The Disappearance of Teresa Lynn Butler UPDATE

Episode 029 - The Disappearance of Teresa Lynn Butler

On January 24th, 2006, Gary Butler was working the night shift.  During his shift he placed a call home to speak with his wife, Teresa Lynn Butler, but received no answer.  When he arrived home the next morning at approximately 10am he could find no trace of his wife who had apparently disappeared from their home leaving their two children behind with no one to look out for them.

Several items were missing from the home including a video camera, Playstation and several games, Nintendo Game Cube, maglite flashlight, digital camera and the car stereo had been removed from Teresa’s vehicle.  Teresa’s purse was missing, but strangely her wedding rings and jacket were left behind.  Her rings were found beneath the couch, which many considered odd as she only took off her rings right before bed.

Investigation revealed several other inconsistencies.  A call had been made from Teresa’s cell phone at 3:16am the night she vanished.  This call was made to a man in Gideon Missouri who claimed to have no knowledge who Teresa was.  Another call was made after Teresa had been reported missing, this time to the home of two elderly women in Clarkton, Missouri who also did not know Teresa.

Police later received a call from a man who said that the family video camera had been involved in a drug purchase less than twenty-four hours after Teresa vanished.  Police recovered the camera but could not conclusively prove that it belonged to her.  For the most part Teresa’s case went cold, until November of 2019.

CASE UPDATE

Melvin Ray Hufford, a person of interest in Teresa’s case from early on was arrested in November of 2019, charged with first degree involuntary manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.

New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens told the press “It is satisfying to file charges in the case but our initial goal was to bring Teresa home safely.  But that isn’t going to happen so we can at least know that we have someone charged and there is some accountability for her death.”

Hufford confessed to authorities, describing what had happened the night Teresa vanished.  According to his story he, Teresa and a third man were doing meth together.  Hufford claims that after injecting himself and Teresa with meth that she began to complain of chest pains.  

Hufford went on to explain that he went to get Teresa a glass of water and by the time he returned she was unconscious and non-responsive.  Hufford checked her pulse and there was none, at which point he and the other male became frightened.  

Hufford alleged that after this, he wrapped Teresa in a tarp and took her out of the home.  To cover up their trail, he and the other man began taking random items from the home to make it look like a robbery.  Hufford said he took Teresa’s body, placed it in the abandoned home of his father and left it there for several years while he went away to prison for unrelated crimes.

At some point, Hufford wrote to his father and told him about the body in the home.  Hufford’s father later confirmed that he had in fact seen Teresa’s remains.  After being released, Hufford went back to the home and recovered Teresa’s remains at which time he placed them in a pit and set them ablaze.  After the fire was out, he crushed the bones and placed them in a bucket, dumping them in a ditch.

Police did locate and speak to the second man that Hufford claimed was present at the time, though authorities do not believe the man was there and think Hufford was trying to buy himself a deal.  Ultimately, only Hufford faced charges.

Hufford plead guilty and was sentenced to seven years for the Class C felony of manslaughter, for injecting the fatal dose of meth and three years for a Class D felony for tampering with evidence for moving her body.  In total, Hufford will spend ten years in prison.  Sheriff Steven’s later commented “I’m somewhat disappointed in the amount of time he received but I understand that was the best we were going to get, so I’m satisfied with it.”

While Teresa’s case has apparently been closed following Hufford’s incarceration, her family is left without a body to bury or mourn over.  There are still some, though, who believe there is more to the story than what Hufford confessed to.  Perhaps we will never know.