View source for Fort Worth missing trio

{{Short description|Unsolved 1974 disappearance of three girls in Texas}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox event
|title = Fort Worth Missing Trio
|image = Girls with Names NAMUS photos.jpg
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|date = December 23, 1974
|duration = {{Missing for|1974|12|23}}
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|location = [[La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth|Seminary South Shopping Center]], [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], Texas, U.S.
|coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|region:XXXX_type:event|display=inline,title}} -->
|also_known_as =
|type = [[Missing person|Disappearance]]
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|reported missing = {{plainlist|1=
*Mary Rachel Trlica
*Lisa Renee Wilson
*Julie Ann Moseley}}
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}}
The '''Fort Worth Missing Trio''' refers to an unsolved [[missing person]]s case in which three girls – '''Mary Rachel Trlica''', '''Lisa Renee Wilson''' and '''Julie Ann Moseley''' – went missing while shopping at the [[La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth|Seminary South Shopping Center]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], [[Texas]], on December 23, 1974. The car that the girls had been driving was left behind in the parking lot at the mall; the girls themselves have not been seen since.
The case shocked the Fort Worth community and left the families of the girls to adjust to life without their children. Thousands of leads have been followed, dozens of searches completed and hundreds of people interviewed. All attempts to find the girls have proven fruitless.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |first=Lena |last=Blietz |date=December 20, 2017 |url=https://www.star-telegram.com/latest-news/article190898639.html |title=In 1974, three Fort Worth girls vanished. Forty years later, this is all we know |newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |department=Latest News |access-date=April 7, 2024}}</ref>
== Victims ==
The oldest of the girls, Mary Rachel Trlica ([[surname|née]] Arnold), was aged 17 at the time of her disappearance. She is known to go by her middle name of Rachel. She was a white female who, at the time, was {{convert|5|ft|6|in|m}} in height, {{convert|108|lbs|kg}}, with long brown hair, green eyes, a chipped upper front tooth, and a small scar on her chin. She was a married high school student at [[Southwest High School (Fort Worth, Texas)|Southwest High School]] in Fort Worth and drove a 1972 [[Oldsmobile 98]], the car the girls took to the mall on the day of the disappearance. At the time she vanished, Rachel had been married to her husband, Tommy Trlica, for about six months, and wore a wedding ring.<ref>{{Cite web |author = National Institute of Justice |date = n.d. |url = https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6744 |title = Missing Person Case 6744 |website = NamUs |publisher = National Institute of Justice |access-date = October 26, 2018 }}</ref>
Lisa Renee Wilson was age 14 at the time of her disappearance. She is known to go by her middle name of Renee. She is a fair-skinned white female who, at the time, was {{convert|5|ft|2|in|m}} in height, {{convert|110|lbs|kg|0}}, with light wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and a scar on the inside of one of her thighs. Clothing she was known to be wearing when she disappeared includes bluish-purple hip hugger pants, a white pullover sweatshirt with "Sweet Honesty" in green letters (some have reported it as a pale yellow T-shirt with green letters),<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://star-telegram.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2%3A10EEA3CFD727D370%40NGPA-TXFWST-16751A4227F28E1C%402451553-1674C66A4C986BC3%4097-1674C66A4C986BC3%40?search_terms=rachel%2Btrlica&date_from=1974&date_to=2018&text=rachel+trlica&content_added=&pub%255B0%255D=10EEA3CFD727D370&sort=new&page=1|title=Vanished|date=January 9, 2000|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|access-date=October 28, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> red and white [[Oxford shoes]], and a promise ring with a single clear stone.<ref>{{Cite web |author = National Institute of Justice |date = n.d. |url = https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6817 |title = Missing Person Case 6817 |website = NamUs |publisher = National Institute of Justice |access-date = October 26, 2018}}</ref>
The youngest of the girls, Julie Ann Moseley, was age 9 at the time of her disappearance. She is a white female who, at the time, was {{convert|4|ft|3|in|m}} in height, {{convert|85|lb|kg}}, with shoulder-length sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a small scar under her left eye, a scar in the middle of her forehead and a scar on the back of her calf. Clothing she was known to be wearing when she disappeared included a red shirt with dark jeans and red tennis shoes.<ref>{{Cite web |author = National Institute of Justice |date = n.d. |url = https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6429 |title = Missing Person Case 6429 |website = NamUs |publisher = National Institute of Justice |access-date = October 26, 2018}}</ref>
== Disappearance ==
On the morning of December 23, 1974, a little before noon, Rachel Trlica, Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley set out to go Christmas shopping. Moseley asked to tag along at the last minute because she "didn't want to spend the day alone".<ref name=":0" /> On being told that she would need to get permission to go, Moseley ran inside her home and asked her mother, Rayanne Moseley, if she could tag along. Moseley would later recall: "I was working for an electrical contractor, and my husband and I were separated. It was a bitter, bitter time. I remember that Julie called and wanted to go to Seminary South. I said, 'No. You don't have any money. You just stay home.' I knew Renee and her mother, but I really didn't know Rachel. But she [Julie] kept whining about how she wouldn't have anybody to play with. I finally gave in, but I told her to be home by six."<ref name=":0" /> The older girls, specifically Renee, wanted to be back by 4:00{{nbs}}p.m. because Renee had a Christmas party she wanted to attend with her new boyfriend, who had given her a [[Pre-engagement ring|promise ring]] that morning, and she wanted plenty of time to get ready.<ref name=":0" />
