Katharina Buczek
After the 16-year-old did not return home, her friends and family figured that she might have temporarily run away. Apparently, Samantha had done that various times in the past and always turned up a day later.
This theory was also partly supported by the fact that just before the teen’s disappearance, she took her aunt’s car without getting permission– resulting in probation.
Once several days passed and Kendale did not hear from her sister, though, she became very concerned. At that point, Kendale attempted to report Samantha missing, even though this effort did not work.
Since there was no evidence suggesting foul play, authorities believed that the 16-year-old had just left of her own will. So, the police never actually conducted an in-depth investigation or search effort into Samantha’s disappearance.
Being that her case was also designated as a runaway situation, Samantha’s disappearance received little to no media coverage.
So, Kendale has continued the search for her sister, mainly alone, for the past 18 years.
She started working with Lou Barry, a private investigator, and Jason Watts, a case advocate, to investigate the circumstances of Samantha’s disappearance. While the timeline and many details have remained unclear, though, various clues suggest that Samantha might still be alive.
For instance, within just one week of Samantha’s disappearance, Kendale and her grandparents discovered rearranged furniture and unexplained cigarette butts in their grandparent’s backyard. This pushed Kendale to believe that her sister might have gotten together with some friends when their grandparents were not home.
Then, in 2011, Samantha’s name was run by the Columbia County St. Helens Police Department in Oregon. But, there are no remaining records regarding the original inquiry’s details.
By 2013, though, there was reportedly another inquiry– when the name “Samantha Tapp” was run by the Dallas-Fort Worth airport customs department. The airport was located between 30 and 40 minutes away from her hometown of Burleson. But strangely, there is no record of that inquiry, either.
Kendale claims that her sister did not have a passport at the time of her disappearance. So, it has been speculated that perhaps someone else was using Samantha’s name.
