The Disappearance of Roxanne Paltauf

18 year-old Roxanne Paltauf has been missing since July 7th, 2006. She was last seen at a Budget Inn motel, located along interstate 35 in Austin, Texas. Roxanne had been spending the days leading up to her disappearance at the motel with her boyfriend Louis Walls (30).

Louis Walls and Roxanne

Roxanne’s family and friends did not approve of Louis, and Louis’s mother did not approve of Roxanne. Due to this, the couple rarely ever spent time at each other’s homes. Roxanne originally planned to return to her family’s home the day she vanished, however she decided at the last minute to spend another night at the motel with Louis. She planned to go shopping with her mother and sister the following day, and she assured both of them that she would still be there. Unfortunately, Roxanne never showed up the following day and has never been seen or heard from again. 

Roxanne’s mother and sister were initially not concerned when she did not show up for their shopping trip. They figured that she’d gotten caught up in her plans with Louis and that she would get in touch later. Roxanne’s mother did receive a phone call from Roxanne’s phone later that afternoon, but when she answered the phone, Louis was on the other line. He told Roxanne’s mother that he hadn’t seen Roxanne since the previous evening. He then went on to explain that Roxanne angrily left their hotel room around 8:30pm after they got into an argument. She apparently only took her identification card with her when she left—all of her personal items such as her shoes, wallet, and cell phone were left behind. Louis claimed that he tried to chase after Roxanne when she left, but then ended up going back to their motel room after she told him to leave her alone.

Roxanne’s family members immediately reported her missing after getting off the phone with Louis. However, by the time the police were involved, Louis had already checked out of the motel. He had taken all of Roxanne’s personal items with him, so any potential crime scene in the motel was significantly compromised. Louis did finally return Roxanne’s cell phone to her family almost a week after her disappearance. During the time Roxanne’s phone was in Louis’ possession, over 300 calls were made on it; many of them to Louis’ ex-girlfriend. This seemed quite suspicious to Roxanne’s family, and Louis’ history with previous girlfriends did not favor him either. Two of his previous girlfriends had taken restraining orders against him for threatening them. Prior to her disappearance, Roxanne herself had told her friends and family members that Louis had threatened her and punched her in the face. Despite all of this, Louis has not been charged with anything related to Roxanne’s disappearance.

Roxanne’s mother said that she still never received any of Roxanne’s other personal items from Louis. Oddly enough, Roxanne’s personal identification card was found in the possession of another man named Geoffrey Moore on July 13th, 2006–six days after Roxanne’s disappearance. Her ID was found in his wallet after Geoffrey was arrested for attempting to rape an exotic dancer at a location near the Budget Inn where Roxanne was last seen. Investigators spoke to Geoffrey about Roxanne after his arrest, but it is still unclear how exactly Roxanne’s ID came into his possession. The attempted rape charges against Geoffrey were eventually dropped, and he has never been charged with anything related to Roxanne’s disappearance either.

Although no arrests have been made, both Louis and Geoffrey are considered persons of interest in Roxanne’s case. Roxanne remains missing today. If you have any information that could lead to her whereabouts, please contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5250.

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[List Series: Unsolved Cases with Multiple Persons of Interest]