After the 20-year-old never arrived home the next morning to pick up her car, Jennifer started to become worried. She ended up heading to the police station to report Crystal missing but was ultimately told by authorities that there was a 24-hour waiting period before a missing person report could be filed.
So, in the meantime, Jennifer and the rest of Crystal’s family decided to hit the streets. They went door-to-door, asking community members if anyone had heard or seen Crystal since the night before.
About a week later, investigators also joined the effort– conducting a search of the region surrounding Leisure Lake.
The details surrounding this search have not been released, though, so it is unclear what, if anything, was found in the area.
The Telegraph Herald also reported that in 2001, investigators followed up on hundreds of leads– searching various land areas, bodies of water, basements, and garages. Cadaver dogs were also integrated into these searches, although they had no luck.
In October of that year, Crystal’s boyfriend, Tim, was also interviewed and cleared as a suspect. By April of 2002, though, two other men who were at the Knickers Saloon on the evening of Crystal’s disappearance entered the picture.
Two brothers by the name of Steven and David were interviewed and questioned by investigators. They also underwent polygraph tests, and David’s car was searched.
“Back then, they were talked to as suspects. I think when you’ve talked to as a suspect, rather than a witness, then maybe you don’t give as much information,” Dubuque Police Department Investigator David Randall said.
“It doesn’t mean you’re not a suspect. They are definitely people we still want to talk to, and maybe they have some information yet to give that they didn’t have in the original investigation.”
By July 2015, a tip regarding the brothers in connection with Crystal’s case was also submitted to Iowa Cold Cases.
The tipster alleged that on the evening of Crystal’s disappearance, David had borrowed his sister’s car. They also provided aliases used by both David and Steven, in addition to the names of their employers.