She Was Last Seen At Work Before She Disappeared In 1987, And When Her Van Was Later Found, There Were Clearly Signs Of A Struggle
Julie Ann Weflen of Deer Park, Washington, is remembered as a kind person who loved horses and hated seeing any creatures get hurt. For that reason, her husband, Mike Weflen, actually stopped hunting and fishing.
By 1987, she was 28 years old and working for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in Spokane as a power operator.
She was among the few female operators and was tasked with reading meters, energizing and de-energizing power equipment, and ensuring transformers remained powered up.
Yet, on September 16, 1987, Julie mysteriously disappeared after last being seen at work. That day, Julie was informed that a transformer was running low on nitrogen, and a coworker supposedly told her that she could wait until the following day to handle it.
Nonetheless, Julie decided to fix the issue then, and at about 2:00 p.m., she left for the Spring Hill Substation, located close to Riverside State Park. Julie signed into the substation at 2:30 p.m., and it’s thought that she completed her work in approximately one hour and returned to her company van at 3:45 p.m.
After that, she vanished, and she was never seen or heard from again. Hours later, around 9:00 p.m., Julie’s van was found parked next to the substation. The driver’s side door and back hatch had been left open, her purse was inside, and her yellow plastic hard hat, toolbox, water bottle, and sunglasses were lying on the ground.
The person who discovered Julie’s van in this state contacted the police, who noted signs of a struggle. There were drag marks on the ground, as well as a fresh set of tire tracks, which did not come from Julie’s van.
This led investigators to believe that two men had managed to overpower Julie, and it’s suspected that she was abducted and possibly murdered.
Julie’s husband, Mike, worked as a commercial house painter and had been painting a Riztville, Washington, home about 50 miles away at the time his wife went missing. He was interviewed and “checked out” for a week, but now-retired Detective Mark Henderson of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office didn’t think he was involved.
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“He’s been on a rollercoaster. I’ve seen him as badly depressed as I’ve ever seen anybody,” Detective Henderson recalled of Mike’s mental state.
An extensive search of the area was conducted, but no further clues of Julie’s whereabouts were found. The hunt for answers eventually lost steam, too, until a retired BPA engineer named John Polos reignited the quest.
John, who’s from Vancouver, had known Julie and was bothered by the lack of progress in her case. So, in May 2011, he traveled to Washington to take a look at the crime scene and realized authorities had never actually searched Julie’s locker at the G.H. Bell Substation in Spokane.
The locker had reportedly been emptied by other BPA workers, and Julie’s belongings were put in a locked bin. John informed the police about this, and they obtained the locker’s contents.
“I have no idea what’s in there, and they wouldn’t tell us. There could be anything in there or nothing of any use,” he said at the time.
The potential new evidence brought fresh attention to Julie’s disappearance, and in early 2012, a $25,000 reward was offered by BPA for information that led to the arrest and conviction of whoever abducted her.
“One of our employees disappeared, and it happened on the job. We are still interested in finding out what happened,” stated BPA spokesman Doug Johnson.
Julie’s husband, Mike, continued looking for his wife, too. Once authorities’ official search efforts came to an end, he mobilized hundreds of volunteers who kept scouring areas along the Spokane River and surrounding the substation. Canines, boats, saddle horses, and helicopters were used, in addition to psychics.
Mike also had his wife’s face placed on 75 billboards, which advertised an $80,000 reward for information. Half of the reward fund was raised by his and Julie’s families; meanwhile, the other half came from BPA.
In the wake of no further developments, though, Julie’s case remains unsolved. Mike ultimately returned all the donated reward money in 1990.
As of 2012, Detective Mike Ricketts revealed how the circumstances of her disappearance are still unclear. Authorities aren’t sure if Julie was targeted by a stranger or if someone she knew had stalked her. Today, her case has been cold for over 37 years.
Julie was five foot two, weighed 100 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing her wedding ring and a black Casio watch. Julie would be 65 years old today.
Anyone with information regarding her case is urged to contact the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office at (509) 477-4760.
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