Ellabeth Lodermeier Was A Social Worker Who Vanished And The Only Suspect Is Dead.

Ellabeth Mae (Keller) Lodermeier

Ellabeth was born on November 26th, 1948, in Billings, Montana. later her family moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota. She attended Northern State University in Aberdeen before transferring to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. 

On January 17th, 1970, Ellabeth married Gene Lodermeier at Faith United Methodist Church in Aberdeen. 

She graduated from Augustana in 1972, with a bachelor's degree in social work.

The couple settled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Ellabeth worked as a social worker at the Community Services Office.

Ellabeth's family had never approved of Gene, and described him as controlling and abusive. He would even disable her car occasionally to stop her from going to her college classes. So it didn't come as a shock when, in 1973, Ellabeth filed for divorce from Gene, saying he abused her. The same day, she meets Jerry Thomas while out with a friend at the Pomp Room in Sioux Falls.

Jerry soon became Ellabeth's boyfriend.

On March 6,th 1974, Ellabeth was allegedly last seen by Gene at her home the 300 block of north Indiana Avenue. This was three weeks before their divorce went to trial.

Jerry, who also lived in Sioux Falls, but was out of town. He agreed to call Ellabeth between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. He did call, three times, but each time the upstairs tenant answered the phone, and he was never able to talk to Ellabeth.

The next day Ellabeth never showed up to work. Some say her estranged husband and her co-workers went to her home to check on her. Some say Gene went alone. Others say that it was the police who went to the house first. Regardless, they found a loaf of bread rising in the kitchen, flour spilled on the floor, and a cooked pizza with one piece missing. Her car was parked in the driveway, the house was locked and nothing was missing except her coat and purse. 

Allegedly, there was no signs of a struggled or forced entry.

Jerry immediately returned to Sioux Falls when he realized she was missing, went to the police, and took and passed a polygraph exam. He was cleared of suspicion in her case.

In October of 1974, Ellabeth’s credit cards were found in a railway station in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. This is nearly a ten-hour drive north of Sioux Falls, and authorities could find no sign that Ellabeth had ever been there.

In November of 1980, the Six Sioux Falls police officers are acquitted of charges of harassing Gene about Ellabeth's disappearance. Gene claimed police openly and implicitly accused him of killing Ellabeth, although he was never charged with any crime related to her disappearance. The accused officers state that they were simply doing their jobs.

In January of 1989, Gene was sentenced to 45 years in prison for grand theft after being convicted of stealing skid loaders and other equipment. Gene contests the unusually hefty sentence, saying it was payback for his perceived involvement Ellabeth's disappearance.

In 1992, eighteen years after her disappearance, a farmer found an old bag along the Big Sioux River near Highway 42 and south Riverview Avenue, east of Sioux Falls. Ellabeth's purse, wallet and checkbook inside. A search of the river turned up no sign of her or her body.

In July of 2002, After serving 13 years of his sentence, Gene was paroled from prison after his first two attempts were denied. In his parole applications, Gene said he was suffering from health issues, including an aneurysm and back problems.

On April 18th, 2013, Gene died of an aortic aneurysm at his home in Sioux Falls at age 66.

In 2016, Detective Pat Mertes was assigned the case. He believes Ellabeth's body is in South Dakota somewhere. Also Ellabeth's sister died.

Ellabeth's parents have passed away but her brother and former boyfriend are still alive. Before her father passed away he gave his journal to Mertes. 

Mertes said multiple people have been investigated over the years. Ellabeth's estranged husband is still the number one person of interest. Other people have been looked at and cleared.

At the time of her disappearance Ellabeth was allegedly wearing a blue peacoat, blue sweatshirt and blue jeans. She had brown hair and green eyes.

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 13th, 2019, a search team armed with a cadaver dog, searched along the Big Sioux River adjacent to Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum property. I have no idea what the results were of that search.

If you have any information, you're asked to call Crime Stoppers at 605-367-7007.