Details of Disappearance
Lois disappeared with her teenage daughter,
Karen Williams. They were last seen in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 25, 1967. Lois's parents, who were retired and lived out of state, reported them missing on February 9 after not being able to get in touch with them for two weeks.
All their belongings were left behind at their apartment in the 7100 block of East 21st Street. A lamp was left turned on and one of Karen's school books lay open on the table. Both women's coats were left behind in the closet, although they had disappeared on a very cold night.
Authorities believe the Williamses may have been victims of the serial killer Melvin Chelcie "Ted" Carr, who died in 1977 at the age of 62. A photo of Carr is posted with this case summary.
He was found dead in his garage by his wife on April 20, 1977. In the trunk of his car were the bodies of three people: a 17-year-old girl, a 24-year-old woman Carr had been having an affair with, and that woman's toddler son. Authorities subsequently determined Carr had kidnapped them, raped the two women and gassed them to death with a hose connected from his exhaust pipe to the trunk, and that in the process he also accidentally asphyxiated himself.
Carr had known Lois prior to her and Karen's disappearances; she often took her car to the service station he owned at 21st Street and Shadeland Avenue. Her 1957 Pontiac was found there, with mud on the tires, after her disappearance.
Calvin Campbell, a neighbor of Carr's who also worked part time at the station, stated he saw Carr and Lois together on the evening Lois and her daughter disappeared. He said they left together in Carr's 1965 Buick, then Carr returned about two hours later at 8:00 p.m., alone and angry. He told his Campbell that Lois had gone into a bar and wouldn't come out, and directed him to close the station at 10:00 p.m.
At 3:19 a.m. the next morning, Carr reported that the service station had been robbed and he had been beaten. When Campbell saw him he was soaking wet and with sand in his clothing, shoes and socks, although it hadn't been raining.
Campbell went to check the station and found no evidence of robbery: the door was locked and the previous day's receipts were where he had left them the night before. The only difference appeared to be that Carr's Buick, which Carr had parked outside the station the night before, was now backed into the garage onto the lift. It had been thoroughly cleaned both inside and out, including the trunk.
Even before his death, Carr had been considered a suspect in Lois and Karens's disappearances. He had a history of sex crimes against women and teenage girls, and had been in prison multiple times. In a letter Lois had written to her parents shortly before she went missing, she told them Carr had raped her and had offered to pay her $10,000 if she didn't tell anyone. She wrote that Carr told her he wanted to marry her, and had offered to pay her $100,000.
Lois and Karen have never been located, but foul play is suspected in their cases.
