In the autumn of 1985, 29-year-old Michael Meteer was starting a new chapter in Boulder, Colorado. He had recently moved from California with his friend, Timothy James Keene, in September of that year. For Meteer, the move was an attempt to heal from a difficult divorce. He found a job as a car salesman at a Mazda dealership and was settling into his new life. However, he was last seen on October 17, 1985, and when he failed to show up for work that day, concern began to grow. A family member officially reported him missing on October 24, 1985. Meteer had confided in his daughter and a coworker that he and his roommate, Keene, had been arguing about money, adding a layer of concern to his sudden disappearance.
The investigation into Michael Meteer's disappearance quickly focused on his roommate, Timothy Keene. The day after Meteer was last seen, Keene left Colorado and traveled to Newport Beach, California. On October 25, he was arrested in Costa Mesa, California, for driving under the influence, his sixth such arrest in two years. He was driving Meteer's silver Volkswagen Scirocco. A friend who bailed Keene out of jail discovered Meteer's wallet and bloodstained clothing in the car's trunk and promptly turned them over to the police. A blood spatter expert determined that the person wearing the clothes had likely suffered a severe blow to the head while in an upright position and could not have inflicted the injuries that caused the stains. Despite this evidence, authorities initially felt they did not have enough to charge Keene without Meteer's body.
Over time, Keene told conflicting stories about what had happened to his roommate. To two female friends, he claimed Meteer had died by suicide, and he had buried the body in the desert to spare Meteer's mother the pain. To another friend, he said Meteer had died after hitting his head on a car bumper. In May 1988, Timothy Keene was charged with and later convicted of Michael Meteer's murder. After his conviction, Keene led investigators to a desert area west of Green River, Utah, between mile markers 138 and 141 on Interstate 70, where he claimed to have buried the body. A search of the area did not uncover Meteer's remains, but some of his personal belongings were found. Although a conviction was secured, the case remains heartbreakingly unresolved for Meteer's family, as his body has never been recovered, leaving them without a final resting place for their loved one.
Last Seen: Oct 17, 1985
