Roy George Vavra, 38, of Gillette, Wyoming, was last seen by his roommate at approximately 6:00 a.m. on January 24, 2006. Vavra, who was living on a small property on Highway 50 south of Gillette, had plans to go hunting that day with a close friend, Seth Long, and left a note saying he would be back by 11:00 a.m. When Long drove past Vavra's residence around 10:30 a.m., he saw an unfamiliar white flatbed pickup truck parked in the driveway. When Long returned around 11:00 a.m. as planned, both Vavra and the truck were gone. Vavra left behind his wallet, keys, and his own pickup truck; investigators found no signs of struggle at the residence. A witness later reported seeing Vavra that same day at a convenience store roughly two miles from his home, at the corner of Highway 50 and Force Road, in the company of an unidentified white male in his mid-30s with short blond hair, who was driving a small white pickup truck resembling an older-model Ford Courier. Vavra was reported missing by his roommate a few days later, on January 27, 2006.
The case is investigated by the Campbell County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Troy Doud, a friend and would-be business partner of Vavra's, was investigated after a $125,000 business dispute between the two came to light and Vavra's dog was observed repeatedly digging near Doud's riding arena; cadaver dogs and excavation of the arena found nothing, and Doud has never been charged in connection with Vavra's disappearance. Doud is currently serving a life sentence in Texas for an unrelated 2013 murder. In 2009, Jason Duane Larson falsely claimed to know the location of Vavra's remains; he later admitted fabricating the story and was convicted of false reporting. Investigators state there is no record of Vavra with the Social Security Administration, credit bureaus, banks, or NCIC in the years since his disappearance, and his DNA has been entered into CODIS. The case remains open and unsolved. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Campbell County Sheriff's Office at 307-682-7271 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at 307-777-7181. Case Number 06-00836.
