Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos

Ellabeth Mae Lodermeier










Ellabeth, date, approximate 1974; Gene Lodermeier in 1980
Date Missing 03/06/1974
Missing From
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 11/26/1948 (73)
Age 25 years old
Height and Weight 5'1, 105 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue peacoat, blue sweatshirt and blue jeans.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Ellabeth's nickname is Beth. Some agences refer to her as Ella Beth Lodermeier. Her maiden name is Keller.
Details of Disappearance Ellabeth was last seen at her home the 300 block of north Indiana Avenue in in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on the evening of March 6, 1974. Her boyfriend also lived in Sioux Falls, but was out of town on the day she disappeared. He agreed to call her between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. He did call, three times, but each time the upstairs tenant answered the phone, and he was never able to talk to Ellabeth.
She was estranged from her husband, Gene Vernel Lodermeier, at the time, and they were in the process of a divorce. It was her co-workers who told him, the next morning, that she hadn't shown up for work and they couldn't find her.
Gene went to Ellabeth's residence and found a loaf of bread rising in the kitchen, flour spilled on the floor, and a fresh pizza with one piece missing. Her car was parked in the driveway, the house was locked and nothing was missing except her coat and purse. She has never been heard from again.
Later in 1974, Ellabeth's credit cards were found in a women's bathroom at the Canadian National Railway in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. This is nearly a ten-hour drive north of Sioux Falls, and authorities could find no sign that Ellabeth had ever been there. They think probably someone else put the cards there in an attempt to distract the investigation.
In 1992, eighteen years after her disappearance, her purse, wallet and checkbook were found on the banks of the Big Sioux River near Highway 42 and south Riverview Avenue, east of Sioux Falls. A search of the river turned up no sign of her or her body.
Ellabeth's family had never approved of Gene, and described him as controlling and abusive. He would even disable her car occasionally to stop her from going to her college classes. In 1973, Ellabeth filed for divorce and said under oath the Gene had abused her, something he later denied.
She soon met and began seeing another man. Her boyfriend immediately returned to Sioux Falls when he realized she was missing, went to the police, and took and passed a polygraph exam. He was cleared of suspicion in her .
Gene, who was the last person to see her, is considered a person of interest in her ; Ellabeth disappeared three weeks before the divorce was to go to trial. In February 1978, nearly four years after she disappeared, Gene filed a lawsuit against the city of Sioux Falls, claiming he had been harassed by the six police officers and jailed for nine days. The officers were cleared of harassment, however.
Gene ran into trouble with the law numerous times after his wife went missing. The most serious conviction was in 1989, when he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for grand theft. He was also accused of putting a pipe bomb in a police officer's car in 1977, and of try to have two Sioux Falls police officers killed, although none of those charges ever it to court.
In 2002, after serving 13 years of his sentence, Gene was paroled. He died of natural causes in 2013, at the age of 66, without having ever remarried. Ellabeth's parents are also dead, and her sister died in 2016, but her brother and former boyfriend are still alive.
Ellabeth was born in Billings, Montana, and later her family moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota. She attended Northern State University in Aberdeen before transferring to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. She graduated from Augustana in 1972, with a bachelor's degree in social work, and worked as a social worker afterwards.
During her marriage, she and her husband had traveled throughout the midwest, including all over South Dakota and in northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota.
Her remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.
Investigating Agency
Sioux Falls Police Department
605-367-7234
Other
The Doe Network
NamUs
KSFY
KDLT News
The Argus Leader
Keloland

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos