Sara Bushland: Missing Since April 3rd, 1996

On the crisp afternoon of April 3, 1996, Sara Bushland, a 15-year-old sophomore at Spooner High School, stepped off her school bus and into the rural quiet of her family’s driveway in Spring Lake, Wisconsin. It was a moment that should have been ordinary—just another end to a school day, another trek home—but it would mark the beginning of a chilling mystery that has haunted her family and community for nearly three decades.

Sara’s life had been turbulent leading up to that fateful day. She had recently moved from Colorado to Wisconsin, seeking refuge from the strict rules of her father’s house, only to find herself ensnared in new tensions and conflicts. Living with her mother, stepfather, and stepbrothers in their converted garage home on a sprawling 65-acre property, Sara was grappling with the typical angst of adolescence, compounded by a mix of new and older friends, some of whom were much older.

That day, Sara had been in high spirits. It was the last day of school before spring break, and she was free from the grounding that had kept her housebound for weeks. After a morning of classes, her 21-year-old boyfriend, Travis Lane, picked her up for lunch before returning her to school for her afternoon classes. By the time the school day ended, Sara decided to return home rather than stay at a friend’s house as initially planned. Unable to find a ride, she opted for the school bus—a decision that would set the stage for her disappearance.

Witnesses on the bus noticed a dark-colored pickup truck trailing them, a vehicle that some recognized as belonging to an older man Sara had dated. When the bus reached her stop, Sara disembarked and approached the truck, which had pulled into the driveway behind her. From her body language, it was clear she knew the driver. Some witnesses claimed she got into the truck, while others remembered only a brief conversation. The truck backed out of the driveway and drove away, leaving Sara’s fate shrouded in uncertainty.

By 4:37 p.m., Sara’s stepbrother, the only family member home at the time, noticed her absence and called his father, Jim Lambert, who was out of town. Initially, no one was alarmed; Sara was expected to be with friends. But when she hadn’t returned by 6:20 p.m., her mother, Marie, began a frantic search, calling friends and driving around the local area. By nightfall, it was clear something was terribly wrong—Sara was gone.

For weeks, the prevailing theory was that Sara had run away. After all, she was a teenager in conflict, caught between the rules of her parents and the lure of her older peers. But as time passed, this theory began to unravel. Sara had left behind all her belongings—clothes, makeup, money—everything a runaway might take. Her father and older sister, Lesley, never believed she had left voluntarily.

The initial investigation was lackluster, reflecting the assumption that Sara would return on her own. It wasn’t until nearly two years later, in 1998, that the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was asked to assist. By then, crucial time had been lost, and the trail had gone cold.

The Lambert property became the focus of law enforcement’s attention. Over the years, it was searched multiple times—in 1999, 2000, and again in 2013. Cadaver dogs reacted to several areas, but no significant evidence was found. The truck seen in the driveway that day has never been identified, and despite extensive searches, Sara’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Adding another layer of intrigue is the connection to another disappearance—18-year-old Crystal Soulier, who vanished six months after Sara. Crystal’s remains were found three years later, dumped behind an adult store in Beloit, Wisconsin, a grim discovery that linked her death to another unsolved murder at the same location. While there’s no direct evidence connecting Sara’s case to Crystal’s, the two young women knew each other, shared mutual friends, and attended the same parties.

Sara’s mother and stepfather passed away in 2017, taking with them the burden of unanswered questions and unresolved grief. The case remains open, but after nearly 30 years, the hope of finding Sara alive has faded.

Sara Bushland was last seen wearing blue jeans, a Tweety Bird T-shirt, a blue jacket, and black sneakers. She had blue eyes, blonde hair, and a smile that belied the troubles she carried. If you have any information about her disappearance, please contact the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office at 715-468-4700.

Wisconsin Cold Case: The Disappearance of Sara Bushland

April 3, 1996. The rural roads of Spooner, Wisconsin, usually quiet and uneventful, would soon be haunted by the mysterious vanishing of a 15-year-old girl named Sara Bushland. On that spring afternoon, as the school bus rumbled down the gravel path leading to Sara's home, no one could have predicted the dark turn the day was about to take.

Sara had been in good spirits that morning. It was the last day of school before spring break, and it also marked her first taste of freedom after being grounded for several weeks. She spent the morning with friends, and at lunch, her 21-year-old boyfriend, Travis Lane, picked her up, and the two shared a meal before he dropped her back at school. But by the time the school day ended, Sara had changed her plans. She decided to return home instead of heading back to her friend’s house.

