Bethany Decker disappeared on January 29th, 2011. At the time of her disappearance, 21-year-old Bethany was leading a very busy life. She was married to Emile Decker, a member of the US Army. The two had one child together who lived with Bethany’s parents while Bethany was attending school at George Mason University full time and working as a waitress.
Bethany also had a boyfriend—Ronald Roldan. Bethany and Ronald had grown close while Emile was deployed in Afghanistan. However, Bethany and Emile still maintained a romantic relationship when he was given leave from deployment. In fact, Bethany was five months pregnant in late January 2011, and the father of this child remains unclear today.
Emile apparently knew about the pregnancy and the affair but was still willing to work things through with Bethany. In the weeks prior to her disappearance, Bethany and Emile took a trip to Hawaii together. Emile told police that he last saw Bethany on the morning of January 29th at his family’s home in Maryland before she went back to her apartment in Ashburn, Virginia.
On February 2nd, Emile returned to Afghanistan and Bethany did not show up at the airport to send him off. Emile and his family and friends simply attributed this to their marital problems. Bethany’s family members stated that they did not hear from her during this time either, however they were used to not hearing from her for stretches at a time since she was so busy.
Over the next few weeks, Bethany’s friends began receiving Facebook messages from Bethany’s account. Bethany’s friends were immediately able to tell that the messages were not actually from Bethany. Her friends finally contacted her family on February 19th, 2011. Bethany’s grandmother then drove to her apartment to check on her. She found Bethany’s car in its usual spot, but it was parked at a “weird angle” and a tire was flat.
After knocks to her apartment door went unanswered, Bethany’s grandmother called Loudon County police and reported her missing. Once police began investigating, it was revealed that Bethany had not used her bank accounts or cell phone since January 29th, nor had she reported to work or attended her classes. At this point, the worries for Bethany's safety escalated.
