In the winter of 1989, a 32-year-old woman named Kerry O'Brien-Krueger vanished from her home in Burlington, Wisconsin. She was last seen on December 6, 1989, at her residence in the 200 block of North Perkins Boulevard, where she lived with her husband and their young daughter. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance are complex and filled with conflicting information.
Her husband, Tracey Krueger, told authorities that on the evening of December 5th, Kerry informed him she needed to go on a last-minute business trip to a trade show in Wyoming the following morning for her job in the public relations department at Gander Mountain. He stated that she packed a bag and left their home around 4:30 a.m. on December 6th, supposedly to drive to Chicago with a coworker to catch a flight. A neighbor reported seeing an unfamiliar black car with a male driver parked outside the Krueger's home around that time but did not see anyone get into the vehicle.
Later that day, the narrative provided by Tracey Krueger began to unravel. A coworker of Kerry's contacted him to ask why she hadn't come to work. It was then discovered that there was no scheduled trade show in Wyoming, and no employees from Gander Mountain were slated for any out-of-state business trips. This revelation raised immediate concern, as it was highly uncharacteristic for Kerry to be a no-show at her job. The investigation that followed uncovered that while Tracey often requested time off from his own job to care for their daughter while Kerry was supposedly on business trips, she had only been on one such trip two years prior, in 1987. Friends of Kerry were often surprised when they asked her about recent work travel, as she rarely left the Burlington area. Many of Kerry's personal belongings, including her makeup, identification, and credit cards, were left behind at her home.
The investigation into Kerry's disappearance has been fraught with troubling details and unanswered questions. Authorities learned that the Kruegers' marriage was experiencing difficulties, and Kerry had contemplated divorce. For about six months before she vanished, Kerry had been suffering from a mysterious and severe undiagnosed illness, causing symptoms like stomach pain, nausea, and significant weight loss. Tracey Krueger underwent a polygraph test in January 1990, which yielded inconclusive results. He was scheduled for a second polygraph but canceled due to what he described as a severe gastrointestinal illness. Shortly after, he claimed to have suffered a stroke that caused amnesia, erasing his memory of his adult life, including the period of his wife's disappearance. Due to these health issues, the second polygraph was never administered, and while he has been considered a person of interest, no charges have ever been filed in connection with Kerry's case. The case remains an unsolved and painful mystery for her family, who continue to hope for answers regarding what happened to the young mother who seemingly vanished into the cold December air.Last Seen: Dec 6, 1989
