Laurie Jean Depies was last seen leaving River Fox Mall at approximately 10:00pm on August 19th, 1992 in the Town of Menasha, Wisconsin. She has not been seen since.
Laurie is a white woman, 5’5”, and 115 pounds. She has brown hair and green eyes, but she wore contacts that may have been brown. Her ears are pierced three times and she has a tribal art form tattoo that looks like a squid on the outside of her right ankle. She was last wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck, black/white spandex shorts, and black shoes. She also was wearing multiple silver necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings.
She may also go by Loriella or Ella.
After leaving the mall, Laurie arrived at her boyfriend’s apartment complex in the 300 block of West Wilson Avenue in Menasha, Wisconsin between approximately 10:15pm and 10:30pm. Her boyfriend had been waiting in his apartment with his sister and a friend. They heard Laurie’s car pull in the lot, but went looking for her when she did not arrive at the apartment.
They found her car, a gray Volkswagen Rabbit, in the complex’s parking lot, but no sign of her. The car was locked and there was a Styrofoam cup of soda on the hood of the car, but no one saw her walk away from the parking lot or get into anyone else’s car. Her overnight bag and purse were left in the vehicle.
Authorities believe that she was taken by someone that she knew, as it would be uncharacteristic of Laurie to go with a stranger. There is no indication she was forcibly kidnapped, but perhaps instead left with someone she knew and was harmed afterwards.
Many of Depies’ friends, including her boyfriend, took lie detector tests and passed as police tried to sort out possible angles and suspects.
In 2010, Larry DeWayne Hall confessed to kidnapping and killing Laurie. At this time, he is currently serving a life sentence for another kidnapping and murder. Larry became a suspect in Laurie’s case in 1995 and is a suspect in many other murders. Police searched the area where he indicated that he buried Laurie’s body, but they were unable to find her or any physical evidence to prove his confession.
No arrests have been made in Laurie’s disappearance and her case remains unsolved. There have been no activity on her bank accounts or Social Security number since she went missing. Foul play is suspected.
The photo on the right is an age progressed photo of what Laurie might look like at the age of 32 years old.
Laurie's mother is still waiting to hear what happened. In an interview with WTAQ in 2022 she said, “I would just like to know what happened and why it happened just to know that she’s at peace, because you can’t even, you know, have a funeral, or a memorial, or anything, because there’s nothing other than her car and a coffee cup, or a soda cup and no story just, you know, off the face of the earth.”
You can find out more with the podcast Cold Case: Frozen Tundra Season 2
Laurie was 20 years old when she went missing. She would be 51 years old today.
Any leads or information should be directed to:
Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation
Special Agent Kyra Schallhorn
(920) 751-4185
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