Kansas Cold Cases: Glenna Bullard
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Glenna Bullard loved to have fun, and loved her family.
“Glenna was a very lively person,” her sister-in-law Jennifer Fields recalls. “She was caring and always tried to help out wherever she could.”
Glenna, who was 38 years old, had moved from Texas to Lincoln, Kansas with a boyfriend. In the fall of 2017, she told people she was headed to Texas to visit her two daughters.
“Glenna was headed home but hadn’t made it home,” Fields said. “Her daughters’ birthdays are in November and that was one thing when we realized she hadn’t called home for her daughter’s birthday that something was wrong.”
Concerned, her family contacted the Lincoln Co. Sheriff’s office. The agency would later request assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Crystal Hornseth is the special agent currently assigned to the case.
“(Glenna) had communicated with her family that she would get a ride with a truck driver back down to Texas, and there’s some thought something happened to her along the way,” Hornseth said. “One of the big concerns is that nobody knew who this truck driver supposedly is or was, and whether or not he even showed up to pick her up.”
Glenna’s family reported her missing Nov. 2, 2017. Surveillance photos from the last week of October captured her last known movements: some purchases from the Dollar General store in Lincoln, plus a stop at the Walmart in Salina. She was driving a blue pick up at the time. Authorities found the truck, but no trace of Glenna.
Hornseth says Glenna’s financial records show no activity since then. She said Glenna historically drew down her account near zero each month, so to have money sitting in her account is unusual
“She had told multiple people that she was leaving town, so the fact that she wasn’t heard from initially wasn’t of concern because she was supposed to go somewhere,” Hornseth said.
Hornseth says part of the challenge is Glenna had no close ties to Lincoln County. She’d only lived there a couple years.
“There aren’t a lot of close friends or family members that we could talk to about her daily activities and get a feel for what was normal for her and what wasn’t - that, coupled with the fact that we don’t have a body or a crime scene to examine to give us potentially more clues to follow,” she said.
Fields said the family still can’t believe Glenna disappeared without a trace.
“Before Glenna, that just would have been something we would see on TV,” she said. “Never in a million years would we have thought it would touch our family - that that would happen to her and that we wouldn’t know.”
Authorities are still trying to find answers. Glenna is the queen of spades in the Kansas Cold Case deck. The special playing cards are being distributed in the state’s prisons and jails. Glenna’s family has shared she struggled with addition, so Hornseth says the cards may reach the right person.
“Some of those other people that struggle with addiction end up in prison, so the fact her card is included in the cold case deck could very well come across someone who did have contact with her at some point,” she said.
Glenna’s family is grateful she’s not forgotten.
“To have somebody, after five years, include (her), it is important,” Fields said. “It is important to her children.”
Glenna’s daughters are now 17- and 18-years-old. Fields says they’re trying to move forward without their mother, but hopefully, one day, with answers. She hopes whomever knows what happened comes forward.
“Let everyone have some peace and closure,” she said. “(Glenna) was loved, and she is missed.”
Anyone with information about what happened to Glenna Bullard can call the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME.
Prior KS Cold Case Profiles:
Mercedes Holford and Crystal Andrews
Carla Avery, Eric Avery, Tamesha Lee, and Marvin Woods
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