Rose Marie Bly

Bly, circa 2009; Age-progression to age 32 (circa 2019); Bly's tattoo

  • Missing Since 08/21/2009
  • Missing From St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 09/16/1987 (36)
  • Age 21 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'0, 110 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A white tank top, a green v-neck sweater, blue jeans and flip-flop sandals.
  • Associated Vehicle(s) White 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with a Wisconsin license plate numbered 535MAB (accounted for)
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Bly has a tattoo of red cherries on the outside of her right ankle; a photo of the tattoo is posted with this case summary. Her ears and navel are pierced. She frequently changes the length and style of her hair; at the time of her disappearance, her hair was cut in a chin-length bob. She may color her hair blonde or red.

Details of Disappearance

Bly was last seen in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. on August 21, 2009. She left her home in the 2300 block of River Road to travel four or five miles to Cushing, Wisconsin to meet a cousin at a bar. She was driving a white 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with a Wisconsin license plate numbered 535MAB.

Sometime that night, Bly contacted her husband and said she'd be home by midnight. She never arrived in Cushing, however, and has never been heard from again.

Bly's car was found in a parking lot near a post office in Grantsburg, Wisconsin five days after her disappearance. The lot is normally used by semi truck drivers to park their tractor-trailers. The car was undamaged, there was no evidence of foul play and the keys were missing. Grantsburg is about thirty miles from St. Croix and fifteen miles from Cushing. Bly has family living there and she graduated from Grantsburg High School.

Bly left behind a husband and two daughters under the age of two. She doesn't have any credit or debit cards, and she left home with very little money. Bly's husband filed for divorce three weeks after her disappearance and sought a court order to prevent her from returning and taking the children. They had married in February 2009.

Their relationship was troubled and police were called to the home at least once to intervene in a domestic violence incident; Bly's husband accused her of slapping him, and she accused her of putting her in a headlock and banging her head on the ground. He had previously filed for divorce in June 2009, but withdrew the filing after he and Bly reconciled.

Her husband passed a polygraph and he isn't considered a suspect in her disappearance. His divorce petition was granted in 2010 and he has sole custody of their daughters.

Bly fell off a horse a week before her disappearance. She told her mother she was having headaches after the accident and her mother advised her to see a doctor, but there's no evidence she ever did. Bly's mother speculated her daughter became disoriented due to her injury and wandered away. There is no evidence to support any theory, however.

In June 2021, Bly's five-year-old niece, Summer Wells, disappeared from her home in Tennessee and has never been found. The two cases are not thought to be related. Both remain unsolved.

Updated 8 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated June 16, 2022; details of disappearance updated.