The girls first headed to a surplus store in Fort Worth to pick up some layaway items that Renee had waiting.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |url=https://star-telegram.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2%3A10EEA3CFD727D370%40NGPA-TXFWST-1687956CD9AACE26%402455189-1687824DCAFB9A95%4034-1687824DCAFB9A95%40?search_terms=rachel%2Btrlica&date_from=1974&date_to=2018&text=rachel+trlica&content_added=&pub%255B0%255D=10EEA3CFD727D370&sort=new |title=35 years later, a plea for help to solve mystery |last=Ramirez Jr. |first=Domingo |date=December 23, 2009 |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |access-date=October 28, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> From there, they headed to the [[La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth|Seminary South Shopping Center]].<ref name=":0" /> Several witnesses had reported seeing the girls in the mall that day.<ref name=":2" /> When the girls did not return home, their families became concerned and traveled to Seminary South to search for them. They arrived around 6:00{{nbs}}p.m. that evening to find their car parked in the [[Sears]] upper-level parking lot.<ref name=":2" /> It appeared the girls had made it back to the car that afternoon, as the gifts they had purchased were found in the car. The family stayed at the mall all night waiting for the girls to return.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://star-telegram.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2%3A10EEA3CFD727D370%40NGPA-TXFWST-149C08C1C0EB826D%402444232-149BFC13E22491A8%408-149BFC13E22491A8%40?search_terms=rachel%2Btrlica&date_from=1974&date_to=2018&text=rachel+trlica&content_added=&pub%255B0%255D=10EEA3CFD727D370&sort=new&page=4|title=Five-year-old mystery of missing girls still haunts parents|last=Fisher|first=Binnie|date=December 24, 1979|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|access-date=October 28, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Search and investigation ==
When the girls failed to turn up, the police were called and the case was quickly handed to the youth division of the Fort Worth Police Department's (FWPD) Missing Persons Bureau. The girls were presumed to be runaways by investigators.<ref name=":3" /> The next day, Tommy Trlica, Rachel's husband, received a letter that appeared to have been written by her.<ref name=":3" /> It read:
<blockquote>"I know I'm going to catch it, but we had to get away. We're going to Houston. See you in about a week. The car is in Sears' upper lot. Love, Rachel" [sic]<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>
While the addressed envelope was written in pencil,<ref name=":3" /> the letter itself was written in ink and on a sheet of paper that was wider than the envelope. It was addressed to "Thomas A. Trlica" instead of the less-formal "Tommy" as Rachel normally called him. "Rachel" was written in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope. It appeared to be initially misspelled, as the "l" in her name was written as a lowercase “e”, but then it had been gone over again to form the correct "l". The postmark did not contain a city, only a blurred zip code that appeared to be "76083"; the number "3" appeared to either be backward, as though it was applied by a hand-loaded stamp, or a partial "8". It is assumed that the zip code was meant to be either 76038, which comes from [[Eliasville, Texas]], or 76088, which comes from [[Weatherford, Texas]].<ref name=":0" /> In subsequent decades, handwriting experts across the nation, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have yielded inconclusive results as to the legitimacy of the letter.<ref name=":4">{{cite news |title=Fate of missing girls remains a mystery |last=Fisher |first=Binnie |date=December 16, 1984 |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}}</ref>
Despite receiving the letter, the girls' families did not believe that it was written by Rachel, nor that the girls had run away. Julie Ann Moseley's mother Rayanne stated, "I know my daughter and I know those other girls and they are not runaways."<ref>{{cite news |title=Trio still missing after two months |last=Nolan |first=Joe |date=February 24, 1975 |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}}</ref> Judy Wilson, Renee's mother, stated: "I could have told you that night that they didn't run away. [Renee] wanted to go to that party. And no nine-year-old is going to run off two days before Christmas. Everybody knows that!"<ref>{{cite news |title=Mother hopes for return |date=December 23, 1982 |newspaper=[[Victoria Advocate]]}}</ref> Frances Langston, Rachel's mother, believed the girls had been abducted, saying, "A lot of people may think they left with someone they knew, but I'll always {{nowrap|think{{tsp}}{{ndash}}{{tsp}}}}until the day I {{nowrap|die{{tsp}}{{ndash}}{{tsp}}}}that the girls were taken."<ref name=":3" />
Not willing to give in, the families continued their search by distributing missing person fliers throughout the state and contacting newspapers across the country.<ref name=":4" /> Eventually, tips began to come in and witnesses began to come forward. In early 1975, one young man claiming to be an acquaintance of Rachel's stepped forward and claimed that he saw the three girls in the record department of a store inside the mall just before they disappeared. Apparently, he and Rachel saw each other and spoke briefly. The man claimed that another person appeared to be with the girls. During this same time, some women's clothes were found in Justin, Texas, but it was determined that they did not belong to the girls.<ref>{{cite news |title=Missing trio seen at mall, friend says |date=January 2, 1975 |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}}</ref>
Frustrated with the police investigation, the families decided to hire a private detective named Jon Swaim. In August 1975, Swaim discovered that a 28-year-old man, who had worked for a local store where Rachel had applied for a job before her disappearance, was making a string of obscene phone calls in the area. It was discovered that the man was using his position to obtain information from young women who had either submitted job applications or been listed as references. Six female job applicants had been receiving obscene phone calls. The man also once lived in the neighborhood of Rachel's parents but moved away shortly before Rachel married. In the end, nothing came of the investigation into this suspect.
