Family hopes reward will result in helpful tips about missing member

Don Buchanan of Risco displays a photograph of his missing daughter, Teresa Butler, Thursday at The Daily Dunklin Democrat office at Kennett. [Click to enlarge]

Editor's note: This is the first installment of a two-part series that examines the disappearance of a New Madrid County woman.

RISCO, Mo. -- Police agencies here are tight-lipped about the Jan. 25 disappearance of 35-year-old Teresa Butler from her rural New Madrid County home.

But her family hopes a $5,000 reward posted recently for her safe return will result in tips that might bring Teresa Butler home, her father said Thursday.

Don Buchanan, a retired farmer of Risco, said his daughter would never have left her two boys, Gavin, 4, and Garrett, 2, alone overnight to fend for themselves.

However, Teresa Butler's husband, Gary Dale Butler, 31, of Risco, returned home from his night-shift job at Maverick Tube at Blytheville, Ark., on the morning of Jan. 25 and found Gavin asleep, huddled under the covers of the couple's bed, and Garrett awake, laying on a loveseat at the foot of the bed, Butler said Thursday.

Garrett sucked on an empty bottle, Butler said.

"The first thing I did was panic," a distraught Butler said Thursday. "I started dialing the phone."

Butler said his home, which faces the No. 8 ditch, was locked when he returned from work that morning. Butler learned his sister-in-law was the last person to see his wife on the evening of Jan. 24, he said. Butler's brother-in-law said his wife returned to their home from Teresa and Dale Butler's residence at 9:05 that evening after his wife and Teresa had worked on Teresa's computer.

"I tried to call Teresa from work that night at about 11 p.m.," Butler said. "But I couldn't reach her.

"Sometimes it's hard to dial out of Maverick because of all the metal in the building," Butler added. "I tried over and over, but she never answered the phone."

Sources close to the investigation said police were summoned to the Butler home by Teresa's sister-in-law on the morning of Jan. 25. Officers found no indication of forced entry into the home, no blood and a number of items missing, Gary Dale Butler said.

"Teresa loves to take pictures," Butler said. "Her digital camera is gone, but I think she kept that in her purse.

"It's gone, too," he said of the handbag. "A video camera is gone. A PlayStation and games are gone. A Game Cube and games are gone. A big Mag-Lite flashlight we kept on top of the hutch is gone. Her cell phone is gone. The stereo from the Jeep is gone. The police took some things with them when they left here, too."

Included among those items were Teresa Butler's wedding rings, which Gary Dale Butler said his wife removed every night before bed, and a few furniture covers.

Police also were furnished with a lock from the couple's home, sources said. The tip of a key was broken off in the lock, sources noted.

Butler said a review of his wife's cell phone account indicated at least one outgoing call being placed after her disappearance, and many incoming calls, most of them placed by anxious family and friends.

"She had to have left with somebody," Gary Dale Butler said. "The Jeep was left here, and I was driving our Impala.

"She was scheduled to go to work at noon that day," he added. "She works at Wal-Mart in Dexter."

Sources said Thursday that Teresa Butler seemed upset when she returned home from her job at the retailer during the week prior to her disappearance, but refused to discuss what bothered her.

New Madrid County Sheriff Terry M. Stevens announced Thursday that the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation posted a $5,000 reward for Butler's safe return.

Those with information about Teresa's disappearance are asked to call Stevens at (573) 748-2516.