Last Seen in Breckenridge | Full Episode | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] you come here for the lifestyle and the beauty and the mountains
getting to go skiing and hiking and biking Annette schnee was very beautiful she
had gone to a modeling school and she came here to Breckenridge everybody was going to Colorado you know
go find yourself go to the Big Town you know in 1982 on January 6th Annette had gone
from her work in Frisco at the Holiday Inn she needed to get home to get her outfit to work at the flipside bar that
night she would hitchhike from her house do her day job hitchhike back and put on
her nighttime cocktail waitress outfit he checked there and then hitch right back
a lot of people hitchhiked at that time because they can't afford to drive or get a car to drive back and forth
there was a storm a bad storm it was very cold too I think it was 20 below about 4 45 in the afternoon
was the last time anybody saw a net schnee that same night another young woman disappeared in Breckenridge
Bobby Joe oberholtzer Bobby Joe had received a promotion at work and she was going to go celebrate
with some friends Bobby Joe was pre-spirited she loved life she was happy wherever she was
she left and went to go hitchhike home and that was the last time she was seen the day after Bobby Joe disappeared her
body was found here on the side of a snow bank on Hoosier pass 10 miles outside Breckenridge she had tragically
been shot six months later the body of Annette schnee was also found about 10 miles in that direction in a desolate
area lying face down in a stream she had also been shot the mystery of what happened to these two beautiful young
women would haunt their families and investigators for years these two women they were both killed
the same night the thing that tied them both together was an orange booty sock you get a sock in your Bobby Joe
oberholtzer and the meat to it is found on the body of an acacia I'm seen this is amazing
as years went by you know we Muse about whether or not we were going to die before we solved this case
what no one else knew at the time was that the Killer's truck got stuck on a snowy mountain pass that same night
right after the murders that would be right where that curb is over there and there's snow Banks I'll lose that deep
yeah and a local fire chief saved him everything catches up but you now get away with anything forever
[Music] foreign [Music] [Music] every day that I made this drive and got to see all the scenery and the sunrises
and sunsets and especially from the top of hoosier it's like I am so lucky to live here
[Music] no how did dark and silent secret the unsolved murders of Annette schnee and
Bobby Joe oberholtzer they would Define the career of now Park County detective Sergeant Wendy keppel but back in 1982
when both women were killed I was a senior in high school doing High School teenage stuff we were just basically
footloose and fancy free and never giving the first thought that something could happen to us it was an attitude
from another time a feeling Wendy shared with Bobby Joe Bobby Joe oberholtzer was
somebody that I think I would have been friends with how much is she missed by her family
a lot still Lori Merlot's memory of big sister Bobby Joe is Frozen in those gentler
times one of the best things that ever happened in my life was being her younger sister how do you describe her
a free spirit loving person very pretty you know fell head over heels for her he
fell hard yeah yeah I did Jeff oberholtzer and Bobby Joe dated for a few years before making it official in
1977 and soon the newlyweds from the Midwest headed for the mountains Colorado was crawling you know they'd
called the town of Alma half an hour south of Breckenridge home seemed to be the place to be you know as
hippies you were a hippie back then oh sure yeah it was Bobby Joe hippie too oh yeah yeah
Jeff opened an appliance repair business Bobby Joe worked for a real estate company in Breckenridge she'd often
hitch a ride to work back then many people did people would look for you they saw you standing by the side of the
road they'd pick you up well Jeff knew Ed it was a large brass clip very heavy with a large brass ring attached to it
and it was made for self-defense January 6 1982 bitter cold with snow in the forecast Bobby Joe hitched to work
where that same afternoon she'd be pleasantly surprised a job promotion she called Jeff with the good news and told
him she planned to celebrate with friends after work and would be home soon okay everything's good
but when Bobby Joe wasn't home by midnight he got worried and drove to the home of the friends Bobby Joe had been
celebrating with welcome up asked him you know where Bobby was if they knew and she didn't know and it wasn't like
her to not come home no not at all Jeff went to the Breckenridge police department but was told it was too soon
to file a missing persons report so he headed back to Alma alone the phone rang I think about quarter to
eight it was a Rancher he had found her driver's license and some of the contents of her wallet blowing in his
