Carla Joan Baker was 20 and home visiting her parents in Hays, Kansas, when she vanished after going for a bicycle ride near the western edge of the city on June 30, 1976. Her father found her abandoned bicycle the next day and reported her missing. Months passed with no sign of her until September 21, 1976, when remains were found in a remote area near Cedar Bluff Reservoir in Trego County; that discovery came after information provided by her killer.

The killer was identified as Francis Donald Nemechek. He was arrested August 24, 1976, in connection with the murder of 16-year-old Paula Fabrizius and subsequently confessed to abducting and killing Carla, saying he had taken her from her bike ride to a secluded location and killed her. Nemechek was tried on five counts of first-degree murder in a change-of-venue trial in Salina and convicted; the prosecution relied largely on his detailed confession while the defense raised an insanity plea.

Did anyone in the Hays area remember seeing Carla out on her bicycle that evening or notice anything unusual near the western edge of town that night?