Police say relationship with husband has slowed investigation

RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) - Unanswered questions and a strained relationship between Steve Bechtel and police has slowed down the investigation into the disappearance of Bechtel's wife more than six months ago, the case's lead investigator said.

But Dave King does not think the investigation has been hung up on Steve Bechtel.

"It's the Amy Bechtel case; it's not the Steve Bechtel case," said King, who heads the investigation for the Fremont County sheriff's office.

Amy Wroe Bechtel, 24, was reported missing July 24 after she did not return from running near the Loop Road in Shoshone National Forest.

A massive search turned up little evidence, and police have followed leads with no luck.

And investigators still cannot substantiate Steve Bechtel's location between the time Amy was last seen and was reported missing: between around 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Bechtel said he was scouting out places to rock climb with a friend in Dubois, but both men have refused to take polygraph tests or answer investigators' questions.

Besides the friend, no one who saw Bechtel during that time has been found, King said.

Bechtel placed a long-distance call shortly after 5 p.m. and was seen by several people in Lander afterward, but King said there are gaps in the timeline. He reported Amy missing at around 10:30 p.m.

King also now believes Amy could have been seen for the last time earlier in the day, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Amy's car was found by friends early the next morning off the Loop Road.

Police have not released a taped copy of Bechtel's call to police reporting Amy missing, but King said his voice was "lighthearted, almost joking."

However, some people who had been with Bechtel say he was panicked and frantic.

Investigators also believe the Bechtels' marriage was not going as smoothly as once thought after reading journal entries made by the couple and information on a computer disk. But King would not go into detail about either.

Bechtel, his friends and family have been conducting their own investigation by launching a website, sending flyers throughout the country and setting up a toll-free number.

A reward for information was recently increased to $100,000, and King said Bechtel sometimes shares information with him.

"We're doing everything we can," King said.

Investigators check out every lead whether or not they seem plausible.

King said he is interested in finding out about a man in a Tacoma, Wash., jail who is believed to be a serial killer. And recently a woman from Montana said she saw Amy, but King said the Social Security and driver's license of the woman were not Amy's.