driveway oh oh then I knew something was horribly wrong Jeff and some friends all headed towards
the ranch where Bobby Joe's license had been found that's when I spotted her backpack out in the snow and I got out
of the vehicle and went through the snow that's when I found her glove in the snow
and it was covered in blood [Music] a bloody tissue also lay in the snow but still no Bobby Joe
Jeff went back to their house and Friends headed up Hoosier past the route Bobby Joe usually took home
they went up with cross-country skis to the pass and they've found her body now investigators joined Bobby Joe's
friends spreading out across the Stark landscape Bobby Joe's brass key ring with the hook
was found in the parking lot that her husband Jeff oberholtzer had put together for her to use as a weapon if
she needed to former Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Jim Hartke was at the crime scene
the other item that was found up there was an orange booty like a ankle sock it didn't belong it didn't fit anything
connected with Bobby Joe oberholtzer lay Bobby Joe the body was frozen she was fully clothed her hands were
close together one hand had been zip tied and Hartke believes Bobby Joe had been
shot at close range in the chest once a free spirit the lifeless 29 year old was placed in a bag Jeff pleaded to
look they unzipped the bag and it was it was by Bobby Joe come on did you have any idea who could have
done that to your wife none but Jeff's tears weren't what cops were looking for when did police call you in
and say we have some questions for you maybe the next day or so I told him he's the number one suspect
but it so far indicates the woman may have been trying to escape into the trees when she was gunned down but the
investigation was about to become a lot more complicated when police learned of The Disappearance of Annette schnee who
vanished the very same day as Bobby Joe they probably just passed each other and
didn't even know they would be connected foreign the first inkling Cindy French had that
her big sister Annette was missing came when her mother answered the family's old rotary telephone I heard her on the
phone I heard her start to cry I said what's wrong and she said Annette is missing
all the police could tell the family was that Annette schnee had vanished the news seemed inconceivable only 21 years
old Annette had left the family's home in Sioux City Iowa a year earlier and seemed to be thriving in Colorado she
had two jobs housekeeper by day and cocktail waitress by night and she was friends with her roommates and the
people that she worked at the Holiday Inn at were her friends that she would talk about quite frequently to Mom and
it was a friend from work who reported a net missing it was January 8 1982 the day after Bobby Joe overholtzer's body
was found as soon as older sister Karen reason heard the news she rounded up relatives and headed to Colorado
what were you thinking could have happened to her in that moment not knowing knowing she hitchhiked we
figured somebody picked her up yeah we were all hoping she was still alive you know you do keep that hope but in the
back of your mind you're probably thinking not but you don't want to think that as investigators tracked Annette's last
movements they discovered she had actually disappeared appeared the same day as Bobby Joe
but the twist was that a net vanished hours before Bobby Joe that was last seen at about 4 30 in the afternoon in
in Breckenridge Bobby Joe oberholtzer was last seen in Breckenridge at about 7 30 in the evening
from the outset former CBI agent Jim hardkey suspected the two cases might be connected it was a pretty all-out effort
to find any information from anyone investigators learned that after Annette left her job at the Holiday Inn on
January 6th she had visited a doctor's office and then hitchhiked to a drugstore in Breckenridge detective
Sergeant Wendy kipple showed us where that drugstore once was located she went in to get some medication went in to get
some medication here she was talking to a woman that we've never been able to identify and that was the last time she
was seen Cindy says not knowing the details of Annette's disappearance haunted their
mother I know Mom would just say I just want to know why how you know I just that's all I want to
know nobody can give it to me nobody knows why or how and in a strange turn of event Jeff oberholtzer already a
suspect in his own wife's murder told police when and where he thought Annette's body might be located
how would you know that I've always had different premonitions all my life I had
told them that I felt that she'd be found four miles from my house on the fourth of July it's pretty specific yeah
and it wasn't far off that sure made me look pretty bad in fact when Annette's body was
discovered nearly six months after she vanished Jeff's premonition turned out to be scarily accurate she was found on
July 3 1982 a day before just prediction and her body was roughly seven not four
miles from Jeff's house it was a young boy who came across the crime scene he was fishing and founder reported to his
