John Whatley, 73, and his wife Faye disappeared from their Bastrop, Texas, ranch after being last seen January 26, 1976. Their absence became apparent when they did not attend their granddaughter’s wedding; family requested a welfare check and a deputy visited the house on January 31. Inside, officers found a bullet hole in a window and the couple’s bedroom door removed from its hinges. The house otherwise showed no obvious signs of struggle or blood, and the Whatleys’ cars and personal items, including eyeglasses and wallets, were left behind.

A vehicle described as a van or truck was reported speeding near the property around the time they vanished. The missing bedroom door turned up a year later in a nearby barn that had been previously searched. Notorious serial killer Henry Lee Lucas later confessed to killing the Whatleys, but his record of false confessions leaves his involvement uncertain. The motive for the couple’s presumed abduction and death remains unknown.

Did anyone in Bastrop at the time see that speeding vehicle or remember unusual activity near the ranch in late January 1976?