One Year Later: Investigators Still Searching for Missing Kalispell Mom, Homicide Suspected
After nearly a full year, Montana authorities are still trying to figure out what happened to Nicole Waller, the 32 year-old mother of three that disappeared on February 14, 2013. Investigators are once again pleading with the public to send them any information that could solve the case, which for undisclosed reasons, is being treated as a homicide investigation.
“While our news release last fall generated some good interest from the media and the public, we’re still no closer to finding Nicole through any of the tips that were brought forward,” said Agent Mark Hilyard of the Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation. “If someone out there has any information, no matter how inconsequential that person thinks it may be, it could be what we need to break this case open.”
Waller disappeared while traveling back to her family in Kalispell after visiting Fairview, Montana near the North Dakota border.
"She had a mutual friend that she had gone over to Eastern Montana to visit," said Detective Kip Tkachyk of the Flathead County Sheriff's Department. "Unfortunately she did not return from that short vacation. It was suspicious at that point. Not long after her disappearance, her car was recovered near Poplar, Montana."
Although there was no obvious sign of struggle, evidence from Waller's maroon 1999 Ford Expedition led investigators to suspect a homicide or other foul play. Holler's children's pet guinea pigs were abandoned in the vehicle, but there were other discoveries as well.
"Interviews have been conducted and there are definitely some discrepancies in statements that have been given in regards to her disappearance," Tkachyk said. "Many, if not all, of her personal belongings from over there were located in the vehicle when it was recovered, and the vehicle was several miles from the location of the residence she stayed at."
The FBI had been helping with the case, but turned it over solely to Montana investigators at the end of October.
Anyone with information regarding Nicole Waller’s disappearance may anonymously contact agent Mark Hilyard in the Division of Criminal Investigation at the Montana Department of Justice by calling (406) 791-2709 or the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 758-5600.
"There are three children and a family looking for some closure to their loved one’s disappearance," Hilyard said. "There’s someone out there who knows the truth.”