In her quest for companionship after the loss of her husband, 72-year-old Nancy Hartz, a female, turned to online dating. It was there she met a man who called himself Ray, and over the course of a year, their online relationship blossomed through daily correspondence. Eventually, he convinced her to sell her home and belongings to travel the country with him in an RV. In June of 2015, she left with the man, assuring her daughter they would stay in touch. However, after one phone call a few days later, her family never heard from her directly again.
Concern grew when her children began receiving emails purportedly from Nancy, but the tone and wording felt unfamiliar. Suspicions that someone else was writing the emails led her family to hire a private investigator. The family's fears were heightened when they discovered that the man their mother had left with was using a stolen identity. This man was later identified as Robert Lawson Carnochan, who used at least 18 different aliases. In April 2016, authorities located Carnochan in Yucca, Arizona, living with another woman who, like Nancy, had sold her belongings to start a new life with him.
Carnochan was arrested on charges of identity theft, forgery, and weapons violations, but not in connection with Nancy's disappearance. He was later convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Tragically, in May 2019, skeletal remains were discovered in a remote desert area near Topock, Arizona. In December 2020, through forensic examination, the remains were positively identified as Nancy Hartz. An autopsy revealed that she had died from gunshot wounds, and her death was ruled a homicide. Robert Lawson Carnochan was the primary suspect in her murder, but he was never charged, as he died in prison in September 2020, just months before her remains were identified. Investigators also linked Carnochan to the disappearances of two other women, Neva Jane Lindley and Verna Clayton.
