Nearly 30 years after Bonnie Lee Schultz vanished, the case remains unsolved, but the questions are far more complicated than they first appeared.
Bonnie disappeared in the early morning hours of July 4, 1997, after spending the night with coworkers in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was last seen leaving the Time Out Lounge on Indianapolis’s north side, driving west in her blue 1990 Mercury Sable. Her car has never been found.
For decades, suspicion centered on Bonnie’s husband, Richard “Rick” Schultz, who was home with their children when she left and later reported her missing. But in Part 2, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat examine what investigators actually did and didn’t do in the years that followed.
Why was Bonnie’s vehicle not immediately entered into the national system as missing? Why were key forensic searches delayed or never completed? And why were potential alternate leads never fully pursued?
This episode revisits long-overlooked interviews, newly surfaced witness accounts, and critical investigative gaps, including information that did not come to light until decades later. Through our original reporting, you’ll learn how early assumptions may have narrowed the investigation before it truly began, and as the focus widens beyond one suspect, new possibilities emerge.
Part 2 of our look into Bonnie’s case challenges the narrative that defined this case for years and asks whether the truth about what happened to Bonnie Lee Schultz has been hiding in plain sight.
Hear Ashley’s conversation with medium Allison Dubois in the Crime Junkie Fan Club:
https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/fanclub/
If you have any information about Bonnie’s disappearance or her missing vehicle, please contact Det. Nicholas Hubbs at Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at 317-327-6160 or email us at tips@audiochuck.com.
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Key Episode Moments
0:00 – 0:57 – Case Intro
0:58 – 3:00 – Suspicion on Rick Schultz
3:01 – 5:11 – Life Insurance & Financial Questions
5:12 – 7:00 – 2007 Police Interview with Rick
7:01 – 10:00 – Cell Phone Record Issues
10:01 – 13:45 – Rick’s Account Revisited
13:46 – 17:58 – Police Focus on Rick
17:59 – 21:06 – Marriage Problems Examined
21:07 – 24:58 – Search Warrant & Electronics Seized
24:59 – 28:13 – John’s Timeline Questioned
28:14 – 31:59 – Anita’s Silence
32:00 – 36:05 – Theory #1: Rick Schultz
36:06 – 40:05 – Car Entry Error Discovered
40:06 – 44:52 – Theory #2: John
44:53 – 49:02 – Was Bonnie Targeted?
49:03 – 55:25 – Theory #3: Unknown Attacker
55:26 – 58:12 – Josh Still Searching
58:13 – 58:31 – Outro
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Crime Junkie is created and hosted by Ashley Flowers.
About Ashley Flowers
Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.
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I don’t think the husband is guilty. I don’t remember the last time a guy who killed his wife said “she didn’t leave voluntarily”
Usually they say “she left with a lover” not “she would never leave the kids voluntarily”
No one’s gonna speculate that maybe Rick hired someone? Wasn’t that a total thing back in the nineties? How else would Rick know that it was the time out lounge or whatever it is if Anita hasn’t said it. And how would he know to back track the exact route Bonnie had taken. And how why would he fail the polygraph? And why would he not immediately call family members or neighbors to ask if Bonnie had turned up but instead call to inform them that Bonnie is missing? And as for the medium, if you can even believe that stuff, then yes Rick did not physically do the job and of course Bonnie wouldn’t have known the actual perpetrator. Does hired help not check some boxes here 🙄
Where did Rick work at the time. Concrete could conceal another. It would also preserve evidence
OH COME ON HE TOOK HER OUT OF THIS WORLD COPS EDDEX IP nd look so stupid
Soooo her car nor her has ever been found???? How could he make that happen in a couple hours and make it home not noticed at all he had been gone and make this car disappear never to be found and some how get back to his own vehicle to make it home before daughter wakes up ? I don’t know something is a miss here I’m not too sure now if he did something or not
HEYYYY I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE MEDIUMS ENTIRE MESSAGING THAT SHE GOT! You should have done that as a part 3 !
WE WANT AN EPISODE WITH THE MEDIUMS INFO ABOUT THE ENTIRE CASE !!!!!