At 4:00 p.m., Sara stepped off the school bus at the end of her driveway. Witnesses on the bus noticed a dark-colored pickup truck trailing behind the bus, eventually pulling up beside Sara as she exited. The students recognized the truck as belonging to a man Sara knew, perhaps her ex-boyfriend. From Sara’s body language, it was clear she knew the driver. Some witnesses claimed she got into the truck; others only saw her speaking to the driver. What happened next remains a chilling mystery.

As the bus pulled away, the truck backed out of the driveway, either heading toward the nearby town of Trego or in the opposite direction—accounts differ. What is certain is that Sara was never seen again.

Back at home, Sara’s stepbrother noticed she hadn’t returned from school and called his father at 4:37 p.m. to report her absence. Initially, there was little concern. After all, Sara had been grounded and wasn’t expected to be out late. But as the evening wore on, unease began to settle in. By 6:20 p.m., Sara’s mother, Marie, was frantically calling her daughter’s friends. None had seen Sara since school. Desperation drove Marie to search the local area, stopping at the home where Sara had been that morning and at Travis’s apartment. But Sara was nowhere to be found. That night, Marie returned home with a growing sense of dread. The next day, Sara’s stepfather, Jim Lambert, returned from an overnight trip in Minnesota and, along with Marie, reported Sara missing. Yet the initial response from law enforcement was tepid, at best. The prevailing theory was that Sara had run away. After all, she was a teenager with a history of rebellion, most recently by dating Travis against her parents’ wishes.

But Sara’s father, Mike Bushland, knew better. He had raised Sara and her older sister in Colorado until Sara decided to move back to Wisconsin in 1994. Sara’s life in Colorado had been stable, if not typical for a teenager. Her decision to leave came after being caught shoplifting and facing her father’s discipline. But running away? It didn’t make sense. Sara hadn’t taken any of her belongings—no clothes, no money, no makeup. This wasn’t the behavior of a runaway.

Despite Mike’s conviction that something terrible had happened to his daughter, the investigation languished. It wasn’t until nearly three years later, in 1999, that authorities began to seriously question the runaway theory. By then, the trail had gone cold. The Lambert property, where Sara had lived, became the focus of law enforcement’s efforts. In July 1999, investigators searched a trash dump on the property. The following year, they dredged a nearby lake and scoured the land, but nothing was found. Then, in May 2013, more than 70 investigators, including cadaver dogs, descended on the property again. The dogs alerted to several areas, but once again, no evidence was uncovered.

Speculation ran rampant. Why was so much attention focused on the Lambert property? Was there evidence that something had happened to Sara there? And what of the dark-colored truck? Despite being a critical piece of the puzzle, it was never identified. Some witnesses thought it belonged to Travis’s father, while others linked it to a man named Steve—though no one by that name was connected to Sara.

Sara’s disappearance was further complicated by another unsolved case—the murder of 18-year-old Crystal Soulier, who vanished from Cable, Wisconsin, just six months after Sara. Crystal’s remains were discovered three years later, but her murder remains unsolved. Both Sara and Crystal were blonde, young women, who shared mutual friends—older men in their twenties. Could there be a connection?

As the years passed, hope waned. Sara’s mother and stepfather passed away in 2017, never knowing what happened to their daughter. Another search of the Lambert property took place just a week after Jim Lambert’s death, but it yielded nothing.

Today, Sara Bushland’s case remains open, but the leads have dried up. Her father and sister continue to search for answers, clinging to the hope that one day, they will uncover the truth. Was Sara the victim of someone she knew and trusted? Did something sinister happen on that rural property in Spooner? The answers remain elusive, locked away in the silence of the past.

Sara was last seen wearing blue jeans, a Tweety Bird T-shirt, a blue jacket, and black sneakers. She had blue eyes, blonde hair, and was wearing four silver rings, including a Spooner High School class ring with a black stone. If you have any information about Sara Bushland, please contact the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office at 715–468–4700. The truth is out there, somewhere in the shadows of that fateful April afternoon.

The connection between Sara Bushland and Crystal Soulier presents an eerie overlap of two tragic stories that, on the surface, seem to share more than just unfortunate timing. While both cases remain officially unsolved, the similarities and potential connections between them have fueled speculation and further deepened the mystery surrounding their disappearances.

