CLOSURE: CAN IT REALLY BE POSSIBLE
In May of 2002 Stacy Heatherly received a call from a female from a small town in Nebraska. The caller introduced herself as the daughter of a man who had come up missing one month after Sally Fisher’s roommate and friend Jackie Rains- Kracman came up missing. The woman caller indicated Sally Fisher was listed on a national missing person web site as the last person to see her room mate alive. Stacy contacted Sally Fisher and asked her about the case.
Because of rumors 40 years ago, Sally was under the assumption Jackie had left of her own accord and was surprise that in 40 years Jackie had not contacted her family. It is also indicated on the National missing person’s web site that Sally Fisher and Jackie had planned to travel to Iowa for a wedding, which they never attended. They surmise Sally Fisher knew her roommate was going to leave. Sally Fisher remembers making the call to her mother letting her know they were coming for the weekend, but claims that Jackie never disclosed to her that she never intended to go. She denies the claims that she knew Jackie was planning on leaving. She also denies rumors that she knew Jackie and Melvin were having an affair. Stacy gave Melvin Uphoff’s daughter, Michele Sally’s number so she could call her first hand. The two had several conversations and left the calls open ended with an invitation to call any time.
Law enforcement would not contact Sally Fisher for an interview in regard to Jackie’s disappearance until almost 40 years after Jackie’s disappearance. Given the fact that 40 years had passed Sally Fisher was unable to recall many details. Out of respect and understanding and as a request from the Uphoff family she agreed and underwent hypnosis. She did recall many events and hopes to undergo other sessions in an attempt to recall more details. Sally Fisher reports that Jackie was fearful of her husband Dennis Kracman and many times fled to get away from his violent behavior. Many times the two would get a motel room and Dennis would always find them. The day after Jackie’s disappearance Sally reports that Dennis found her at a motel where she had been staying and shoved her into the door violently demanding her to tell him where his wife was. When he busted into the room and explored all the rooms and the closets, convinced Jackie wasn’t there he left speeding out of the parking lot. Sally reports that to this day, that scene and Dennis’s temper haunts her.
Jackie Rains – Kracman went missing Friday, September 24, 1965 from Columbus, NE. She was 18 at the time. She dropped her son age 6 months and daughter age 1 1/2 off at her parents home that morning with a promise she would return when back from her trip to Glenwood Iowa to attend a wedding. She never returned. Her car was found outside her residence with the keys in the ignition. Jackie’s parents called the number Jackie had left with them. The number was not a working number. Since Jackie would call her mother every day, her mother knew something was wrong when she did not hear from her daughter.
Melvin Uphoff went missing October 24, 1965 from Rising City, NE. He was 5’8, 160 pounds with blue eyes. The night he went missing he had taken his wife and children for a family night out. Melvin went pheasant hunting that day. The family had dinner at their Grandma Peck’s house. They went roller skating in Rising City, had a snack at the Hotel bar and grill in Shelby, NE and arrived home around 11PM. Upon returning home Melvin asked his wife Myna if she would like to go to the bar with him to have a drink. She declined. He left in his unstable 1954 Blue and White Oldsmobile Club Coupe 88 VIN 547M9278 that he had purchased from Arthur Kowalski when a rod went out in it during a hunting trip. Arthur Kowalski would report later that he was surprised if Melvin could get very far in that car because of its poor condition.
No law enforcement ever visited or questioned the bartender to inquire as to if Melvin made it to the bar that night. On October 25th Myrna received a call before 11Am saying Melvin did not show up for work. Myrna called Melvin’s mother. Melvin’s mother Mary Peck told Myrna she believed Melvin would return so instructed her not to report him missing, but instead to go home and tell no one. Myrna did as she was instructed. On October 26th Melvin’s Uncle Oscar went to the Butler County Sheriff Leo Meister and reported Melvin missing. No report was filed until November 26th, 1965 when Myrna filed a Non Support Warrant. Not until then was any interest taken by law enforcement into Melvin’s disappearance. All attempts to follow up has fallen on Myrna, no one from the sheriff’s office ever contacted Myrna. Still it is assumed by Sheriff Leo Meister that Melvin left of his own accord. It is also assumed by Leo Meister that Jackie and Melvin left together, although the dates of each missing are one month apart.
Myna reports none of Melvin’s personal affects were missing from the house. Melvin had a coin collection he kept in a safe which when investigated 3 to 4 months after the disappearance was reported to have been missing. Clarence Glock, Postmaster of Rising City, NE claims Melvin had the coin collection in the back seat of his car and that he showed it to him just before he disappeared. On October 16th, 1966 there was an article in the Des Moines, Iowa paper that reported a suitcase containing a handwritten note and a coin collection estimated at five thousand to seven thousand dollars had been found by a hunter northeast of Herold. Mrs. Peck sent in checks that offered a sample of Melvin’s handwriting to the Sheriff of Polk County where the coin collection was found. The criminal investigator Elden Lewis sent Mrs. Peck a letter on October 20, 1966 concluding the handwriting sample in the coin collection and Melvin’s handwriting did not match.
Social Security reports that neither Melvin nor Jackie’s SS# have had any activity since their disappearance. Motor Vehicle Division reports claim they do not contain any such name. July 1972 Equitable Life Insurance came out to interview Leo Meister. The insurance company was assured by Leo Meister that an active investigation was still being conducted. Although this was new news to the Uphoff family who had not been welcomed when questioning Leo Meister about the investigation. October, 1972 Melvin Uphoff was declared dead. On November 15th, 1972 Equitable Life Insurance interviewed Dennis Kracman (Jackie Rains husband), Nadine Sloup ( Owner of Texaco Station), Mary Peck ( Melvin’s Mother), Clarence Glock (Postmaster of Rising City), Larry Garhan ( Vice President of Farmers State Bank), Ted Pieters ( Owner of Pieters Grocery Store), Mr. & Mrs. Kilgore ( Acquaintance of Mary Peck), Leo Meister ( Sheriff of Butler County), Dean Struebring ( County Clerk), Carl Rafferty ( MGR of Dale Electronics), Mrs. John Reins ( Jackie’s Mother), Jerome Weister ( Postmaster of Columbus ). On August 7, 1973 Depositions were taken. Those depositions proved to the insurance company that Melvin was still missing and the life insurance was to be paid out.