Heidi Seeman

An 11 year old is abducted while walking home
Heidi Lynn Seeman was an 11-year-old girl described by her family as friendly, talkative, and full of joy. The youngest daughter of Theresa and Senior Master Sgt. Curtis Seeman, Heidi was part of an Air Force family living in San Antonio, Texas. In the summer of 1990, she had just completed the fifth grade at Stahl Elementary School and was enjoying her vacation with friends and family, who remember her favorite color was peach.

On the morning of Saturday, August 4, 1990, Heidi was walking home after a sleepover at a friend's house in her Northeast San Antonio neighborhood. Her friend walked with her part of the way, last seeing Heidi at the intersection of Stahl Road and Willow Run, just a few blocks from her home. Her parents expected her by noon, and when she didn't arrive, they knew something was wrong. A search began immediately. Witnesses later reported seeing a suspicious vehicle in the area around the time Heidi disappeared: a shiny red car with tinted windows and a thin red stripe down the side. The driver was described by one witness as a white or Hispanic male with dark hair and a mustache.

Heidi's abduction triggered one of the largest search efforts in San Antonio's history, at one point considered the largest in FBI history. The community response was immense, with thousands of civilian volunteers joining San Antonio police officers and Air Force personnel to scour the city and surrounding countryside. The search involved helicopters and canine units, and the collective effort to find the missing girl gripped the city with fear and hope. The search for Heidi was tragically complicated when another young girl, 7-year-old Erica Botello, was abducted from a different part of the city on August 23.

The desperate search for Heidi came to a devastating end 21 days after she vanished. On August 25, 1990, a landowner discovered her decomposed remains on an isolated property off County Road 220 in Hays County, near the town of Wimberley, more than 60 miles from where she was taken. Her body had been bound with duct tape and wrapped in trash bags. An autopsy confirmed her death was a homicide caused by strangulation, and authorities also determined she had been sexually assaulted. The discovery sent a wave of grief through the San Antonio community, which was further shattered when Erica Botello's body was found the very next day.

The investigation into Heidi's murder has been handled by the San Antonio Police Department, the Texas Rangers, and the Hays County Sheriff's Office. Over the decades, several leads have been pursued and multiple suspects have been investigated, but no charges have ever been filed. Two men have been publicly identified as persons of interest. One was Robert Eric Duncan, an Air Force major and psychologist who had been a supervisor of Heidi's father and was an active organizer in the volunteer search. His vehicle reportedly matched the description of the suspicious red car, but military and civilian authorities ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. Another longtime person of interest was Jerry Nabor, an ex-convict, but issues with witness credibility prevented a case from moving forward.

The profound impact of Heidi's abduction led to the creation of the Heidi Search Center, an organization named in her honor that for 27 years provided resources and assistance to thousands of families with missing loved ones. Though the center closed in 2018 due to a lack of funding, the legacy of community action inspired by Heidi's case continues. Her family, who later moved to Florida, returns to San Antonio to place a peach rose at a memorial on Stahl Road.

As of August 2023, the murder of Heidi Seeman remains an active but unsolved cold case. Investigators periodically review the file and hope that advances in forensic technology may one day lead to a breakthrough. The Texas Department of Public Safety offers a reward of up to $3,000 through Texas Crime Stoppers for information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible. Anyone with information is urged to call the San Antonio Police Department Cold Case Tip Line at 210-207-7635 or Texas Crime Stoppers at 1-800-252-TIPS.