Account
Apr 06, 2011
May 30, 2023
Phylis
Lewellen
64
36
65 inches
66 inches
115 lbs
120 lbs
White / Caucasian
Female
On the night of December 27, 1996, 36-year-old Phylis Ellen Lewellen vanished from her home in Kelso, Washington. She informed her husband, Bill, that she needed to get some peace of mind and was going for a drive at approximately 10:00 p.m. Phylis left in her husband's light blue 1981 Peugeot 505 sedan, as her own pickup truck was not working. She was wearing blue jeans, a white sweatshirt, a western-style coat, and rubber-soled slippers. Phylis, who had a distinct Southern accent, also took her female Rottweiler with her, though friends later noted it was unusual as she was more attached to her other dog, a Jack Russell Terrier. Her husband reported her missing 24 hours after she left. In the initial stages of the investigation, a few leads emerged but ultimately led to dead ends. Phylis was confirmed to have written a check at a location on Ocean Beach Highway after leaving her residence, which was the last verified transaction she ever made. Following this, there was no activity on her bank accounts or credit cards. Investigators initially considered the possibility of her being a victim of suspected serial killer Michael Brae, but he was quickly ruled out as a suspect because he was in police custody on the night Phylis disappeared. Years later, in 2005, a photograph of a woman resembling Phylis at a motorcycle rally brought a brief sense of hope to her family, but the woman was eventually identified as someone else. The disappearance of Phylis Lewellen has left her family with unanswered questions for decades. A stay-at-home mother of two who also bred quarter horses, her sudden departure was out of character. Her husband, Bill Lewellen, stated his belief that she met with foul play. Nine months after she went missing, he filed for divorce on the grounds of abandonment, a move he explained was necessary for financial reasons as many of their assets were in her name. The light blue Peugeot sedan with Washington license plate Q680494 that she was driving, along with her pet Rottweiler, have never been found. The case remains an active and unsolved missing person investigation, a perplexing mystery that began with a wife and mother leaving home for a drive and vanishing without a trace.
Dec 27, 1996
Kelso
Washington
Cowlitz County
98626
No
9901
Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office
Kelso
Washington
Cowlitz County
98626
Ryan Cruser
Sergeant
312 Southwest 1st Avenue, Washington
3605773092
County
Law Enforcement
96-15059
1996-12-27
Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office
Red/Auburn
Green
Green
06/10/2026
