15 Years Ago This Teen Checked Into A Motel With Her Much Older Boyfriend But Was Never Seen Again
Austin, Texas. 18-year-old Roxanne Elizabeth Paltauf vanished in Austin on July 7th, 2006, without wearing any shoes or taking anything she owned, except her state ID card.
People don’t just up and disappear of their own accord without packing some key personal items.
Money, credit cards, a cellphone, shoes on your feet…those are all things you would need in order to pick up and start a new life or take a break from your current one.
Roxanne’s much older boyfriend said she stormed off into the night after they got into an argument, but it seems there is much more to her strange disappearance than that.
Roxanne was in a relationship with a man by the name of Louis. He was 30-years-old when Roxanne turned 18, and the two had been together since she was only 16.
Initially, Roxanne thought Louis was 19 because that’s what he had told her. It didn’t take long for her to discover that he was actually 12 years older than her.
Even though Louis hadn’t been honest with her about his real age and her mom, Lizzy, did not accept their relationship, Roxanne continued to see him.
Lizzy didn’t let her daughter’s love life affect the bond that they had. Roxanne still lived with her mom (Louis just was not welcome in Lizzy’s house), and Lizzy promised to buy her a car when she completed her GED, which was something she was working hard towards.
On the night of July 7th, 2006, Roxanne and Louis decided to get a room at the Budget Inn so they could celebrate their anniversary together. The 2-star motel sits off Interstate 35 in Austin, Texas.
Facebook – pictured above is Roxanne
Louis has said that he and Roxanne got into some kind of disagreement, so she stormed off out of their room and into the night at around 8:30.
He explained that he attempted to walk after her, but Roxanne insisted that she needed to be by herself, so he turned around and left her, heading to the room instead.
The next day, Roxanne was supposed to return home, but she never showed up. A little after 4:30 in the afternoon, Louis called Lizzy to ask if she had any idea where Roxanne was before filling her in on their argument.
Lizzy called the police to report Roxanne missing, and she encouraged Louis to contact them as well. In the days that followed, Louis gave Lizzy Roxanne’s cell phone, which she had left behind, along with all of her belongings in their room. He never gave Lizzy any of the other things Roxanne had left behind though.
Interestingly enough, Louis had made about 300 different phone calls on Roxanne’s phone after she went missing…and an overwhelming number of them were calls to his ex. Then, on July 13th, Roxanne’s ID showed up.
When a man by the name of Geoffrey Moore was arrested by police for assaulting a dancer close to the motel Roxanne was staying in, they were surprised to find Roxanne’s ID on him.
He never did mention how he came to be carrying it, and he never was charged with anything related to Roxanne’s disappearance. On top of that, the charges against the dancer were dropped after his arrest.
It’s now been 15 years since Roxanne was last seen at the Budget Inn. Roxanne’s family insists something terrible happened to her, as she wouldn’t just leave under such strange circumstances.
They also say that Roxanne had revealed shortly before she went missing that Louis got physical with her.
If you have any information on what happened to Roxanne or where she is, please contact the Austin Police Department at 512.974.5250.
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