dad and the dad called the sheriff's department Charlie McCormick a private investigator hired by the schnee family
says Annette was lying face down and fully clothed in Sacramento Creek about 23 miles from the drugstore where she
was last seen but she'd been shot once in the back exit wound front on a downward angle of about 30 degrees so
what does that tell you could be uh she was on her knees could be she was running down a hill away from her the
person shot her already suspected an might have been sexually assaulted evidence kind of indicates that her
clothing was found in disarray her blue jeans Zipper was broken we believe that the shoes were on the wrong feet when
she was found former CBI agent Hartke attended a net autopsy and his eye was drawn to
something that would forever change the course of the investigation on her left foot I noticed an orange booty and in my
mind I'm remembering the orange booty that was found at the top of hoosier pass very close to where Bobby Joe
overholtzer's body was found and I'm saying holy [ __ ] this is amazing this ties the cases together
from the Bobby Joe crime scene it was just one of those mysterious things that you pick up at a crime scene
kipple believes Annette lost her orange sock in the Killer's vehicle there it remained until hours later when
he picked up Bobby Joe and attacked her she jumps out and when she jumped out of
the truck the orange sock gets kicked out of the truck and that sock was not the only piece of evidence found on
Annette's body in the pocket of her jacket they discovered a business card like this one with a familiar name Jeff
oberholtzer Jeff told police he recalled giving Annette a ride in November 1981.
when she was out hitchhiking Jeff says that at the time he was promoting his appliance repair business with those
cards I gave to everyone so now police know that you had met Annette yes did that add to their
suspicion oh yes Jeff did you have anything to do with the murder of your wife Bobby Joe no I think nothing
did you have anything to do with the murder of anachni not nothing no despite now being connected to the two
murdered women and having that very accurate premonition Jeff eventually was clear his blood type did not match the
blood found on Bobby Joe's glove and the nearby tissue and as advances were made
with DNA technology Jeff's DNA was not a match I told him I said Jeff in my book you're not a suspect
but after nearly 40 years could DNA help identify the real killer in the murders
of Bobby Joe and Annette early in 2020 kipple and her team decided to try and find out and I said
let's try this genealogy thing maybe it can work for us she sent the DNA sample generated from the Bobby Joe
investigation to United data connect the Denver company runs crime scene DNA profiles through publicly available
genealogical databases on January 9th 2021 I get a phone call from the genealogist says I have two
more names for you and one of those turned out to be the one [Music] I knew from the start this was going to
come down to DNA foreign 2021 Park County detective Sergeant Wendy kipple got a call about those new
DNA test results and it turned out there was not one but two possible matches for
blood found on Bobby Joe's glove and that tissue that were recovered back in 1982. I'll never forget the day I got
that phone call and I got those names and what were the two names you were given Alan Phillips and Bruce Phillips
69-year-old Alan Lee Phillips and his older brother Bruce Phillips kipple reached out to Bruce first
according to kipple Bruce said he never lived in Colorado but that his brother whom he was estranged from had
and when kipple dug deeper she discovered that not only had Alan Phillips previously lived just outside
Breckenridge and worked in a local mine Alan Phillips still lived nearby he had his own mechanic shop and he was still
here Phillips had been married three times and had a daughter and two stepsons kipple wanted to learn more about
Philip's past when I looked at his criminal history it showed that he had been arrested in 1973 for assault and
burglary and that just kind of set off all kinds of red flags [Music] so she set out to find the arrest file
she was met with dead end after dead end the courts had no record of the case neither did the DA's office
I knew I had to find that case File so I went over to the archives for the Sheriff's office there was a fire and a
lot of them were destroyed but kipple was undeterred she says she'd combed through hundreds
of boxes and filing cabinets finding nothing until I get down to the last filing cabinet are you kidding me the
last one last filing cabinet and even down to the second to the last drawer halfway back I see this tab says Alan
Phillips wow I was like this is it this is our golden egg right here in that police report from July 1973
nearly a decade before the murders of Annette and Bobby Joe kipple found a signed confession from Phillips then
just 22 years old explaining how he attacked a young woman the first sentence reads I saw a woman hitchhiking
on the south edge of Breckenridge and I stopped and gave her a ride over to Fairplay
