Wroe family asks husband for information
By ILENE OLSON
Tribune Staff Writer

The second anniversary of Amy Wroe Bechtel's disappearance was marked Saturday by pleas for cooperation, finger pointing, a stolen banner and the discovery of a suspected grave site in the mountains near Lander.

The results, as usual, are more questions than answers.

It was on July 24, 1997 that Amy Wroe Bechtel went for a mountain run near Lander and seemingly disappeared from the planet.

Since that time, numerous leads have come to dead ends and the investigation has bogged down in a stalemate of the silence between Amy's husband, Steve Bechtel, and law enforcement officials.

Bechtel and law enforcement officers have been at odds ever since he refused early in the investigation, on the advice of his attorney, to take a polygraph test or to submit to further interviews.

His refusal to cooperate led authorities from the Fremont County sheriff's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to exclude Bechtel from the information loop regarding the investigation, on the basis that they could not rule Bechtel out as a suspect.

Meanwhile, the frustration experienced by Amy's family, including her parents, Duane and JoAnne Wroe of Powell, continues to grow as the days, months and years pass without any resolution to the case.

They called on Bechtel in a news release to end the stalemate.

"We ask Steve to place his pride and fear to the side and do what must be done to find Amy," the release said.

Duane Wroe clarified: "Although we can't believe Steve has anything to do with Amy's disappearance, he still refuses to take a polygraph, to cooperate fully with the investigation and has done little to clear himself of suspicion. This has hindered our ability to find the true answers behind our daughter's disappearance."

The release asks Steve to take a polygraph, move beyond his criticism of law-enforcement, fully cooperate with law-enforcement and "help us to resolve questions about his relationship with Amy."

"If Steve can find the compassion to help our family resolve these issues, we can continue to search together rather than apart," the statement said.

The release is signed by the Wroes and Amy's siblings, Nels Wroe, Jenny Newton, Casey Lee and their spouses.

Roger Rizor, lead investigator on the case for the Fremont County Sheriff's Department, said Monday that Bechtel had contacted him and asked for a meeting.

"Steve wants to talk," he said. "It's just a preliminary thing right now. We don't know anything yet."

Bechtel said Monday he wants to open communication with law-enforcement, but wants those talks to go both ways.

"As far as questions go, there are a lot of questions and I have and a lot of questions for investigators," he said.

As for a polygraph test, "the polygraph will never happened," he said. "I have been completely honest about what happened... on the day Amy disappeared.

"I am tired of being everybody's scapegoat. It's great to have somebody to blame, I really want someone to blame. I could start pointing fingers at somebody, but I have the sense that that's not going to do any good."

"I want law-enforcement to admit errors... Maybe the next time someone disappears we can keep from making the same errors. I hate to see something botched this bad again because these mistakes are not addressed," he said.

However, Amy's family maintains that law-enforcement has performed admirably on the case.

"Law-enforcement has worked continuously to help us find Amy, providing us with information about the case and following up on every substantial lead. They have invested hundreds of hours of investigative work and support in helping us find Amy," the release said.

According to JoAnne Wroe, that investigation has been further hindered because some of Bechtel's friends are also refusing to be interviewed.

"They have misplaced the focus of what this is all about, which is finding Amy," she said.

Amy's family had a banner placed prominently on a building in Lander Friday. Featuring a photograph of Amy, the banner said, simply, "break the silence."

By Saturday morning, the banner was gone, stolen.

"It was a big downer," JoAnne Wroe said. "It was aimed not just at Steve, but for anyone with information who may have been hesitant to step forward."

See stressed that the $300 that paid for the banner came from their own pockets, and not from the money in the fund established for Amy's recovery.

An emotional Nels Wroe said: "All we want to do is find our sister, and to have people put these roadblocks in our way is the most frustrating thing I have ever dealt with.

"This has turned into a battle between two family's. That cannot happen... We are not out to get Steve. We are not out to get anybody... Nobody's out to do anything in this investigation other than find out what happened to Amy.

"Were moving forward in every direction the best we can. There are people out there who have information about Amy who haven't come forward," perhaps because they believe the information to be insignificant.

"Everybody should take this personally... To resolve what happened.

"All I want to do is know," he pleaded. "I would take that choice. We just can't go on without knowing."