Katharina Buczek
And once Terry’s youngest sister, Julie, overheard that, the nine-year-old saw the perfect opportunity to go shopping with two older teenage girls. They planned on doing some Christmas shopping that day.
“I know Renee and Rachel didn’t want Julie to go because she was only nine years old. But Julie got our mom on the phone and begged and begged to go. And for some reason, this time, she said okay,” Terry explained.
After all, Terry’s mother knew Renee well since they had been in a relationship, and the trio got the shopping stamp of approval.
So, before 12:00 p.m., the girls headed out. Rachel first drove Renee and Julie to the local Army Navy Store– where Renee picked up jeans on layaway that she had been wanting. Afterward, the group traveled to the Seminary South Shopping Center located in south Fort Worth.
The girls were supposed to shop for a few hours. Then, they were expected to get back at about 4:00 p.m. for a party. The time kept on passing, though, and the girls never arrived home.
Soon afterward, the day slipped into the night, and as the girls’ parents got home from work and realized their children were still not home, panic began to set in.
NAMUS; pictured above is Rachel
Renee’s father, Richard, and some community members ultimately decided to drive to the mall– which was less than ten minutes away– in search of the girls. At the same time, Terry waited at home and sat by the telephone in case anyone called with information.
The Oldsmobile, which Rachel had driven the girls to the mall in, was discovered still inside the mall parking lot. And according to her younger brother, Rusty, there was no sign of struggle in or around the car.
Strangely, though, it did appear as though the girls had gone back to the car after shopping– because there was just one Christmas present sitting in the backseat.
