COLD: Podcast uncovers new clues about discovery of missing Utah woman’s car in Las Vegas
Estimated studying time: 7-8 minutes
LAS VEGAS – A missing woman’s car turned up behind a on line casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip in November 1985. Now, a time card from Weber State College in Ogden and an airline schedule are offering a potential rationalization for the way the car might have ended up there.
KSL’s podcast collection, COLD, has revealed the proof in the course of the investigation into the unsolved disappearance of Sheree Warren’s chilly case. Her case is the main target of COLD’s third season, which premiered Tuesday solely on streaming service Amazon Music.
Warren, 25, was final seen by a colleague leaving an workplace constructing in Salt Lake City on the night of October 2, 1985. Warren had informed her mother and father and a colleague that she supposed to see her estranged husband , Charles Warren, at a close-by car dealership and provides him a experience to his residence in Ogden.
That assembly didn’t occur. Sheree Warren has not been seen since. Police suspect somebody killed her, however Warren’s stays have by no means been discovered and no legal expenses have been filed in the case.
Sheree Warren’s Divorce
Sheree Warren had filed for divorce from Charles Warren in May 1985 and moved out of the house they owned in Ogden. She moved in together with her mother and father in suburban Roy after separating from her husband and was nonetheless residing with them on the time of her disappearance.
Charles and Sheree Warren had a 3-year-old son collectively, of whom they had been sharing custody whereas divorce proceedings had been ongoing.
On the morning of her disappearance, Sheree Warren met her estranged husband to trade custody of their son earlier than going to work in Salt Lake City. She informed her mom that day that she anticipated to choose up her son from Charles Warren on the finish of her work day, after which she and her son would return residence for dinner.
Roy police obtained the preliminary missing report of Sheree Warren from her mom, Mary Sorensen.
Sorensen grew to become involved when Sheree Warren and her son didn’t arrive as deliberate that night. Sorensen reported her daughter missing to Roy police round midday the subsequent day, October 3, 1985.
Sorensen’s report ended up with Roy police detective Jack Bell, who first tried to contact Sheree Warren’s estranged husband, Charles “Chuck” Warren.
“He worked for the railroad,” Bell mentioned in an interview with COLD.
Bell tried to name Charles Warren on the Southern Pacific railroad yard in Ogden the place Warren labored as a clerk, however discovered that Warren was not there.
“He had been taking some time off,” Bell mentioned.
Bell additionally tried to contact Charles Warren at his residence in Ogden on October 3, 1985, however nobody answered Bell’s knocks on the door.
Cary Hartmann
While Bell was unable to instantly get in contact with Charles Warren, he was in a position to get in contact with a person Sheree Warren had began relationship whereas separated from her husband. That man, Cary Hartmann, was a former reserve officer for the Ogden Police Department.
Bell referred to as Hartmann and requested him to return to Roy police headquarters for an interview simply hours after Sheree Warren’s mom first reported her missing. COLD obtained ex-Detective Bell’s case notes, which haven’t beforehand been launched publicly. The notes say Hartmann arrived for the interview round 2:45 p.m
Hartmann reportedly informed Bell that he had spent the night of Sheree Warren’s disappearance at a bar referred to as Sebastians in Ogden. Bell’s notes mentioned Hartmann claimed to have made plans to fulfill Warren later that evening at his residence on Ogden’s seventh Street.
“(Hartmann’s) story was that she never showed up,” Bell mentioned. “That’s supposedly when Cary got worried.”
A a lot forgotten lady, Sheree Warren, has occupied my ideas for the previous yr. She, like Susan Powell and Joyce Yost, ought to nonetheless be with us at present. Join me on the journey to uncover the reality about what occurred to Sheree. https://t.co/HPT0jrBawT
– Dave Cawley (@ashergrey) November 1, 2022
In a subsequent dialog days later, Hartmann informed Bell that he had heard that Charles Warren had threatened Sheree Warren in a dispute over alimony or youngster help shortly earlier than her disappearance.
“Cary was feeding me a lot of information about (Charles Warren),” Bell mentioned. “I could see where he could get that information from Sheree.”
