Ed Culhane

Post-Crescent staff writer

This story was originally publish by the Post-Crescent on Nov. 5, 2005.

MISHICOT — Law enforcement officials found the vehicle of a missing St. John woman Saturday in a rural Manitowoc County gravel pit, but were tight-lipped about Teresa Halbach's fate.

The 25-year-old's Toyota RAV4 was found on Steven Avery's property in an area where salvaged vehicles are kept. Avery was convicted in a 1985 sexual assault and exonerated by DNA evidence after spending 18 years in prison.

"We had information that the car was on this property. We got a search warrant and did in fact find the car," said Calumet County Dist. Atty. Kenneth Kratz during a press conference Saturday night at the Mishicot Fire Department.

When questioned by reporters, Manitowoc and Calumet county officials would not answer whether they had found Halbach, if the search for her had been called off or if Avery was a suspect in her disappearance.

When contacted after the press conference, Teresa's brother, Mike, said the family is waiting for more information.

"What they said is pretty much what we know," he said from the Calumet County home of his parents, Tom and Karen Halbach. "We would like to thank everyone who has helped us out — the volunteer searchers and the police."

The search of the Avery property was continuing and other search warrants were being sought, Kratz said.

Calumet County Sheriff Gerald Pagel said his department has been named the lead investigator in the case and would be assisted by the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, the Wisconsin State Patrol, the Wisconsin Crime Lab and the State Department of Criminal Investigation. Pagel indicated he would hold another press conference at 1 p.m. today to give an update on the case.

Avery, who spoke freely with police and reporters on Friday and Saturday, said that on Monday Teresa Halbach photographed a van he was selling, collected the fee and left.

Halbach, a 25-year-old freelance photographer who was working for Auto Trader Magazine, was reported missing by her parents at 4 p.m. Thursday. Her boss at Auto Trader called the family after she missed work Tuesday and Wednesday.

Avery told the Herald Times Reporter newspaper in Manitowoc Saturday that he has "no idea" what happened to Halbach.

"I don't know what happened to her," he said in a telephone interview from his father's vacation property near Crivitz. "That's the honest to God truth. I just wish they'd find her, so we'd know what really happened."

Avery said Saturday that Halbach has been to his home about 15 times in the last year to take photos of his vehicles for Auto Trader. "It was always just 'hi, how ya' doing,' that kind of thing," Avery said. "It was just business."

Avery watched televised accounts of the investigation at his property while gathered with family members at his father's cabin.

"I certainly didn't want to be on the news again," he said. "If I can help, I'll help. That's just the way I am. I don't know why this stuff happens to me."

Avery was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to 32 years in prison for raping a woman on a Lake Michigan beach. When DNA evidence cleared him in 2003, the story attracted national attention. In 2004, the Wisconsin Claims Board awarded Avery $25,000 plus attorney fees for the wrongful imprisonment.

In the 1985 case, police zeroed in on Avery only hours after the victim reported the crime. He was a neighbor of the deputy who interviewed the victim and was on bond awaiting trial for a charge of reckless endangerment after allegedly trying to force a woman into his vehicle.

On Saturday morning, Halbach's family and friends searched between Manitowoc and Hilbert for any sign of the woman or her vehicle.

When she was last seen, Halbach was wearing blue jeans, a white button-down shirt and a summer jacket. She is described as 5-foot-6, weighing 135 pounds. She has light brown hair and brown eyes.

Pagel said if anyone has information about the case, they should call 920-849-2335.

Reporters Amy Weaver and Pat Pankratz from the Herald Times Reporter contributed to this story.