07/31 — EVENING UPDATE: According to Snohomish County Jail records, Eric Lee Roberts was released from jail just after 8 p.m. following the dropping of the misdemeanor charge against. No other evidence has been substantial enough to hold him since his original confession to killing Nancy Moyer has been recanted.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office has said they are still actively investigating Roberts’ potential connection to Nancy Moyer and her presumed murder. However, prosecutors do not plan to file charges against Roberts until the investigation is concluded.
07/20 — 11:00AM UPDATE: Within 24 hours of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office announcing that Roberts will be released from custody after not being charged with any crimes related to Nancy or the illegal firearms found in his home, the county published a statement saying Roberts was booked on Friday for an assault charge, according to court files.
Anytime there is breaking news with a decade-old cold case, the investigators have to look at the work like running a marathon; it takes time, dedication, and some slips along the way to get to the finish line.
Whether or not Roberts is the killer is still up for debate, and we won't know more until the evidence is discovered.
07/14 — 10:00AM UPDATE: New evidence is coming to light about Roberts and his past relationships with women and Law Enforcement.
As seen in the full affidavit below, Roberts was initially interviewed two weeks after Nancy's disappearance. At the time, he told police that he and Nancy both worked at the Department of Ecology and “they would exchange pleasantries.”
He denied having a romantic relationship with her and said she had never been to his home.
However, it's reported that Nancy was at his house before — to meet up with his younger nephew whom she was allegedly seeing at the time.
The story gets even more complicated when it was revealed that Robert's story about Nancy being strangled with a scarf (which he claimed to have burned after the fact) during rough sex wasn't his original statement.
In a recorded conversation in the investigator's car, Roberts initially said that Nancy, "just attacked me and I just reacted." He continued saying that it "possibly" happened near the Chehalis River.
When asked why he didn’t get help after she was unresponsive, Roberts allegedly responded, “I just freaked out. I don’t think I even had working phones at the time.”
In terms of a past relationship, more information is coming out about Roberts. Back in 2014, a former girlfriend of Roberts spoke to police and described him “as being like Jekyll and Hyde” when he drank alcohol. She continued to say he had “choked me out,” according to the affidavit.
“[The past girlfriend] said she had to claw his face to get him to release her." the affidavit reports.
Full Affidavit is available below.
All of the court document photos above were taken and uploaded to Instagram by James Baysinger, the Hide and Seek Podcast Host and Investigator.
07/11 — 7:00PM UPDATE: Thurston Co. Sheriff John Snaza was not wrong when he said,
"I can't stress how complicated this case is."
Court Documents from today's hearing have been seen by journalists on the ground in Washington and have reported that Roberts confessed to killing Nancy during 'rough sex' but later recanted his confession.
They go on to explain how Roberts called 911 around 3 p.m. this past Tuesday to tell dispatch that "he wanted to confess to a murder." When prompted to elaborated, he said, "he had killed Nancy Moyer 10 years ago and felt tired of holding it inside," Komo News reports.
When interviewed by a detective in a squad car, Roberts continued onto his original statement saying, "...he had killed Moyer at his house, that they were having 'rough sex' and he accidentally strangled her with a scarf."
Detectives have been digging up his backyard because of a 'cryptic' response he gave law enforcement when they asked about finding Nancy's remains. He didn't believe she would ever be found, but indicated they should look in the area of a fire pit in his back yard and his basement.
“I don’t really want to incriminate myself any further, but if I was going to get rid of a body on my property, it would be right there.' Eric then pointed to the fire pit.” via Court Documents.
A body has yet to be found.
07/11 — 5:43PM UPDATE: Local news outlets are finally beginning to identify the homeowner of the searched property as Eric Lee Roberts, 53. This comes a day after citizen detectives, like myself, have learned information about his arrest and connected him to this case.
This comes just before the suspect is set to appear in court for the first time.
Further information has also come out saying the tip that started to unravel his case ten years later, "came from a person who lives in Robert's house." If it wasn't from him directly, who else has a perspective added to this story?
Law Enforcement have also said Roberts was interviewed about Moyer's disappearance before.
07/11 — 2:35PM UPDATE: As the Press Conference from the Thurston County Sheriff's Office has come to a close, we are still left with a few questions.
1. When will the name of the suspect be released? (Citizen Detectives have already made conclusions.)
2. What items were found in the suspect's home?
3. Are investigators going to find her remains?
What we do know is the suspect, at one point, used to work with Nancy at the State Department of Ecology. This man also used to live a few doors down from the family, and Bill Moyer even admitted at the end of the press conference that it's possible they would've waved to each other driving by or getting the mail. But, is it the same man that Nancy drove home after work on the night she disappeared? Time will tell.
Police have also said that they have a confession from the man, and that is what lead them to investigate his home and begin digging up the property. As of the time writing this, they haven't found any of Nancy's remains, but some "items" from the home were sent out to a lab. Did they find pieces of her clothing or something else identifiable?
The suspect is set to appear in court this evening at 6:00PM EST, where his presumed identity mentioned below may be confirmed.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE 07/10/19
More than ten years have passed since the chilling disappearance of Nancy Moyer, a mother of two who was last seen in the small town of Tenino Washington, in March of 2009.
Her case has gained recent national attention because of the up and coming Hide and Seek Podcast, as well as from various television programs.
Tonight, new information is coming out about the case.
Investigators determined early on that there was foul play involved in Nancy’s disappearance, and have deemed this a “no-body homicide” -- but that may change very soon.
Let's look at the sheet.
In a published News Release statement, the police department is quoted saying, “New information came to light that led Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Detectives to search a residence at the 16500 block of Sheldon Ln SW outside of Tenino.”
In the photos above, you can clearly see that investigators are digging, most likely looking for her skeletal remains. It seems like their digging is calculated which could be thanks to the "new information" - either that or they're using the help of a cadaver K-9.
According to the Hide and Seek Podcast’s official Instagram page, this residence may be that of Eric Lee Roberts, a man true crime enthusiasts know to be Nancy's former neighbor.
The official Corrections Facility Roster says Roberts was arrested this evening and charged with Assault in the 4th Degree and 2nd Degree Murder.
This news comes weeks after members of the Hide and Seek Podcast James Baysinger, Dr. Maurice Godwin, Sam Moyer, Bill Moyer, and Det. Mickey Hamilton appeared at CrimeCon to discuss Nancy's case. Video of their event can be seen in my YouTube vlog.
“It was like she just vanished,” said Bill Moyer, Nancy's estranged husband.
Bill has always known that something was wrong, beginning when he went to drop off their two daughters at Nancy's home 10 years ago. He remembers that the front door was ajar, and her keys, wallet, and cell phone were all left behind in the kitchen.
A nearly finished wine glass was still on the counter, along with an empty one right beside it.
Everyone who knew Nancy has said that she would never leave her girls because they were her entire world. Bill is quoted saying that abandoning behavior is "100 percent out of character."
More information will be added to this article as it becomes available. I am awaiting comment from Sgt. Cameron Simper, the media contact for this case.