In April 1975, Swaim went to Port Lavaca, Texas with 100 volunteers<ref name=":0" /> to search under local bridges after receiving a tip that the girls had been killed and taken there. However, no trace of the girls was found.<ref>{{cite news |title=Search for 3 Missing Girls Is Scheduled |date=April 10, 1975 |newspaper=[[The Odessa American]]}}</ref> A year later, three skeletons were found in a field in Brazoria County by an oil drilling crew. Swaim had the bones compared to x-rays and [[Forensic dentistry|dental records]] of the girls, but it turned out that the bones belonged to a teenage boy about 15 to 17 years of age and two other females who were not identified as being any of the girls.<ref>{{cite news |title=Human bones found near Alvin are checked against 3 missing Fort Worth girls |date=July 8, 1976 |newspaper=[[The Brazosport Facts]]}}</ref> In March 1976, a psychic called one of the families and told them that the girls could be found near an oil well. For reasons that are unclear, the searchers focused on the small community of [[Rising Star, Texas]], but nothing was ever found.<ref name=":0" />
In 1979, Swaim died following a drug overdose; his death was ruled to be suicide. Upon his death, he ordered that all of his files on the case be destroyed.<ref name=":0" />{{Dead link|date=August 2023}}
In the spring of 1981, police investigators were called to a location in Brazoria County after human remains had been found in a swampy area. After a month of investigation, they discovered that the bones did not belong to the three girls.<ref name=":4" />
In January 2001, the case was reopened and assigned to a homicide detective, Tom Boetcher, who believes the girls left the mall with someone they trusted: "We can say that they were at one point seen with one individual, but we believe there was more than one involved."<ref name=":5">{{cite news |title=No trace of girls missing since '74 |last=Cochran |first=Mike |date=May 21, 2006 |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}}</ref>
In 2018, two cars were raised from Benbrook Lake because they were thought to have a connection to the case.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alice |last=Barr |date=July 6, 2018 |url=https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Volunteer-Diver-to-Drag-Cars-from-Benbrook-Lake-Possibly-Tied-to-Fort-Worth-Missing-Trio-487547381.html |title=Volunteer Diver to Drag Cars from Benbrook Lake Possibly Tied to Fort Worth Missing Trio |location=Fort Worth, TX |publisher=[[KXAS-TV]] |access-date=October 26, 2018}}</ref> These efforts, however, yielded no results.
Over the years, investigators have continued to comb through Texas and have explored hundreds of back roads. The families have walked creek beds and country roads, coming up with nothing every time.<ref name=":0" /> Decades after the disappearance, there have been no reports of new developments in the case.<ref name=":5" />
== Other possible witnesses ==
A store clerk came forward around the time of the girls' disappearance and said that a woman told her that she had seen the girls at the mall that day. The woman reported that she saw three girls being forced into a yellow pickup truck near Buddies grocery store at the mall. The truck was described as having lights on top of it. This witness could never be located by police, and the story was never verified.<ref name=":3" />
In 1981, years after the disappearance, a man said he had been in the parking lot that day and had seen a man forcing a girl into a van. The man in the van told him it was a family dispute and to stay out of it.<ref name=":0" />
In April 2001, Bill Hutchins, a former Fort Worth police officer and security guard at the Seminary South Sears outlet, said that he saw the three girls with a security guard on the night they disappeared.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bills |first1=ER |title=Texas Far and Wide: The Tornado with Eyes, Gettysburg's Last Casualty, the Celestial Skipping Stone and Other Tales |date=2017 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=United States |isbn=9781439663059 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cEAvDwAAQBAJ&q=rachel+trlica&pg=PT41 |access-date=1 May 2020}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[List of people who disappeared mysteriously: 1910–1990|List of people who disappeared]]
* [[Springfield Three]] – Unsolved 1992 case of a mother, child and friend disappearing in Missouri
* [[Yuba County Five]] – 1978 case of deaths and disappearances in California
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://police.fortworthtexas.gov/ Fort Worth Texas Police Department]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Worth Missing Trio}}
[[Category:1970s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1974 in Texas]]
[[Category:December 1974 events in the United States]]
[[Category:Mass disappearances]]
[[Category:Missing American children]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Texas]]
[[Category:Trios]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:History of women in Texas]]