Tracy Pickett's disappearance still under investigation 30 years later
Aug. 12—Three decades have passed since the disappearance of Tracy Pickett, a 14-year-old Joplin girl who was last seen leaving a friend's house in Webb City, and local authorities continue to seek answers.
Friday marked the 30-year anniversary of Pickett's disappearance, and the Joplin Police Department issued a plea requesting information from the public.
"Over the past 30 years, investigators have followed up on numerous leads and tips to try and solve this case," police said in a news release from Sgt. Jason Stump. "As another anniversary of the disappearance approaches, we strongly encourage anyone in the community who has any information to come forward."
On Aug. 11, 1992, Pickett spent the night at a friend's house in Webb City and was reported missing on Aug. 12. The friend, who was a couple of years older than Pickett, had a party during which her roommate's boyfriend, Ernest "Michael" Hensley, showed up with a guy named "Al," whom police later identified as ex-convict Lowell Billy.
Billy and Hensley had served in prison together in Oklahoma. Hensley has since died. Joplin police Sgt. Luke Stahl told the Globe on Friday that because it's still an active investigation, he couldn't comment on whether Billy remains a primary suspect in the case.
"We're exploring all leads at this time, and while we do have a suspect pool, I don't know that the Joplin Police Department can release that," Stahl said.
Police were told that Pickett wanted to go home the next morning and accepted a ride from Billy in his van. Billy claimed that he dropped Tracy off safely near a pawnshop in downtown Joplin, but she has never been heard from again. It is believed she disappeared involuntarily, and Joplin police have never recovered a body.
"We believe that she didn't run away, that her disappearance wasn't by her own choice," Stahl said.
Police searched tailing ponds southeast of Lone Elm Road and Zora Street in 2018 near Hensley's former residence following renewed communications with a Hensley family member. Another one of the ponds had been searched previously in 2005. Neither search turned up any evidence of note in the case.
Stahl said police have received dozens of leads throughout the past 12 years.
"We had a new software that started back in 2010, and since that time, we have added 52 leads," he said.
But the longer a case is drawn out, the more difficult it can be to solve, he said.
"The longer we go, the more difficult it becomes," he said. "We worry at times about potential witnesses or suspects passing away. We worry about any evidence that we were able to get before may have gone away. It becomes increasingly difficult but not impossible. You hear pretty consistently that agencies across the country are solving cold cases, missing people like this, murders and longtime abductions. It's not that we have lost hope. It just becomes more difficult on our side to develop good, quality leads that we can follow up on."
