On April 25th, 1997, Toni sent online messages to friends saying Norman was threatening her and that he was watching her. She was never seen or heard from again by anyone besides Norman and his sons.

Norman gave police several conflicting stories about what happened. He initially said they argued, she locked herself in the bedroom, and she was gone when he returned from the store. Later, he claimed they went to the drugstore together, then she sent him to the grocery store with the kids, and she was gone when he returned. He even said she called him from a blocked number. Finally, he claimed he thought she went to work and only realized she was missing when her coworkers reported her absence.

Toni had a troubled relationship with Norman. She’d filed for divorce and told friends she wanted to leave him. She also said he choked her in 1987. Norman’s sons told police they heard their parents arguing and a scream.

Police investigations revealed disturbing details:

* **A bloody sheet** was found hidden in their bedroom.
* **Toni’s blood, tissue, and fat** were found in their basement freezer, showing signs of blunt force trauma.
* Norman was arrested for assaulting another girlfriend (choking) and later for sexually assaulting another at knifepoint.
* Norman filed for bankruptcy, listing Toni’s address as unknown.
* In 2012, a renewed investigation found “significant information” at the Bachman’s former home. Norman’s son said his father confessed to killing Toni but claimed it couldn’t be proven. The son also recalled his father bleaching the basement and a strange smell in his car after Toni’s disappearance—a smell he later identified as that of a decomposing body.

In 2015, Norman was arrested and charged. He confessed to strangling Toni after an argument, dismembering her body, and burying the remains. Despite multiple searches, her body has not been found. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison, with a reduction to 10 years if her body is ever found.