Name: Lou Allen Goettsch
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: March 31, 1981
Location Last Seen: Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Date of Birth: September 26, 1959
Age: 21 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Lou Allen Goettsch was last seen in front of his residence in Abilene. He was in the process of renting an apartment. He drove his battered pickup truck to the apartment complex, parked in the tenant's lot and gave the manager a $350 check. He planned to move his possessions, all of which fit into the truck, later that day. His truck, with all of his belongings inside, was found abandoned in the parking lot.
Goettsch's relatives did not call police for about two months after his disappearance. He did not touch his bank account with $1,079 or have contact with his Australian girlfriend.
Goettsch left the U.S. Army in 1980, after completing three years of active duty. He had received a $3,000 workers' compensation payment in early 1981 for an injury sustained in the oil fields around Abilene.
About six months prior to his disappearance, Goettsch and his passenger, Roney Harper, were stopped for driving a pickup truck erratically and marijuana was found.
Almost 10 months after Goettsch's disappearance, a tip was received from an anonymous caller stating Roney Harper and another man allegedly had murdered Goettsch and disposed of his body near a local lake in a drug deal gone bad.
Roney Harper, allegedly drunk, called Walker County Sheriff's Office (Georgia) and confessed to Goettsch's murder because he thought Goettsch was an undercover narcotics agent. He said he shot Goettsch four times, then kicked him repeatedly. He returned to the murder scene, a remote, undeveloped field, but either could not or would not locate the remains. Roney Harper later recanted.
Agency Name: Abilene Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Joshua Ward
Agency Phone Number: 325-673-8331
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 81-000221 (89009108)
Agency Name: Texas Department of Public Safety
Agency Contact Person: Missing Persons Clearinghouse
Agency Phone Number: (512) 424-5074
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: M8605003
NamUs Case Number: 23133
NCIC Case Number: M070409717
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 11-13-2021 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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