Charles Warren
Bell met with Charles Warren on the afternoon of October 4, 1985, virtually 48 hours after Sheree Warren was final seen in Salt Lake City. Bell’s notes mentioned Charles Warren claimed no data of what had occurred to his spouse.
Charles Warren reportedly informed Bell that he had spent the evening of Sheree Warren’s disappearance at residence together with his first spouse, Alice Mercer.
“I was surprised to find out that he was back with his ex so soon after he and Sheree broke up,” Bell mentioned.
Bell’s notes mentioned he additionally spoke with Mercer, who confirmed Charles Warren’s alibi. Bell remained unconvinced and demanded that each Charles Warren and Alice Mercer undergo polygraph examinations. Both initially indicated they had been open to a so-called lie detector check, however later refused to cooperate.
“I wasn’t surprised when (Charles Warren) pulled out,” Bell mentioned. “He seemed concerned about child support, how much he would have to pay.”
Planes, trains and cars
Bell had two individuals of curiosity, however no clear indication of which one may need harmed Sheree Warren.
Bell’s investigation took a dramatic flip six weeks later when workers on the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, discovered Sheree Warren’s car deserted in their car parking zone. Las Vegas Metro Police impounded the car and notified Bell of the discovery.
“It opened up a whole new can of worms,” Bell mentioned.
Bell suspected that one of his two individuals of curiosity could have pushed the car to Las Vegas the evening Sheree Warren disappeared, or the day after. Bell believed that Charles Warren, in explicit, had the power to maneuver the car.
“Working for the railroad, he had a train pass and could get back on the train,” Bell mentioned. “There was no way to prove that. That’s one thing I would ask Alice (Mercer).
Bell’s theory was also complicated by the fact that the Southern Pacific did not operate a route between Ogden and Las Vegas. That rail link belonged to another company, Union Pacific.
Amtrak ran passenger service between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City over the Union Pacific tracks, an Amtrak route called the Desert Wind. Amtrak schedules from 1985 indicated that the Desert Wind departed Las Vegas around 9:05 PM PT each night.
Sheree Warren was last seen in Salt Lake City around 6:30 PM MT. It would not have been possible for someone to drive more than 400 miles from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas and arrive in time to ride The Desert Wind in Utah that same night.
“But anybody might have gotten off the car and gotten again on the bus,” Bell said.
In 1985, Union Pacific, Amtrak and Greyhound all operated from the area around the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Aladdin, where Sheree Warren’s car had appeared, landed five miles away at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.
The Aladdin was one of the closest hotels to McCarran International Airport, known today as Harry Reid International Airport. This suggested that the person who drove Sheree Warren’s car in Las Vegas may have abandoned her there and flown back to Utah.
Western Airlines operated multiple nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City daily in 1985.
COLD obtained a Western Airlines schedule covering the date of Sheree Warren’s disappearance. It indicated that someone may have driven Sheree Warren’s car to Las Vegas the night she disappeared and boarded a 7:15 a.m. flight the next morning to Salt Lake City. The flight would have arrived in Utah around 9:20 a.m., more than two hours before Sheree Warren’s mother first reported her missing.
Cary Hartmann Time Card
Sheree Warren’s boyfriend, Cary Hartmann, later told police that he had gone to work at Weber State College on October 3, 1985, the day after Warren disappeared.
But COLD has obtained copies of Hartmann’s time cards from his work at Weber State College. The time card for October 1985 showed that Hartmann took 8 hours off work the day after Sheree Warren disappeared.
Hartmann did not give police an explanation for the discrepancy between his account and what his time card showed.
Taken together, the time card and the airline schedule suggested that Hartmann had the opportunity to pick up Sheree Warren’s car in Las Vegas on the night of her disappearance and fly back to Utah before meeting Bell on the afternoon of October 3. 1985.
Bell had not been aware of Hartmann’s time card or the airline’s schedule at the time, or later when Sheree Warren’s car showed up six weeks later. The time card came into the hands of the police only in 1987, after the arrest of Hartmann in another case.
“I missed it rather a lot to start with as a result of Cary needed me to lose him and go after (Charles Warren),” Bell said.
Hartmann declined to speak to COLD, referring questions to defense attorney Jonathan Porter. Porter did not respond to an email from COLD seeking comment.
