Bill assumed that perhaps she had just run out. So, he took the kids back to his home and waited a few hours– hoping to return and find Nancy.
Later, when Bill returned, though, Nancy was still gone without a trace. And upon further inspection during his second time at the home that Sunday, he also discovered that Nancy’s purse and car keys had been left inside her house.
At that point, he contacted authorities to file a missing person report, and an investigation into her disappearance was launched.
Detectives found no signs of forced entry at Nancy’s home and actually found no evidence of another person even being inside. In turn, investigators pivoted to Bill early on in the investigation.
But, her husband underwent a polygraph test and was ruled out as a person of interest. So, investigators were left with little information to go on, and Nancy’s case had remained cold for just over ten years.
That was until July 9, 2019, when the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a suspect named Eric – who admitted to killing Nancy.
“I killed her,” Eric stated before describing how he strangled her using a scarf during an act of rough intimacy.
After receiving the call, officers did travel to Eric’s home, and they were directed toward a concrete fire pit on his property.
“I don’t really want to incriminate myself any further, but if I was going to get rid of a body on my property, it would be right there,” Eric reportedly said.
He was immediately arrested on suspicion of murder in the second degree and brought in for further questioning with detectives.
During those follow-up inquiries, though, Eric recanted his confession and claimed to have no idea why he admitted to killing Nancy.