MISSING: Bonnie Lee Schultz Part 2
Before dawn on July 4, 1997, Bonnie Lee Schultz was driving home after a late night out with friends. She was never seen again. For nearly 30 years, Indianapolis investigators suspected her husband’s involvement in her disappearance, but with no sign of Bonnie or her car, the case went cold. Could detectives have overlooked an unidentified predator who targeted her?
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Bonnie Lee Schultz
Credit: Schultz Family Photo
Bonnie Lee Schultz
Courtesy: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
The Schultz family. From left to right: Richard, Bonnie, Josh, and Gretchen.
Credit: Schultz Family Photo
Bonnie with her children, Josh and Gretchen
Courtesy: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Bonnie and her son, Josh
Courtesy: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
The Schultz residence
Courtesy: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
An example photo of Bonnie’s car model, a 1990 Mercury Sable
Courtesy: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Sergeant Daniel Kistner
Credit: Audiochuck Staff
Medium Allison DuBois
Credit: Audiochuck Staff
Timeline:
8:30 p.m.
Bonnie leaves her Indianapolis home to watch fireworks with coworkers.
About 4:45 a.m.
John last sees Bonnie as they drive off to their respective homes.
Investigators conduct helicopter and water searches using dive teams, but neither Bonnie nor her vehicle is found.
A detective discovers Bonnie’s vehicle was never entered into the National Crime Information Center as missing or stolen. The vehicle is entered, but no prior license plate checks are found.
Rick moves to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a new job.
10:25 a.m.
Detective Catherine Byron of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department interviews Rick in Michigan, marking the first substantive contact with him in about 10 years.
Sergeant Daniel Kistner and another detective conduct a nearly seven-hour interview with Rick in Michigan. Investigators later obtain a search warrant for Rick’s residence and seize electronic devices. No evidence tied to Bonnie’s disappearance is found.
Multiple additional water searches using sonar technology are conducted, including by private search groups. Several vehicles are recovered, but none belong to Bonnie.
Rick passes away.
The Schultz Residence
The approximate location of the home Bonnie and her husband, Rick, share with their two children.
Time Out Lounge
The bar where Bonnie, John, Anita, and other coworkers gather after watching fireworks.
Broad Ripple Avenue & Compton Street
The intersection where John says he turns left toward his home and Bonnie continues straight on 62nd Street.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The city Rick Schultz moved in 2000 and where detectives later interviewed him in 2007 and 2008.
Eagle Creek Park
A possible area of interest because of its wooded terrain, walking paths, and nearby residential development that existed in the late 1990s.
Additional Information:
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
If you have any information about Bonnie’s disappearance or her missing vehicle, contact the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at 317-327-6160 or email us at [email protected].
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Courteney Stuart
- Chaos Divers: 25 Years Without a Trace – A Mother’s Disappearance (Bonnie Lee Schultz) Pt. 1 & Unsolved Cold Case|| Woman Missing 25 Years Searching Bodies Of Water Around Last Known Location. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fKxnxuWPGw & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWO7shqtYKo
- The Noblesville Ledger (Noblesville, IN): Family waits for mom to come home by Josh Duke. Published July 30, 1997. Accessed October 9, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/354057225
- The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN): Mystery shrouds woman’s disappearance by Julie N. Lynem. Published August 3, 1997.
- The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN): Man scours trail of wife who’s missing by John Masson. Published November 2, 1997.
- WTHR (Indianapolis, IN): Missing mother. Published May 3, 2007. Updated April 15, 2016. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/missing-mom/531-73d2d00b-7038-481f-9095-02d44c8a7b2a
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