Freaky Friday Files: The Springfield Three
- ashey9111
- Jun 27
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 1
DISCLAIMER: This blog post discusses missing persons; reader discretion advised.
Hello! Happy Fri-YAY! For this week's edition of Freaky Friday Files, we're going to take a look at the disappearance of The Springfield Three - three women who disappeared in 1992 without a trace.
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The Springfield Three
The Springfield Three is about a trio of women who went missing on the 7th of June, 1992, from Springfield, Missouri, USA. The three women were: Suzanne "Suzie" Streeter (19), Stacy McCall (18), and Sherrill Levitt (47). Suzie and Stacy were friends, and Sherrill was Suzie's mom (American spelling for American case). They went missing from Sherrill's house, and all of their personal things were left behind (purses and cars). Authorities couldn't find any signs of struggle except there was a broken porch light and a message on the landline's answering machine, but it was erased (by accident).
The house where they went missing was 1717 E Delmar Street, and looking on Google Maps, the area is quite open. You can see the home on Zillow "here".
Suzie and Stacy had just graduated from high school on the 6th of June, 1992. They went to a party that night to celebrate, but decided to go home early and stay with Sherrill. The next day, Suzie and Stacy were meant to meet up with some friends to go to a water park, but they didn't show. Their friends (Mike and Kirby) went looking for the two girls at Sherrill's house, where they found the door unlocked, purses and makeup out, untouched cigarettes, and their Yorkie dog Cinnamon looking very anxious (poor baby doggo). They also noticed that all their cars were there, saw the broken porch light, and one of the friends picked up a call. Kirby allegedly answered the phone to a random phone call from an identified male who made s*xual innuendos - she believed this may have been a prank call as Suzie had been complaining of these since she and her mom had moved in. I don't think Mike and Kirby believed a crime had been committed at this stage.
There didn't seem to be any signs of struggle, no sign of anything violent that happened in the house, no one heard anything, and none of the neighbours heard anything either. Obviously, there was a massive search and rescue team, but they found absolutely nothing. One of the friends ended up sweeping some of the broken glass off the porch due to another friend being barefoot, later realising this could have been evidence. Mike and Kirby also noticed that Suzie's car wasn't parked in the carport, stating that she was a creature of habit and maybe someone had moved it and parked it in a different spot.
It's not clear if Mike and Kirby called the authorities, but they went off to a different water park and spent the day there. Sherrill's mom, Janis, started to get nervous when she wasn't able to get hold of her daughter and granddaughter. She knew some people at the water park, so she called to ask if they had seen Suzie or Stacy, and became panicked when they said no. Janis went to the home to see what was going on and became increasingly nervous when she found the dog going crazy. Janis saw the purses and other belongings sitting out and called the authorities. Janis also listened to a strange message on the answering phone, but accidentally erased it - it may have provided a clue as to where the women were. Police didn't think this was connected to the prank calls that Kirby received.
In 1997, Robert Cox (a convicted k*dnapper and robber) said that he knew the three women had been m*rdered and that their bodies would never be found. However, authorities say there is no credibility to this claim.
Theories/Suspects
So who could have done it? Or why did they disappear? The women's families were adamant that the three of them just wouldn't wander off alone to never be seen again, so let's go through some theories/suspects
The Unknown Man - According to a Medium article, a neighbour claimed that, leading up to the trio's disappearance, there was an unknown man lurking around the area for a short period of time. The neighbour was unable to identify the man in a photo lineup, and police still don't know if the man had anything to do with the missing women. I also don't think anyone else saw this man.
Suzie's Relationships - Allegedly, Suzie didn't have a great track record with boyfriends, and one of her exes, Dustin Recla, may have held a grudge against her, as earlier that year, he had broken into a mausoleum and stolen $30 worth of gold fillings from a skull. Suzie gave a statement to police and may have been a probable witness who could testify against him. Recla and his friend Michael Clay were in the area the night the women went missing, but both their alibis checked out, and police didn't question them further.
Bartt Streeter - Sherrill's son and Suzie's brother. Sherrill and Suzie didn't have much to do with Bartt as he had "a lot of issues". Police quickly ruled him out as he had a solid alibi, which was corroborated by his girlfriend.
"The Van" Witness - One witness claimed to have seen Suzie driving a van around 6:30 am on the 7th of June and said that she looked distressed, and a man was yelling at her in the backseat. There has been no confirmation of this.
The Serial Killer Theory - A suspected serial k*ller called Larry DeWayne Hall. Hall travelled around the Midwest for historical reenactments of the Civil War. It is believed that he a*ducted, SA'd, k*dnapped, and m*rdered dozens of women and girls. On the 6th of June, 1992, there were two battle reenactments occurring, about 30 minutes from Springfield. A former FBI operative befriended Hall in prison and admitted to many details of his crimes that no one else could have known - but it's not clear if he m*rdred the three women of Springfield.
Mike and Kirby - I wish they were interviewed more - and was it just negligence by them, OR were they trying to cover up something?
The women were followed back from a party that night by an opportunistic attacker.
Targeted k*dnapping - although this doesn't make sense for ALL three of them (although I'm not a detective, so who knows).
Wrong place, wrong time. Someone was planning a robbery, and it escalated.
You can read more theories on Reddit "here".
I don't know if we'll ever have answers, but if there were no signs of struggle, it may have just been someone they knew, and they blindly followed them. Sherrill and Suzie were declared dead in 1997. I also think this case teaches us a valuable lesson - if we see that someone's belongings are left out, we shouldn't touch anything that might be evidence. I don't know if the broken glass or the voicemail would have helped, but maybe one day we will have justice for these three women. Occam's Razor suggests that either someone they knew did something to them or it was a targeted attack by a serial k*ller.
Thanks for reading.
Ash
References
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Can we be true crime besties? 🥹 Have you considered starting a podcast (or do you have one)??
This is such a sad and haunting story. It’s heartbreaking that Suzie, Stacy, and Sherrill were never found, and their families have had to live with so many unanswered questions for all these years. I truly hope that justice can still be served someday.
This is definitely a weird case. It definitely seems like someone seems like someone they knew had something to do with this since there were no signs of a struggle. I really hope answers are found. I feel bad for the loved ones of these three women. It’s sad enough that they are missing, but to have no answers after all these years makes the situation even worse. They don’t even have bodies to bury. It’s so sad.