A horrific find was made on Sunday, July 4, 1999 by a family swimming near the junction of the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers in western Colorado’s Unaweep Canyon. There was a white 1994 Ford F250 pickup truck submerged in the murky water. Responding to the site was the Montrose County Sheriff’s Department. It became clear right away that this operation would involve more than just recovering the car. In a case that had attracted the interest of neighbouring communities, investigators believed that this might be the crucial breakthrough they needed. The owner of the truck abruptly disappeared six weeks prior. However, when no additional clues about the missing individual were found, hopes were immediately dashed. The authorities require assistance to unravel this puzzling mystery.
The pickup truck that was found belonged to Dale Williams, who is 42 years old. The longstanding local was a prominent member of the community, a loving spouse, and a dedicated father to two teenage girls. In the nearby village of Nucla, he owned and ran “Dale’s Pro Body Shop,” an auto body shop. Along with other companies and structures, he was the owner of Showtime Movie Rentals. He missed dinner that night, May 27, 1999, at his house. His 23-year-old wife Diana assumed he was distracted by work at the body shop and had lost track of time.
But by nightfall, Diana was worried. She made a few calls to Dale’s store, but he never picked up the phone or phoned back. She reasoned that since he was using the air ratchets or another loud item, he might not have heard the phone ring. Around ten o’clock she went to sleep. She sensed there was a problem as she lay there. All through the night, she tossed and twisted and repeatedly woke up. Every time she woke up, he was still away.
Diana was dismayed to learn Dale had not arrived home all night when she woke up early. She sped off to his garage as soon as she dropped their kids off at school. She observed that the door was unlocked when she initially entered his store. On a van he was working on, the hood was still up. Around it, his tools were scattered. He seemed to have left for only a short while and was soon to return. She immediately went to the home of his mother, Ida. Additionally, she hadn’t heard from him in a day.
Dale frequently visited junkyards in search of extra parts to employ in the body shop. That seemed like an excellent place for Diana and Ida to start their quest. When they couldn’t locate him at the junkyards, they reasoned that he might have gone off the road unintentionally somewhere. Though they believed they would be able to locate him, they assumed that something had happened to him. But they were unable to locate him in any way. Especially considering that his daughter was scheduled to graduate that weekend, his family was aware that something was awry.
After Diana called the police, word of Dale’s mysterious disappearance quickly travelled throughout Nucla. Investigators started reconstructing his day.
They discovered he made a quick visit at his buddy Tami Lowrance’s workplace on May 27 at 12:15. On a truck she owned, the windshield required repair. He informed her that the following Wednesday would be the last day he could fix it. He could have called her instead of stopping by to tell her that, so she found it strange that he did.
Dale was rushing. He informed Tami that he was going to assist a stranded driver. She ponders whether he had any reservations about the person he was going to assist. She didn’t see him again after he left her office. One of the last individuals to see him is thought to be her. Investigators discovered that Pastor Tom Ross, a friend of his, had been with him immediately before Tami noticed him. Late that morning, Tom and his little son visited the body shop so Dale could fix the church van’s windshield. Although Dale had a busy day planned, he still made time for a game of darts.
Tami is confident that Dale was seen by those who claimed to have seen him at the store between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. These witnesses, in Tami’s opinion, are members of the neighbourhood whose word may be believed. What transpired to Dale, then? Now, where is he? Diana thinks that he either observed something improperly or knew something improperly. Additionally, someone was attempting to “shut him up.” She makes the assumption that he was prepared to go to the police and inform them of what he knew. To prevent him from speaking to the police, they killed him.