Laurie Jean Depies

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Wisconsin State Patrol (WI)

Missing From:

Menasha, Wisconsin

Summary:

Laurie Jean Depies disappeared from Menasha, Wisconsin on August 19, 1992. The 20-year-old was 5'5", 115 pounds, and was seen entering her gray 1984 Volkswagen Bug at the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute at approximately 10:00 p.m., arriving at her boyfriend's apartment complex between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m. No arrests have been made and her case remains unsolved, though in 2010, Larry DeWayne Hall confessed to kidnapping and killing Depies and is serving a life sentence in a North Carolina prison.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On August 19, 1992, Depies reported for work at Graffiti store at Fox River Mall in Grand Chute in the early afternoon and closed the store with a co-worker at 9:00 p.m., after which she and her co-worker locked the store and walked to their cars in the Fox River Mall parking lot. She picked up a ring from a mall jewelry store she bought for her boyfriend at 7:00 p.m. At 9:55-10:00 p.m., Depies was last seen as she drove east on College Avenue while her co-worker drove south on U.S. 41. At 10:15 p.m., Depies' 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit pulled into the parking lot at 310 W. Wilson Avenue in the Town of Menasha (now known as the village of Fox Crossing), and her boyfriend, his sister and their friend heard the loud muffler on her car. Between 10:18-10:20 p.m., the search for Depies began when they looked out from the balcony and saw her car but not Depies; she never made it to the apartment. They heard her car pull into the lot, went looking for her when she did not arrive at the apartment, found her locked vehicle in the complex parking lot with no sign of her, and eventually notified police. A Styrofoam cup of soda was found on the hood of Depies' car with no other signs of her at the scene; no one saw her walk away from the parking lot or get into anyone's car, and her overnight bag and purse were left inside her vehicle. At 11:45 p.m., Depies' boyfriend called the Town of Menasha Police Department to report her as a missing person.

Additional Details:

Authorities believe she was taken by someone she knew, as it would be uncharacteristic of Depies to willingly get into a car with a stranger, and there is no indication that she was forcibly kidnapped; they think she may have gone willingly with someone she trusted and was harmed afterwards. The cup on the hood of her car had an unidentified thumbprint which police believe may have been from the abduction suspect; judging from the size of the print, it was probably although not definitely from a man. Many of Depies' friends, including her boyfriend, took lie detector tests and passed as police tried to sort out possible angles and suspects. A man was questioned by Wisconsin authorities in 2000 after he claimed he was suicidal and wanted to confess his supposed role in her case, but it is not known if he was actually involved. Hall first became a suspect in the woman's disappearance in 1995. Police had found a notebook in his car with Depies' name and place of work on it. Hall made the confession in the Depies case in November 2010, but police didn't reveal it until a press conference in May 2011. Hall claims that he saw Depies when she was working at Fox River Mall and followed her to her boyfriend's apartment where he kidnapped and later killed her. Police have not charged him with murder but are following up on clues he's given about the location of her remains; police have no physical evidence linking Hall to the crime, but they say that he knows things about the case that only the police and killer would know. Investigators searched the area where Hall said he'd buried Depies, but they were unable to find her body or any physical evidence to substantiate his confession. There has been no activity on her bank accounts or Social Security number since she went missing. In 2012 the lead investigator retired and handed Laurie's case over to the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ). Over time, the Wisconsin Department of Justice took over the case, though updates have been few and far between; even today, the investigation remains open. Hall signed a written confession.

Case Last Updated:

Nov 08, 2026