Theresa Ann Bier was born on April 16, 1971. Her parents, Shirley and David Bier were reportedly abusive, and so at a young age, Theresa and her sister were taken into care. Theresa Bier’s father, David, divorced Shirley and remarried a woman called Margie Richmond. They filed for custody of Theresa, which was granted, but it didn’t last long as Margie was also allegedly abusive towards Theresa.
Theresa was eventually placed in the care of her uncle in Fresno, California. While in his care, Theresa was forced to miss school to babysit other children. Her uncle and his friends were reportedly sexually abusive towards her.
Theresa Bier’s neighbour, Russell “Skip” Welch, 43, was a self-proclaimed Bigfoot expert, and also a meth addict. Convinced he’d find evidence of the bigfoot creature in the Sierra Nevada mountains, he invited Theresa, then 16, on a camping trip to help search for the proof. Theresa’s uncle shockingly agreed that Welch could take his niece with him on this camping trip, clearly unconcerned by the odd request.
On June 1st, 1987, Welch picked Theresa up, telling her uncle that he was going to take her to school. Later that morning, Central High School called to say that Theresa hadn’t made it to school that day. Her uncle reportedly told the school that she was sick, apparently preferring to deal with these types of matters on his own. That night at approximately 9:30 pm, Theresa was reported missing by her uncle. Whether Welch lied about taking Theresa to school or if there was some type of miscommunication between him and the uncle about when the camping trip would take place is unclear.
Almost a week later, Welch had returned to Fresno, but there was no sign of Theresa.
Welch’s daughter told police that she had seen her father with a young woman on June 1st. It is believed that this was Theresa Ann Bier.
On June 5th, police arrested Welch on a previous drunk-driving violation and brought him in for questioning.
Welch told investigators that on June 1st, he had dropped off Theresa at school. When the investigators told him that they knew Theresa never went to school that day, he quickly changed his story to say that he had taken her camping but that she had run off into the woods with another woman. His story then changed again and he claimed Theresa did run off, but it was actually with a group of campers. Then, yet again, Welch’s story changed. He said that whilst the two were camping, Theresa had been abducted by Bigfoot.
Welch agreed to take investigators to the spot where Theresa had supposedly been abducted. There was no indication at all that anything had actually happened there.
The campsite Welch took investigators to was near Shuteye Peak. There were blankets hung up, a purse, a bra and a camera. The camera had pictures of Welch playing the guitar and some pictures of Theresa. There was also an odd 3ft by 5ft burned area of ground. This campsite turned out to have been staged. The real campsite was actually 20 miles away in an area called Ghost Canyon. They found one of Welch’s shirts there that had meth in the pocket.
Later that June, Welch was arrested for child stealing and child endangerment.
In September 1987, three days before going to trial, the charges were dropped. Authorities didn’t feel like they had enough evidence at that time to get a conviction and didn’t want to take the chance, knowing that new evidence could arise and Welch wouldn’t be able to be charged again due to the “Double Jeopardy” law in the US.
Searches of the area where Theresa went missing have been conducted but to no avail.
Welch was never charged in the case and died in March 1998 aged 54 from severe coronary artery disease.
Theresa has never been found, but police do suspect foul play is involved in her disappearance.
At the time of her disappearance, Theresa Ann Bier was 5ft 5” and 110 lbs. She was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and laced sandals. She has brown hair and hazel eyes. She also has a surgical scar on her lower right leg.
If you have any information please call the Fresno Police Department at 559-621-2541 quoting case number 8736264.
Sources:
https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/theresa-ann-bier
https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/theresa-ann-bier