and then he goes on and describes what he did to her what kipple read was chilling
Phillip said that he stopped at an empty cabin along the road pulled the girl from the Jeep
and then picked up a rock and used it to hit her several times when I saw that first sentence I was
like this is him this is our guy incredibly the young woman who didn't want her identity revealed was able to
convince Phillips to Let Her Go and later reported the incident to police did he say in that confession why
he did it he didn't know he told her I don't I don't know why I do this I mean that gives makes your skin crawl
yeah Phillips was charged with assault and burglary and served six months behind
bars kipple also learned that Phillips's name had come up in connection with the
double murder back in 2005 when an anonymous caller gave a tip to Crime Stoppers investigators checked it out
but according to kipple the lead went cold when the information couldn't be verified but now kipple was confident
she was on the verge of nabbing a killer who had eluded them for decades there was only one thing left to do we
had to get surreptitious DNA that's what we needed so you're looking for anything
he's throwing out anything in late January 2021 kipple and her team began secretly surveilling Phillips
it turned out obtaining a sample of his DNA wasn't easy he wouldn't throw anything away he didn't even throw out
his garbage where did he put his garbage I don't know that wasn't the only challenge this
guy's kind of a Hermit he stays at home he doesn't interact with people too much
finally after five weeks there was a break Phillips left his home and went to a Sonic Drive-In we're all like sitting
there watching and watching and he gets his food eats and then he leaves I'm like dang it
he didn't throw his trash away so kipple and her team followed Phillips as he drove to a post office he walked
in carrying the Sonic bag but on the way out he was only holding mail the second Phillips pulled away
investigators recovered that all-important bag from this trash can it's like ah okay this bag was like gold
it was like gold yeah the bag was taken to a lab where Philip's DNA was pulled from saliva on a napkin and what were
the results is Alan Phillips blood that was on Bobby Joe's glove and that Kleenex
nearly 40 years after the murders of two women near Breckenridge investigators make an arrest in this cold case on
February 24th we arrested Alan Lee Phillips I gotta put the handcuffs on him and he was shocked
the look of shock on his face is just priceless Alan Lee Phillips was initially charged
with two counts each a first degree homicide kidnapping and assault he denied any involvement in the crimes
for the families of Bobby Joe and Annette it was a moment nearly four decades in the making one they thought
might never come that was a shock the way that they were able to get the DNA to find him and catch him was
amazing truthfully I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime it was just mind-blowing jaw-dropping I didn't know
what to think was it like relief all at once too yes a relief and you're happy but yet it
doesn't take the hurt away but the surprises didn't and there in another strange twist after Phillip's
arrest a local man recalled a harrowing story of how he helped rescue Phillips from a snowstorm
the very night of the murders when I heard this story my mind was blown the evidence in the case
foreign like you see now with the wind and everything the clouds well that's the
way it is up here all the time on January 6 1982 just hours after Bobby Joe and Annette were murdered
an airline passenger looked down at quinnella pass from a plane flying overhead and saw lights flashing he
recalled it was SOS a call for help it came from the driver of a truck stranded in a raging snowstorm his rear
end sunk in the snow so his headlights were pointing up Dave Montoya was a fire chief at the time who also worked in the
local mines and lo and behold here comes the plane he sees it flashes SOS well he
didn't know if somebody saw him or not but he took the chance well somebody did see him with the Arapahoe counter shot
yeah the passenger notified the pilot who radioed down the approximate coordinates to dispatchers on the ground
so I was down there I had my radio with me so I said let me go check it out what
were you thinking as you're driving I think who does that I thought it was a tourist I thought that crazy tours he
got up here now he's going to ask us all this evening but when Montoya arrived at
the scene he saw it wasn't a tourist it was someone he knew a man named Alan Phillips and he comes running around he
says man am I glad to see you this is he says well I got drunk and I decided to come home and I didn't want to go on
the highway to get caught so I went over the past because the cops ain't there did you happen to notice anything about
him at the time yeah he had a big old cut right here on the eye Montoya says when he asked him how he got the injury
Philip said he hit his face on his truck I could allowed I said boy you are really stupid Montoya says Phillips
