On the night of June 6–7, 1992, two newly graduated high school friends and one of their mothers vanished from a Springfield, Missouri home. Their cars, purses, and cash were left behind. They have never been found.
This is a disappearance, not a recovered-body case, so everything depends on the first hours: who went through the house, what was on the answering machine, and what a broken porch light means. Most of that evidence was compromised before police arrived.
Editorial assessment of public sources, not a finding of fact. Nobody named here has been charged unless this page says so.
Times come from news and police accounts. Details of the house come from the first people to enter it.
Suzanne "Suzie" Streeter, 19, and Stacy McCall, 18, graduate from Kickapoo High School. Suzie's mother, Sherrill Levitt, 47, spends the evening at home working on varnishing an armoire. She is last heard from at about 11:15 p.m.
The two friends are last seen leaving a party. They planned to go to a water park in Branson the next morning.
A friend, Janelle Kirby, and her boyfriend find the front door unlocked at 1717 E. Delmar Street. All three women's cars are outside. Purses, personal items, and about $900 in cash are inside. The only sign of disturbance is a shattered porch light globe.
Ten to twenty people go through and tidy the house before police secure it. A message on the answering machine is erased after one playback; police believe it may have been a clue.
Police receive more than 5,000 tips. In 1997 the women are declared legally dead, though their cases are still listed as missing. A memorial bench is dedicated that year.
Robert Craig Cox, a convicted kidnapper and robber, claims the women were murdered and their bodies will never be found. Investigators are unsure whether he was involved or seeking attention. His 1992 alibi, supported by a girlfriend and his parents, is later undercut when the girlfriend recants.
Investigators dig at farmland near Cassville in 2003 with inconclusive results. A 2007 tip that the women are buried under a hospital parking garage leads to a ground-penetrating radar scan; police say the tip lacked credibility and the garage was built after the disappearances.
Local TV revisits the case. Police still call it an active investigation.
Three women, two generations, one home.
A newly graduated Kickapoo High School student who lived with her mother. Last seen leaving a party at about 2:00 a.m. on June 7, 1992.
Suzie's friend and fellow graduate. Last seen with her. She was staying at the Delmar Street house that night.
Suzie's mother. Last heard from at about 11:15 p.m. on June 6 while varnishing an armoire at home.
The only photo of the three on Commons is non-free, so we show silhouettes. Their families or others who want a photo added, changed, or removed can use the contact form at the bottom of this page.
The scene was altered, so most evidence is uncertain.
| Item | What is known | Disputed or unknown |
|---|---|---|
| The house | Front door unlocked; all three cars outside; purses, personal items, and about $900 inside. | No sign of forced entry or a struggle other than the porch light. |
| Porch light | The globe was shattered. | When and how it broke is unknown. |
| Answering machine | A message was erased after one playback. | Who erased it and what it said are unknown. |
| The crowd in the house | Ten to twenty people visited and tidied up before police secured it. | Which items they moved is unknown; trace evidence was lost. |
| Tips | More than 5,000 over time. | Most unverified. |
Little of the official file is public. Local TV has the longest record of coverage.
| Document | Holder | What it shows | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Police cold-case listing | Springfield Police Department | The department's public page for the case. We did not retrieve it. | Not located |
| 1993 search warrant, 40 acres in Webster County | Webster County court | Local reporting says investigators searched land in 1993 under a warrant seeking the three women. The warrant itself is not public that we found. | Quoted in news |
| The Springfield Three: What we know (KY3) | KY3 | A running summary of the case. | Online, free |
| Springfield Police case file (5,000+ tips) | Springfield Police Department | The full investigative record. | Withheld or sealed |
Access labels: Online, free = we could open it. Fan-hosted copy = a private researcher posted scans; originals are held by the named agency, and we cannot vouch for completeness. Quoted in news = reporters read it; we did not see the document itself. Request needed = held by an agency or court. Withheld = the holder has not released it. We cannot reach non-public records, and we do not try to.
Where people talk about this case online, and how to read it.
| Platform | Live search | What you tend to find |
|---|---|---|
| Google: Reddit | site:reddit.com search | Public Reddit threads that Google has indexed, including old discussions. |
| Google: X and Twitter | X and Twitter posts | Public posts and profiles that appear in search results. |
| Google: Facebook | Public Facebook pages and posts | Only public pages and groups that Google can see. Private groups never appear. |
| Google: Instagram and TikTok | Instagram and TikTok | Public posts, memorials, and videos. |
| Google: forums | Forums and message boards | Long-running true-crime forums. |
| Google News | Latest news | Newest reporting, which is usually more reliable than posts. |
| Search Reddit | Long discussion threads and theories, often by amateur researchers. No sign-in needed to read. | |
| X (Twitter) | Search X | Short posts, news links, and anniversary notes. May require sign-in. |
| Search Facebook | Public groups and family or community pages. Requires sign-in. | |
| Search #springfieldthree | Memorial and true-crime posts. Requires sign-in. | |
| YouTube | Search YouTube | Documentaries, news clips, and interviews. Quality varies widely. |
Be careful with online theories. Naming a private person as a suspect can harm an innocent family, and many "identifications" on forums have been wrong. Our own tools could not read these platforms: Reddit blocks automated access, and the others require an account. The Google searches above work from your browser. To get new public mentions by email, make a free Google Alert for the case name in quotation marks.
What local and national reports say, and when we last checked for a solution.
| Date | Outlet | What it reported | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 7, 2021 | |||
| KY3 | |||
| What we know about the cold case. | |||
| Read | |||
| June 8, 2026 | |||
| KY3 | |||
| June 7 marked 34 years; police still call it an active investigation. | |||
| Read | |||
| June 8, 2025 | |||
| KY3 | |||
| Thirty-three years; the case remains open. | |||
| Read |
Status is re-checked on a regular schedule. If you know of a development we missed, use the clue form near the top of this page or the contact form, and include a link.
