legally dead — Steve remarried. He still lives in Lander.
There were other men on the edges of the story. A neighbor who’d moved onto Amy and Steve’s street was a little too interested in her; he told police he was best friends with her brother Nels, who said they were barely acquaintances. He joined the initial searches, allegedly misrepresented his connection to the family, and later became a person of interest himself — police eventually executed a search warrant at his former Lander home. A camper reported a truck like Steve’s speeding through the area that evening with a blonde woman in the passenger seat; she later identified it as Steve’s truck, but phone records proved he was home.
And then there was Dale Wayne Eaton.
Eaton, now on Wyoming’s death row, was convicted in 2004 of the 1988 rape and murder of eighteen-year-old Lisa Marie Kimmell. Investigators believe he may be the so-called Great Basin Killer, responsible for the murders of at least nine women across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada between 1983 and 1997. His brother said Eaton was in the Lander area the day Amy vanished; family members confirmed he camped near where her car was found. Two months after Amy disappeared, Eaton was arrested for trying to kidnap a family at gunpoint when their car broke down. A family that had let Eaton park his trailer on their property later turned over bone fragments found there. The FBI has not publicly released DNA results. Eaton has refused to discuss Amy’s case and has never been charged in it. His sister’s alibi placed him in Colorado that day.
In June 2003, a watch believed to be Amy’s was found in the middle fork of the Popo Agie River. Bones found nearby turned out to be an animal’s. Police could never confirm the watch was hers.
In October 2025 — twenty-eight years on — unconfirmed online reports described a new tip about a property in Natrona County that might hold clues. We could not verify from any authoritative source that police publicly confirmed this tip. Amy’s father, Duane, died in 2001 without answers. Her case has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Disappeared, The Trail Went Cold, People Magazine Investigates, and Forensic Files II. It is still open.
Theories: what might have happened
Dale Wayne Eaton killed her. The geography and timing are suggestive: a known predator of young women, camping near the turnoff, in the Lander area that day according to his own brother, arrested two months later for a roadside kidnapping attempt. The FBI looked hard at him. What undercuts it: no evidence has ever established his involvement, his sister’s alibi puts him in Colorado, the bone fragments were never publicly tied to Amy, and he has never been charged. Proximity is not proof.
Her husband was involved. The journals, the brother’s account of bruises and controlling behavior, the lawyering-up, the declined polygraph — this is why a large part of the public has never let go of Steve Bechtel. What undercuts it: his alibi was confirmed by phone records and a climbing partner, the house search found no evidence, and investigators formally stopped considering him a suspect in 1998. The presumption of innocence applies; a disturbing notebook is not a murder weapon.
An accident or animal attack on the run. A fall, an injury miles from the road, a mountain lion — the Wind Rivers are real wilderness. What undercuts it: one of the largest searches in Wyoming history found nothing, and authorities have said they would have expected to find some evidence in either scenario.
A stranger took her at the turnoff. The unlocked car with the wallet gone, the trampled footprint, the camper’s speeding truck — someone else was on that road. This may be the simplest reading of the physical evidence, and also the least developed: the ruined crime scene means it can never really be tested.
Twenty-nine years later, Amy Bechtel’s white Toyota is long gone, the footprint is long trampled, and the Wind River Range keeps whatever it saw. Her husband still lives in the town where she was last seen alive. Somewhere — a river, a property, a memory — the answer is still waiting.
Have information?
Contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 332-1000, the Lander Police Department at (307) 332-3131, or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at (307) 777-7181. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- August 4, 1972 — Amy Joy Wroe is born in Santa Barbara, California; raised in Wyoming.
- 1992–1995 — Record-breaking distance runner at the University of Wyoming; meets Steve Bechtel.
- June 1996 — Amy and Steve marry; they buy a house in Lander days before her disappearance.
- July 24, 1997, ~2:30 p.m. — Last confirmed sighting, downtown Lander, after visiting an art gallery.
- July 24, 1997, 10:30 p.m. — Steve reports her missing.
- July 25, 1997, ~1:00 a.m. — Her Toyota Tercel is found at the Burnt Gulch turnoff: unlocked, keys and sunglasses inside, wallet gone.
- 1997–1998 — Massive search; Steve questioned, home searched, polygraph declined; cleared as a suspect in 1998.
- September 1997 — Dale Wayne Eaton arrested for attempted kidnapping; later convicted of Lisa Marie Kimmell’s 1988 murder.
- April 16, 1999 — Unsolved Mysteries airs her case.
- June 2003 — Watch believed to be Amy’s found in the Popo Agie River; nearby bones are an animal’s.
- 2004 — Amy is declared legally dead; Steve remarries.
- October 2025 — Unconfirmed online reports describe a new tip about a Natrona County property (not verified by any authoritative source).
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Amy Bechtel still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Amy Bechtel has been missing for 29 years. She was declared legally dead in 2004, but her body was never found and the case remains open and under investigation.
Was Amy Bechtel ever found?
No. Despite one of the most extensive searches in Wyoming history, no trace of Amy has ever been found.
How old would Amy Bechtel be today?
Amy was born August 4, 1972 — she turned 54 in August 2026.
Was Amy Bechtel’s husband a suspect?
Steve Bechtel was questioned extensively and his home was searched after journals with violent passages were found; he declined a polygraph and stopped cooperating on his attorney’s advice. His alibi was confirmed, no evidence was found, and investigators stopped considering him a suspect in 1998. He maintains his innocence.
Is Dale Wayne Eaton connected to Amy Bechtel’s disappearance?
Eaton, on Wyoming’s death row for the 1988 murder of Lisa Marie Kimmell and the suspected Great Basin Killer, was investigated as a possible suspect — his brother placed him near Lander that day. No evidence has established his involvement and he was never charged in her case.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 332-1000 or Wyoming DCI at (307) 777-7181.
Sources
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Amy Wroe Bechtel” (retrieved Oct 2026); The Charley Project.
- News: The Cinemaholic, “Amy Wroe Bechtel: What Happened to Her? Was She Ever Found?” (2026); Grunge, “The Mysterious Disappearance of Amy Bechtel Explained”; My Country 95.5, “It’s Been 20 Years Since A Lander Woman Disappeared.”
- Media: Unsolved Mysteries (April 16, 1999); Disappeared; The Trail Went Cold podcast; Forensic Files II; 50 States, 50 Crimes (2026).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.
Correction (October 2026): A claim that police announced a new Natrona County tip in October 2025 could not be verified in any authoritative source; it is now presented as an unconfirmed online report.