Fort Worth Missing Trio facts for kids
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| Date | December 23, 1974 |
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| Duration | Missing for 51 years, 3 months and 15 days |
| Location | Seminary South Shopping Center, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Type | Disappearance |
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The Fort Worth Missing Trio is a mystery about three girls who disappeared on December 23, 1974. Mary Rachel Trlica, Lisa Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley were Christmas shopping. They went to the Seminary South Shopping Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Their car was found in the Sears parking lot. But the girls have not been seen since that day.
Contents
The Day They Vanished
On December 23, 1974, Rachel Trlica, Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley planned to go Christmas shopping. Julie asked to join them at the last minute. She called her mom, Rayanne, for permission. Rayanne first said no because Julie had no money. But Julie kept asking, saying she would be alone. Rayanne finally agreed, telling Julie to be home by 6:00 PM.
Renee, one of the older girls, wanted to be back by 4:00 PM. She had a Christmas party to attend. Her new boyfriend had given her a promise ring that morning. She wanted plenty of time to get ready for the party.
Their Shopping Trip
The girls first went to a surplus store in Fort Worth. Renee needed to pick up some items she had bought earlier. After that, they headed to the Seminary South Shopping Center. Many people later said they saw the girls at the mall that day.
When the girls did not come home, their families grew worried. They went to Seminary South to look for them. Around 6:00 PM, they found the girls' car. It was parked in the Sears upper parking lot. The gifts the girls had bought were inside the car. This showed that the girls had made it back to their car. The families stayed at the mall all night, hoping the girls would return.
The Search Begins
When the girls did not appear, the police were called. The case went to the Missing Persons Bureau. At first, police thought the girls might have run away from home.
A Mysterious Letter
The next day, Rachel's husband, Tommy Trlica, got a letter. It seemed to be from Rachel. The letter said:
"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"
The envelope was written in pencil. But the letter inside was written in ink. The paper was also wider than the envelope. The letter was addressed to "Thomas A. Trlica." Rachel usually called him "Tommy." The name "Rachel" on the envelope seemed to have been misspelled at first. The "l" looked like an "e" but was then fixed.
The postmark on the letter was blurry. It only showed a zip code that looked like "76083." The number "3" seemed backward or partly missing. Experts thought the zip code might be 76038 (from Eliasville) or 76088 (from Weatherford). Over the years, handwriting experts, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), could not say for sure who wrote the letter.
Families Don't Believe It
Despite the letter, the families did not think the girls had run away. Rayanne Moseley, Julie's mother, said she knew her daughter would not run away. Judy Wilson, Renee's mother, also believed they did not run away. She said Renee wanted to go to her party. She also pointed out that no nine-year-old would run away two days before Christmas. Frances Langston, Rachel's mother, thought the girls were taken by force.
The families kept searching. They handed out missing person flyers across Texas. They also contacted newspapers. Soon, tips and new witnesses started to come forward.
Early Leads
In early 1975, a young man came forward. He knew Rachel. He said he saw the three girls in the record department of a mall store. This was just before they disappeared. He and Rachel spoke briefly. The man said another person seemed to be with the girls. Around the same time, some women's clothes were found in Justin. But they did not belong to the girls.
The families were not happy with the police investigation. So, they hired a private detective named Jon Swaim. In August 1975, Swaim found out about a 28-year-old man. This man worked at a store where Rachel had applied for a job. He was making bad phone calls to young women. He used his job to get their information. Six women who applied for jobs had received these calls. This man had also lived near Rachel's parents before she got married. But nothing ever came from this suspect.
Searching Far and Wide
In April 1975, Swaim went to Port Lavaca. He took 100 volunteers with him. They searched under bridges there. This was because of a tip that the girls had been killed and taken there. But they found no sign of the girls.
A year later, three skeletons were found in Brazoria County. They were found by an oil drilling crew. Swaim had the bones checked against the girls' x-rays and dental records. But the bones belonged to a teenage boy and two other females. They were not the missing girls.
In March 1976, a psychic called one of the families. The psychic said the girls might be near an oil well. Searchers looked in Rising Star, but found nothing.
Jon Swaim, the private detective, died in 1979. He asked for all his case files to be destroyed.
In 1981, police were called to Brazoria County again. Human remains were found in a swamp. After a month, they found out the bones were not from the three girls.
In January 2001, the case was reopened. A detective named Tom Boetcher took over. He believes the girls left the mall with someone they trusted. He said, "We can say that they were at one point seen with one individual, but we believe there was more than one involved."
In 2018, two cars were pulled from Benbrook Lake. People thought they might be linked to the case. But these efforts did not find anything.
Over the years, people have kept searching. They have looked through Texas land and hundreds of roads. The families have walked creek beds and country roads. But they have found nothing. Decades later, there are no new clues in the case.
Other Possible Sightings
A store clerk came forward around the time the girls vanished. She said a woman told her she saw the girls at the mall. The woman reported seeing three girls being forced into a yellow pickup truck. This happened near a grocery store at the mall. The truck had lights on top. However, police could never find this witness. So, her story could not be checked.
In 1981, years later, a man said he was in the parking lot that day. He saw a man forcing a girl into a van. The man in the van told him it was a family problem and to stay away.
In April 2001, Bill Hutchins spoke up. He was a former Fort Worth policeman. He also worked as a security guard at the Seminary South Sears store. He said he saw the three girls with a security guard the night they disappeared.
Images for kids
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Mary Rachel Trlica, Lisa Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley
See also
In Spanish: El trío de Fort Worth para niños
