Image Courtesy of missingpersonscenter.org

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Author’s Note: Due to the holidays, I’ve opted to reshare Roxanne Paltauf’s post, which was originally published on August 12, 2023. The next new post will be published in January 2024. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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About Roxanne

Roxanne Paltauf was born on January 3, 1988. Very little has been released about her early life, but the information that exists paints a picture of a kind, responsible young woman who looked out for those she cared about. As the oldest, she was devoted to her four younger siblings, and she enjoyed a close relationship with her mother.

As she grew older, her responsible nature shined through her actions. Roxanne dropped out of high school during her junior year. In spite of this, she took her future into her own hands and worked hard to achieve her goals. Instead of finishing her junior and senior years of high school, she enrolled in a job training program and studied to take the GED exam. At the time of her disappearance, she successfully passed all of the sections, with the exception of mathematics. She had even taken a second job.

Overall, things were going well for Roxanne. However, things would change in the summer of 2004, when she was 16. That was when she met and fell in love with Louis Walls. Despite being smitten with him, her mom and friends did not approve of their relationship. One of the biggest reasons for this disapproval was their age difference. When they first met, Walls told her that he was 19. He was, in fact, 28 years old with two children from previous relationships.

In addition to the age gap, her loved ones had other reasons for their disapproval. According to one of her friends, Roxanne had stated that Walls had hit her in the face, causing significant injuries to her nose. Allegedly, he’s threatened previous girlfriends, and a couple of them even sought protective orders against him.

In addition to the disapproval from Roxanne’s loved ones, Walls’s mother did not approve of the relationship either. As a result, the two would often hang out outside the home, typically in motels. By the time of her disappearance, Roxanne and Walls had been together for approximately two years.

Disappearance

Roxanne and Walls decided to spend a few days together in early July 2006. On July 7, at approximately 8:30 PM, they checked into a Budget Inn hotel near Interstate 35 and Runberg in Austin, Texas.

At some point during the evening, the pair got into a heated argument. The topic of this argument remains unknown as of this writing. Regardless, Roxanne was so angry that she stormed out of their room, carrying only her identification. All of her belongings were left behind, including her purse, wallet, and cell phone. According to Walls, he tried to follow her, but she told him to leave her alone. He then headed back to their room. Meanwhile, he saw her walk along the service road toward Runberg and turned left onto Middle Lane, at which point she disappeared out of view.

After about 20 minutes, Walls went back out of the room to search for her, as she didn’t return. Instead of calling the police, he called her mother the following day, and she was the one who filed the missing persons report.

She has not been seen since.

The Following Days

At some point between the time when Roxanne disappeared and the police were notified, Walls gathered Roxanne’s belongings, checked out of the hotel, and went to the home of his sister. Due to his actions, the authorities were working with a tampered crime scene. Whether or not they were able to obtain any DNA evidence or fingerprints remains unknown.

Walls returned Roxanne’s cell phone to her family on July 12, five days after she reportedly vanished. Reportedly, over 300 calls were placed using that phone between July 8-12. These calls were intended to a variety of recipients, such as motels in Austin, a strip club, and local singles chatlines, as well as several of Walls’s friends and previous girlfriends. (In 2019, authorities searched her phone after obtaining a warrant, and airtime charges were discovered that could indicate roaming charges the night she vanished.)

Interestingly, an arrest was made after 30-year-old Geoffrey Moore attacked and attempted to rape an exotic dancer on July 13. Moore, the dancer, and the dancer’s husband (who was with her at the time) all agreed to go to a Motel 6 that was close to the Budget Inn that Roxanne and Walls had stayed at.

Moore entered the room with the dancer, but locked the door before the husband could enter. After hearing his wife shouting, he got help from a security guard, who got the door open.

Moore ran soon after, leaving his wallet and hearing aid behind. Inside the wallet was Roxanne’s Texas ID card. To this day, it’s unclear how he obtained it. Both Moore and Walls remain persons of interest in her case, although there has never been enough evidence to charge either of them.

My Thoughts

The case of Roxanne Paultauf is one that’s equal parts frustrating and heartbreaking. She was a hard-working young woman who was putting her life together. She had passed almost all of the sections of the GED, she underwent job training, and at the time of her disappearance, she was working two jobs. But she was much more than her accomplishments. She had a close relationship with her mother, she was a devoted sister to her siblings, and she loved her friends. Tragically, all of that was taken away the night she vanished.

For many, this case has three main theories:

1. Louis Walls was responsible.
2. Geoffrey Moore was responsible.
3. A stranger was responsible.

Let’s work through these theories one by one.

