Over five years, three people close to Stephen vanished without a trace, including Gertrude. The first was his 22-year-old daughter, Lora Lynn Morris, who disappeared in Indiana in August 1981 after a visit from Gertrude. Lora Lynn’s body was found months later; she’d been murdered.

Another missing person was Paul Lambert, a business associate who met with Stephen in New Orleans and disappeared. A gas station attendant, Chuck Smith, claimed he saw Lora Lynn looking scared with a suspicious man the day before she vanished. Smith, too, later disappeared after a mysterious job offer seemingly linked to Stephen.

Stephen himself became a suspect. He gave inconsistent accounts of events, was seen with a large sum of cash shortly after Gertrude disappeared, and a report surfaced of him and another man disposing of a body. Before dying of cancer, he promised a confession but it was never found. His death stalled the investigation.

Police suspect a web of interconnected events: Lora Lynn’s murder, possibly by Gertrude over a disagreement; Gertrude’s subsequent disappearance at the hands of Stephen after he discovered her involvement; and the disappearances of Lambert and Smith to eliminate witnesses. While investigators suspect Stephen and possibly Gertrude were involved in all the disappearances, a lack of solid evidence means the cases remain unsolved.