A handmade birthday card and a yellow ribbon on the door of the Duane Wroe home in Powell Monday carried a mother's prayers for her missing daughter.
"I just wanted to post something on the door," Joanne Wroe said through tears.
Amy Wroe Bechtel, daughter of Duane and Joanne Wroe and a former outstanding collegiate runner for the University of Wyoming, was not with the family to celebrate her 25th birthday on Aug. 4. She has been missing since July 24 when she didn't return home from a run in the Wind River Mountains west of Lander.
Authorities now treat her disappearance as a criminal abduction. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents have joined the Fremont County sheriff's office in conducting the investigation. Twenty-six FBI agents from Riverton, Cheyenne and Denver are on the scene.
"The ground search was so thorough," said Duane Wroe. "There's no question that what we're dealing with is in the general area of an abduction."
The mountains were grid searched with up to 20 people abreast, combing the ground for clues, covering miles and miles of rough terrain. They were looking for anything: a hair band, a credit card, a wallet, socks or a sign of a struggle. Ground searchers were assisted by airplanes, helicopters and scent dogs. But eight days elapsed with no trace except for Amy's footprints along the mountain road.
At Lander headquarters, the attitude of the friends and volunteers who keep the vigil for Amy Wroe Bechtel is positive. "Everyone has reason to believe she is alive," a release from recovery headquarters said Monday.
Meanwhile, her birthday has been put on hold.
"All the gang that's working in Lander intended to acknowledge that today (Monday) is her 25th," her father said. "We still have hope that those things we have prepared in anticipation of her birthday will just be late."
A framed print of an osprey by artist Morton Solberg, a gift from her parents, will stay wrapped for the time being.
Duane Wroe, retired city administrator, is a former cop. He describes this stage of the investigation as "the tedious part."
"They hammer away at any leads," he said. "When they find one and it's a blind alley, they drop it and go on. They're not bypassing anything."
Wroe said friends of Amy and Steve Bechtel and family members are being interviewed by the investigators.
"They have not eliminated any possible suspects, including those who have been interviewed already," Wroe said.
He recalled from his own background in law enforcement that 80 to 85 percent of crimes of assault against women are by people who knew them or who are close to them.
"That was verified by the investigators," Wroe said.
Duane and Joanne Wroe have split time between Powell and Lander in recent days since the full-scale search was pulled back July 31. On their return to Fremont County Saturday, they found the main street of Lander absolutely covered with yellow ribbons and yellow balloons.
"We both lost it," Duane said, at the impact of seeing the street laden with yellow on poles, trees, planters - even stop signs. "Those people in that community have been wonderful."
The Wroes were back in Powell Sunday evening. Waiting is still the hardest part for them, Duane said.
"Mother washes clothes and works around the house, and she keeps bird dogging what's going on in Lander," he said. "I go out to the shop and take out some frustration on a piece of wood."
The family expressed appreciation to the people of Powell for their support. Duane Wroe paid special thanks to Dave Reetz of Powell who helped in contacting Gov. Jim Geringer's office and obtaining the release of Wyoming National Guard and Warren Air Force Base personnel and equipment for the mountainous search.
Amy Wroe Bechtel recovery headquarters in Lander has turned to the media to help advise people to be on the lookout for her wedding ring set - a platinum double band, soldered together. The wedding band is one-quarter inch wide. The smaller band is etched.
Also missing is a forest-green Eagle Creek brand checkbook wallet.