refused medical treatment and he dropped him off near his home he gave an oral statement to police about the incident
that week local newspapers reported the unusual rescue and included a photo of the then 30 year old Alan Phillips
if I would have known what I'd known then I probably would have left him Montoya would only learn in 2021 after
Philip's arrest that he was potentially involved in the murders of Bobby Joe and
Annette who who has luck like that it really you commit to murders you get stuck at the
top of a pass trying to flee the scene and everything else and you get stuck where you know you're probably gonna die
and you ask for mercy and you get it God gave him the mercy but he says you're not going to get away forever you
got your mercy but you got to pay epileps may have escaped by Alan Phillips's fate would be in the
hands of a jury on August 31st 2022 Alan Lee Phillips double murder trial began in Fairplay
Colorado Annette's sisters and brother flew in from across the country to be there but
we wanted to make sure that the family was represented you know that when the jury looks over you want them to see the
concerned not leftovers but the left behinds at times seeing Phillips in court was
painful for Annette's sister Cindy I was disgusted you got to live 40 Years of your life
you took my sister to see him sit there so emotional less no emotion whatsoever just very stoic
was very frustrating [Music] because of the DNA match did you think this is a slam dunk in a trial to me
it's a slam dunk but to attorneys they have ways to make it not seem like such a slam dunk and that's what Philips
defense team set out to do they would question the validity of the DNA and other evidence and instead blame Jeff
oberholtzer for murdering his wife and Annette schnee even though he had been cleared by investigators years before
they pointed the finger at Jeff every step of the way it's so maddening because that's not where the evidence
led to when Jeff took the stand the defense was relentless they raked him over the coals and
like he hadn't been through all this for the last 40 years they definitely wanted to put their
crimes back on me the murders back on me it was quite quite painful the defense claimed
Jeff had motive to kill his wife they said he was angry at Bobby Joe because the day before her murder she brought
home cold pizza Jeff had told investigators about the pizza years earlier I kind of found that a little bit
ludicrous I couldn't fathom Jeff killing Bobby Joe over a cold piece of pizza and the defense questioned Jeff about
his bizarre behavior like when he told investigators about that premonition he had about where and when he thought a
Net's body would be found details the defense argued only the killer would most likely know this could be seen as
pretty damning to some right and so it was I just tried to tell the truth and and
answer their questions and what about the claimed evidence about the years there was some
contamination it wasn't known oh I have to be careful and wear gloves so I don't get my DNA on
that item but the bottom line is the blood that is on Bobby Joe's glove and the tissue was Alan Phillips blood how do
you explain that the prosecution said there was a simple explanation Alan Lee Phillips was the
one and the only one who murdered Bobby Joe and Annette I mean what are the odds
that it could be anybody else on the glove it was one in 17 quadrillion which is 2 million 275 000
times the population of the Earth Phillips's DNA was found on Bobby Joe's belonging says Wendy kipple only because
Bobby Joe fought for her life and caused him to bleed she was a fighter and and without her
being a fighter we wouldn't have the DNA that we needed to solve this case and what about those orange booty socks
DNA testing conducted months before trial revealed that Annette's DNA was on the inside and Bobby Joe's DNA was on
the outside of that orange booty sock found on Hoosier pass not far from Bobby Joe's body
so that ties both women to that one sock strong DNA of avigator Charlie McCormick was concerned
with the way DNA was challenged by the defense confuse a jury are they going to buy it are they going
to understand it after two weeks of testimony the case finally went to the jury Jeff and Wendy
were nervous were you worried the jury is going to have Reasonable Doubt I felt that that
was possible there's always doubt there's always doubt because you know that there's
probably one juror that might hang up everybody and and you never know what do you make of the case against
Alan Phillips chat now with the 48 Hours team tell me what it was like for you waiting
for the verdict pins and needles on Thursday September 15 2022 the families of Bobby Joe oberholtzer and
Annette schnee anxiously awaited the jury's decision was Alan Lee Phillips guilty or not guilty it just takes one
do you wonder that didn't believe it the waiting was the hardest part says detective Sergeant
kipple thankfully the jury kept it short four hours and 45 minutes the jury's verdict on eight charges
