Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 01/25/2006
- Missing From:
- Missing From Risco, Missouri
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 11/26/1970 (54)
- Age:
- Age 35 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’7, 110 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Black hair, brown eyes. Teresa’s right ear is pierced twice and her left ear three times. She has a Cesarean section scar on her abdomen and she has noticeable dimples.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Teresa Butler vanished from her home near Risco, Missouri on January 25, 2006. Her husband, Gary, found their two young sons alone that morning; Teresa was gone. Several items were missing: electronics (video camera, game consoles), a flashlight, her purse, and phone, but her car and some personal items remained.
Strange things were also noted: a broken key in the door, a missing porch lightbulb, and calls made from her phone after her disappearance to places she didn’t know.
While Gary was initially considered a person of interest because of issues with his ex-wife, he was cleared. A witness later led police to Teresa’s video camera, found in a ditch, but it couldn’t be definitively linked to her.
In 2019, Melvin Hufford confessed to killing Teresa. He claimed they were using meth together, she overdosed, and he disposed of her body and stole her belongings to stage a robbery. He later moved her body, burned the remains, and scattered them. Hufford has a long criminal history and is awaiting trial. Police don’t believe another man Hufford mentioned was involved.
Teresa’s disappearance is considered suspicious because she left her children alone, and she had no history of running away.
- Agency:
- New Madrid County Sheriff’s Office 573-748-2516
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 01/25/2006