By David Lohr

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Criminal Record: Louis Walls

February 5, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas (Crime Library) —  Tomorrow will be the seven-month anniversary of 18-year-old Roxanne Paltauf's mysterious disappearance. The case, which gained national attention on America's Most Wanted this past weekend, is becoming a hot topic on Internet message boards and blogs alike.

Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to speak with Roxanne's mother, Elizabeth Harris, about the circumstances surrounding her daughter's disappearance and this is how she described the situation:

"I had talked to her the night before she disappeared. She was staying with her boyfriend at the Budget Inn Hotel on I-35 in Austin.  They were celebrating their second anniversary.  They were going to spend a couple of days at the hotel, cause she still lived here at home, and I didn't approve of him, so he didn't come around here." 

The following day, Elizabeth went shopping and returned home around 3:30 p.m.  Shortly thereafter, she received a phone call from Roxanne's boyfriend, wanting to know if she knew where her daughter was. Elizabeth recalled the following conversation with him:

"I said no. She was with you last night.  He said they had an argument, and she walked out.  He said he went after her, but she told him to leave her alone, and he walked back to the room to cool down.  He said he went back out 20 minutes later, but he could never find her.  That is supposedly the last time he saw her.  I did question him.  I said, 'Look, I need to find my daughter. You've got to give me more information — you know, what was the argument about?'  He kept telling me the argument was about the 'past.'  And that is as much as I can get out of him.  I told him, 'We have to find her. I have to have more information.' He said, 'I'm just getting upset right now' and then hung up the phone."

When she was unable to locate her daughter, Elizabeth filed a missing persons report with the Austin Police Department.  From the start, she was dissatisfied with the investigation.

"The first impression the police officer gave me was 'I have a big caseload. This is adding more to my caseload.'  He acted like it was an imposition for him to deal with my daughter."

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Criminal Record: Louis Walls

Hunt Goes On For Roxanne Paltauf, Austin Teen Missing Since July

Contact  David Lohr at           crimewriter74@hughes.net

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