First, we have the theory that a stranger was responsible for Roxanne’s disappearance. At face value, this theory seems plausible. The area of Austin that she and Walls were staying at had a high crime rate. If Walls’s story is to be believed, Roxanne stormed out of the hotel and disappeared from view. She could’ve gone anywhere and come across any number of people with bad intentions.

But if that’s the case, the police likely would’ve had something to work with. Remember, she reportedly disappeared the night of July 7, meaning that most people would’ve been home from work and settling in for the night. She was in a city, not the middle of nowhere. If there was a struggle, someone would’ve heard her scream, and someone would’ve found blood, torn clothing, or other evidence. She might have been forced into a vehicle, or the perpetrator might have used a gun to get her to comply. But either he got lucky and no one saw, or no one has seen anything in the years since. If there were no witnesses, that would’ve meant that no one drove past, and no one happened to see as they walked their dogs or returned after an evening out. If this had happened in the middle of nowhere, I could buy that no one saw anything. But this is Austin, one of the largest cities in Texas. If this had happened outside, someone would’ve seen something, and they would’ve talked by now, especially since almost 20 years have passed.

The second theory is that Geoffrey Moore was responsible. For me, this theory has as many holes as the stranger theory. As far as we’re aware, the only thing connecting Roxanne to Moore is her ID card. Yes, it’s weird that he happens to have the ID card of a missing person, but he just as easily could’ve picked it up after she dropped it, meaning that the two never met each other. The only way I could see this theory work is if he somehow convinced her to go to a secondary location, where he did something to her. This is a possibility, especially given the information about the incident with the exotic dancer. However, how could he have moved her without anyone seeing? I wasn’t able to find any witnesses or evidence that put the two of them together for any length of time. Although it’s possible, this casts serious doubts on this theory.

The final theory is that Louis Walls, Roxanne’s then-boyfriend, was responsible. The information available about Walls paints a troubling picture. He reportedly had a history of threatening his previous ex-girlfriends, to the point where at least two sought protective orders against him. Not only that, but we have one of Roxanne’s friends who stated that Roxanne had confided about an incident where Walls had hit her. This wasn’t a playful shove; this was hard enough that he fractured her nose.

The striking thing for me is that two of Walls’s ex-girlfriends were so threatened by his behavior that they both sought protective orders. It’s one thing if one of them did so. That would be easy to brush off. But the fact that two of them did so tells me that Walls’s behavior wasn’t situation-specific. His behavior was far more generalized and not connected to a specific person or situation..

When I was younger, I volunteered extensively with women and children who were impacted by Domestic Violence. They came from all walks of life, but they had one thing in common: all of their abusers escalated their behaviors, to the point that they could no longer remain safely in the home. Abusive behavior never goes away on its own. It requires aggressive treatment. It involves their partners and children living outside the home, and it involves the abuser seeking treatment for underlying drug/alcohol abuse and mental health issues. The behavior is often so severe that they have to seek inpatient treatment.

Sadly, the statistics show that without aggressive intervention, abusers can and will escalate their behavior, to the point of doing the unthinkable. From 2008-2018, 46% of women who were killed were killed at the hands of their intimate partners. That means it’s statistically likely that Walls was, at a minimum, involved in her disappearance, and at a maximum, killed her and hid her body.

For me, it boils down to Occam’s Razor, where the simplest explanation is the most likely. What’s more likely? That Geoffrey Moore or a stranger just so happened to be in the same area as Roxanne when she stormed out of the hotel that night? Or that her boyfriend, with a history of violence towards his ex-girlfriends, had something to do with her disappearance?

Sadly, there seems to be very little physical evidence to work with. In order for charges to stick, the authorities need solid evidence, such as DNA, fingerprints, and video surveillance. Until someone comes forward with what they know, new evidence is found, or her remains are discovered, this case will continue to languish and grow cold.

Roxanne Paltauff was a smart, hardworking young woman with dreams for the future. She wanted to be a fashion designer, and she was taking steps to make it happen. In addition, she was devoted to her family; she adored them and they adored her. Who knows what she could’ve accomplished. She could’ve been a famous fashion designer. She could’ve gone to college, gotten married, had kids, or any other of life’s accomplishments. Unfortunately, she will never have a chance to do any of these things because someone selfishly stole her away.

Someone knows something. Is it you?

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If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Roxanne Paltauf, there are several news articles, and a Facebook page. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• Disappearedblog.com
• Missing Persons Center
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

If you have any information about the disappearance of Roxanne Paltauf, please contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000. You can also contact the Texas Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-252=TIPS (8477).

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.