In the spring of 1992, 31-year-old Michael Wayne Woolum disappeared from the small community of Bonnyman in Perry County, Kentucky. He was last seen on April 26, 1992. At the time of his disappearance, the circumstances were largely unknown. Woolum was a white male with brown hair, green eyes, and a mustache. He had a small scar above his left eye. When he was last seen, he was wearing a sky-blue pocket t-shirt, blue jeans, a light khaki jacket, and white Converse tennis shoes.
For decades, his case remained cold, with very little information available about what might have happened to him.
The initial report of his disappearance was filed with the Kentucky State Police four days after he was last seen, on April 30, 1992. Despite the investigation, years turned into decades without any significant breaks in the case. The lack of information left his family and community with unanswered questions and lingering uncertainty. His case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System but the circumstances surrounding his disappearance remained a mystery.
Decades later, a significant development brought renewed attention to Woolum's case. In what had become a cold case over 30 years old, the Kentucky State Police made an arrest. Troy Fugate was taken into custody and charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Woolum's disappearance. According to court records, a witness came forward and told investigators that Fugate had admitted to killing Woolum. The witness provided details about when and where the alleged murder occurred and claimed that Woolum's body was wrapped in plastic, placed in the trunk of a car, and then moved and disposed of. This long-awaited breakthrough offered a potential answer to the question of what happened to Michael Woolum, transforming a long-standing missing person case into a homicide investigation and bringing the possibility of closure to a mystery that haunted Perry County for a generation.Last Seen: Apr 26, 1992
