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The day William was arrested, Rickers went to bring three of Ann Marie's kids home to the house she shares with her husband, Dale.

“I was informed they were going to be at the house, they were going to put them into foster care, so I went to pick them up,” Rickers said. “We thought Ann would be coming home soon.”

She never has. Nor has she withdrawn money from her bank account, nor made any attempt to contact her children, now teenagers growing up in the Rickers’ home.

The family has reached closure, in some sense, even as questions about Ann Marie persist.

The contents of the note left on Ann Marie’s pillow remain a mystery, as do other details about the house that night. Some cellphones tied to the case were also destroyed as the investigation widened beyond a missing persons case, Ritnour said.

Rickers asked deputies if Ann Marie’s glasses or contacts were left at the home. Ann Marie couldn’t see without them, she told investigators, and it would be unlikely she would leave them behind if she left on her own.