On the evening of June 8, 2011, the quiet life of Bill Currier, a 50-year-old Caucasian male, and his wife Lorraine, came to a horrific end in Essex Junction, Vermont. The couple, last seen leaving their respective jobs, were reported missing the next day when they uncharacteristically failed to show up for work. This prompted a welfare check by police, who discovered a disturbing scene at their home. The phone lines had been cut, and a window leading from the garage into the house was broken, signaling a forced entry. Inside, investigators found personal items the couple would never have willingly left behind, including Bill's insulin, immediately sparking fears of foul play.
The initial investigation yielded few leads. Two days after their disappearance, the Curriers' car was found abandoned in a nearby apartment complex parking lot. A witness provided a description of a man seen driving the car, leading to a police sketch, but the trail went cold for months. The community was left in a state of unease, with no answers as to the beloved couple's whereabouts. The case remained a frustrating mystery until a break came from an entirely different investigation in another part of the country.
The truth of what happened to Bill and Lorraine Currier was revealed to be a random act of violence perpetrated by serial killer Israel Keyes. Keyes, a 34-year-old self-employed carpenter and Army veteran, was arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of an 18-year-old woman in Anchorage, Alaska. During his interrogation, Keyes confessed to a string of murders across the country, including those of the Curriers. He recounted how he had flown to Chicago, rented a car, and driven to Vermont with a "murder kit" he had buried two years prior. He chose the Curriers' home at random, broke in, and bound them with zip ties.
Keyes forced the couple into their own car and drove them to an abandoned farmhouse he had previously scouted. In their final moments, Bill and Lorraine displayed immense bravery. Bill fought back against their captor, managing to break free of his restraints before Keyes beat him with a shovel and then shot him. After Bill's murder, Keyes sexually assaulted and strangled Lorraine. Despite his detailed confession, the bodies of Bill and Lorraine Currier have never been found. Extensive searches of the farmhouse, which was later demolished, and a local landfill yielded no remains. Before he could be formally charged with the Currier murders, Israel Keyes took his own life in his Alaskan jail cell in December 2012, leaving a legacy of pain and unanswered questions for his many victims' families.