including two counts each of first-degree murder felony murder and kidnapping guilty as charged
is going to get what he deserves now I believe it was happening I was so happy tell me about the Motions you were
feeling as the verdict was read Alan Phillips guilty I think I let out a sigh for Jeff oberholtzer Justice had finally
been served and Decades of Suspicion decisively lifted and there was a grave weight lifted
from my shoulders we hugged and said you know we were happy for him and for us and that it was over and over
forever over for everyone Alan Lee Phillips showed no emotion poor daughter cried I felt bad for the
family what they were going through a happy bad because they probably wanted to believe
you know that he didn't do it 48 Hours reached out to the Phillips family and legal team for interviews but
they all declined our requests a little over seven weeks later Phillips was back in court for sentencing his
attorney insisted that his client had been wrongfully convicted he maintains his innocence
and he maintains it the wrong man is being sentenced but judge Stephen groom wasn't persuaded and handed down two
consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole to give him the maximum allowed by law he then addressed
the families of Annette schnee and Bobby Joe oberholzer I wish you the best and hope the healing starts today
but it seems that Justice for Ned and Bobby Joe may not be the end of this story some investigators believe that
the case against Alan Lee Phillips is not yet closed there are a lot of lingering questions but the one main one
is are there more victims what do you think short answer yes and I think there are several that they
he certainly could qualify for there's just no evidence to prove it while investigators carry on two
families still struggle you know you give someone your love you can never take it back
and I don't want to there's a special place in my heart and Bobby will always be there
[Music] I was cheated out of 40 years without my sister we'd still be the best of friends today
she was still here he took a really good person away from this world and it saddens me that we won't ever get to
know how she was when she was 30 or when she was 40 or 50. and because Alan Lee Phillips maintains
his innocence they still have one more agonizing question why you know why did you take these two beautiful
girls [Music] in honor of Annette and Bobby Joe Annette's sisters and brother decided to
visit where the young women were murdered oh there's a cross there it is [Music]
they were there to thank Bobby Joe for fighting back and causing Alan Lee Phillips to leave behind his DNA
without her we wouldn't be here thank you Bobby Joel yes thank you Joe at the place where Annette's body was
found they delivered a long overdue message to their sister well Annette they caught him he'll be in
prison for the rest of his life Alan Phillips just wanted you to know love and miss you
[Music] thank you accused of his mother's murder at 14. what kid could commit a crime that
violent and not leave any forensic evidence then sentenced to life the state never really had any case against
this kid was he wrongfully convicted she was very close with Michael he was her baby 48 hours Saturday on CBS and
streaming on Paramount Plus

In 1982 the bodies of Annette Schnee and Bobbie Jo Oberholtzer were found outside a luxe ski town. A man rescued from a snowdrift the night of the murders turned out to be their killer. “48 Hours” contributor Natalie Morales reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

"The story was remarkable because this was a 40-year cold case that was finally solved thanks to the perseverance of great detectives over decades. And the way the case was solved was also an incredible story in and of itself! It’s also a story that gives hope to victims’ families that even when they believe all hope is lost, that with the right people on the case and thanks to technology advancements, justice prevails." — Natalie Morales on why the story is important.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode reveals the murders of Annette Schnee and Bobby Joe Oberholtzer, leading to the arrest of Alan Lee Phillips decades later.

Key points

The Disappearance of Annette Schnee. Annette Schnee vanished on January 6, 1982, the same day as Bobby Joe Oberholtzer.
DNA Leads to Arrest. Nearly 40 years later, DNA evidence leads to the arrest of Alan Phillips.
The Rescue Story. A passenger spots SOS lights from a stranded truck during a snowstorm, leading to a rescue.
Trial Begins. Alan Lee Phillips' double murder trial starts, with family members present for support.
Guilty Verdict. After a tense wait, the jury finds Phillips guilty on multiple charges, bringing relief to the victims' families.
Lingering Questions. Despite the verdict, investigators believe the case against Phillips may not be closed.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The mystery of what happened to these two beautiful young women would haunt their families.

2:17WatchJan 26, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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