Few names are public. Most leads came through tips.
Why named: A convicted kidnapper and robber who said in 1997 that the women were murdered and that their bodies would never be found. Questioned in the past; reported to be in a Texas prison for aggravated robbery.
Against: Investigators were unsure whether he was involved or seeking attention. His alibi was backed by a girlfriend (who later recanted) and his parents. No physical link has been published.
Why named: Suzie's older brother, who was investigated early on, as is usual in such cases.
Against: Eliminated as a suspect.
Why named: Named in local reports about the case.
Against: No evidence has been found linking him to the disappearances.
Why named: Named in local reports about the case.
Against: No evidence has been found linking him to the disappearances.
Where a card shows a silhouette, we found no freely licensed photo. Anyone who wants a photo added, changed, or removed can use the contact form at the bottom of this page.
No suspect has been charged. Cox remains the most prominent name, and nothing new has been published about him in 2026.
| Claim | Source | Status | Our rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cox said the women were murdered and would never be found | Reported to investigators, 1997 | Statement, not proof; may have been attention-seeking. | Weak |
| His alibi was false | A girlfriend's later recantation | She said he asked her to lie. His parents also supported the alibi. | Open |
| He was in Springfield that night | None published | No public record places him there. | Unknown |
We put the chance Cox was involved at roughly 10%. He fits a profile, and his statement is striking, but nothing published places him in Springfield or ties him to the house. The chance that the women will be found within five years is, in our view, low, at roughly 5%.
Editorial judgment, not statistics.
"—" means no public information, not a clean result.
| Person | Motive / profile | Alibi | Physical link | Official status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Cox | ? prior convictions | ? alibi weakened | — none published | ? questioned; not charged |
| Bartt Streeter | — | — | — | ✗ eliminated |
| Dustin Recla | — | — | — none published | — not charged |
| Michael Clay | — | — | — none published | — not charged |
✗ excluded or contradicted · ✓ supports · ? disputed · — nothing public. No cell is an official finding.
Editorial reading of public records. A working theory, not a finding, and it names no individual.
Judgment, not statistics.
Questions raised by gaps in the public record.
The message erased after one playback. Who played it, who erased it, and whether anyone heard it.
A complete list of the ten to twenty visitors and what each touched or moved.
When the globe broke, and whether glass fragments were collected and analyzed.
Who was at the party Suzie and Stacy left at about 2 a.m., and who drove them home.
Records placing him in or out of Springfield on June 6–7, 1992.
Ground-penetrating radar at sites tied to credible leads, using modern equipment.
A modern database search of all tips against current records.
Any retained physical evidence, tested with current DNA methods.
"Not public" means we could not find a report.
| Item | Tested | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Physical evidence from the house | Collected in 1992. | What exists and what was retested: not public. |
| Answering-machine tape | Erased message. | Whether the machine or tape was kept: not public. |
| Glass from the porch light | Presumably collected. | Analysis: not public. |
| Tips | More than 5,000 logged. | Re-screening: not public. |
| Search areas | Cassville farmland (2003), parking garage (2007). | Others: not public. |
| Tool | What it could do | Status here |
|---|---|---|
| Ground-penetrating radar | Find disturbed ground. | Used 2007; results not credible |
| Touch-DNA on retained items | Retest any items from the house. | Not reported |
| Phone and financial records | Place people near the house. | Not public |
| Genetic genealogy | Identify a donor from any DNA. | Needs DNA; none reported |
| Cadaver dogs | Detect remains. | Used in prior searches; results inconclusive |
Convictions without remains are rare but exist when the evidence ties a person to the scene. This case lacks that tie.
Cold cases in Texas moved after DNA, genealogy, and informants. Whether any equivalent exists here is not known.
No remains, no crime scene to speak of, and a compromised house.
Confirm case details in court and news records.
| Claim | Source and date | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| The women are buried under a hospital parking garage | A 2007 tip | Police found the tip not credible; the garage was built after the disappearances. |
| The women are buried near Cassville | A 2003 dig | Inconclusive. |
| Robert Cox was involved | 1997 statement | Unproven; possibly attention-seeking. |
| The remains have been identified | A low-quality web page, 2026 | Contradicted by every reliable source we found. Not credible. |
The home was at 1717 E. Delmar Street in Springfield, Missouri.
Open in maps: 1717 E. Delmar Street. We show no photograph of the home.
| Source | Type | Rating | Use with care because |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Police statements | Agency | A | Brief; details withheld. |
| KY3 (local TV) | News | B+ | Anniversary pieces rarely add new facts. |
| Wikipedia: Springfield Three | Tertiary | B | Good summary; some details unsourced. |
| Podcasts and true-crime sites | Advocacy | D | Dramatized; at least one site made a false claim. |
Lists the case as an active cold case on its website.
Prosecutor and sheriff may hold related records.
Records via the FBI Vault or FOIA.
Under the Missouri Sunshine Law, I request copies of non-exempt records relating to the June 1992 disappearance of Suzanne Streeter, Stacy McCall, and Sherrill Levitt in Springfield, including incident reports and evidence inventories. Please send electronic copies. If any part is withheld, please identify the exemption relied on and release all reasonably segregable material.
Agencies often withhold records of open investigations, so expect partial answers.
A mother, her daughter, and her daughter's friend disappeared on the night of a graduation. Their families have waited more than three decades.
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Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Where they disagree, we say so above.
Suspect details other than Cox come from a local-news retrospective seen in search results, not from primary records. Cox's current prison status is as reported there and was not verified. Any claim that the remains have been found is unsupported.