1. Shared Demographics and Social Circles

Sara Bushland and Crystal Soulier were both young, blonde, and lived in relatively close proximity to each other in rural Wisconsin. At the time of their disappearances, Sara was 15, and Crystal was 18. Both were at critical junctures in their lives, navigating the complexities of adolescence and young adulthood.

More compelling, however, is their shared social circles. Both Sara and Crystal were known to associate with a group of older men in their early twenties. These men hosted parties that both girls attended, suggesting they were part of the same broader social network. It’s been reported that they had at least 19 mutual friends, all of whom were male. This overlap raises the question of whether their connections to these individuals could have played a role in their respective fates.

2. Similar Circumstances of Disappearance

Sara disappeared on April 3, 1996, after being seen talking to someone in a dark-colored pickup truck near her home. Crystal vanished six months later, in October 1996, from Cable, Wisconsin, a town about an hour away from Spooner. In both cases, the circumstances were murky, with little concrete evidence pointing to what exactly happened after they were last seen.

Sara was last seen near her family’s rural property, with some witnesses suggesting she got into the truck willingly, indicating she knew the driver. Crystal’s circumstances are less clear, but given the later discovery of her body, it is likely she met with foul play soon after her disappearance.

3. Discovery of Crystal’s Body

Crystal’s remains were found in March 1997, five months after she disappeared, behind an adult store in Beloit, Wisconsin—hundreds of miles from where she was last seen. Her body was not identified until 2002, and the circumstances of her death remain unsolved. The location where her body was found is significant because it was the same site where another woman’s body had been discovered three years earlier, further suggesting a pattern or connection that investigators have yet to fully unravel.

4. Investigative Challenges and Speculations

Despite these connections, law enforcement has not definitively linked the two cases. None of the mutual friends or the older men who were part of Sara and Crystal’s social circles have been named as suspects in either case. This lack of formal connection may be due to insufficient evidence or the challenges of piecing together events that occurred in the absence of witnesses or solid leads.

One of the most compelling pieces of circumstantial evidence is the fact that both girls were part of a secretive social world—one that included older men and parties that their closest friends and family may not have fully known about. This hidden aspect of their lives could suggest they were vulnerable to exploitation or harm by someone within that circle, yet this angle remains speculative without concrete evidence.

5. Theories and Ongoing Mystery

Some have speculated that the same person or persons could be responsible for both Sara’s disappearance and Crystal’s death. Given the rural setting, the limited pool of potential suspects, and the social overlap, this theory cannot be easily dismissed. However, the differences in how their cases have been treated—Sara’s being investigated primarily as a missing person case, while Crystal’s is classified as a homicide—complicate efforts to draw a clear connection.

The fact that both cases have gone cold highlights the difficulties in solving crimes in small, rural communities where resources may be limited, and the social ties between people can obscure or protect those who might be involved. The possibility that both Sara and Crystal fell victim to the same predator or were harmed by someone they trusted remains one of the most troubling aspects of these cases.

Conclusion

The connection between Sara Bushland and Crystal Soulier is more than coincidental—it is suggestive of a deeper, more troubling pattern that, if fully understood, could potentially lead to answers in both cases. Yet, despite the passage of time and the efforts of investigators, the true nature of their connection remains elusive. Whether through shared acquaintances, similar circumstances, or the actions of an unidentified individual, the fates of Sara and Crystal are inextricably linked in the annals of Wisconsin’s cold cases, leaving behind questions that may never be fully answered.

Unraveling the Connection: The Sara Bushland and Crystal Soulier Mysteries

In the quiet, rural landscapes of Wisconsin, two young women vanished under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a trail of questions that remain unanswered to this day. Sara Bushland, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, disappeared on April 3, 1996, from the small town of Spooner. Just six months later, 18-year-old Crystal Soulier from Cable, Wisconsin, also vanished. While the cases were initially treated as separate incidents, deeper examination reveals unsettling similarities and potential connections between the two tragedies.

Shared Demographics and Social Ties

Sara and Crystal were strikingly similar in appearance—both young, blonde, and living in close-knit, rural communities. Despite their age difference, they were part of overlapping social circles, primarily involving older men in their twenties. These men frequently hosted parties that both Sara and Crystal attended, creating a shared network of acquaintances that might hold the key to understanding their fates.

It is known that Sara and Crystal had at least 19 mutual friends within this group. This connection raises the possibility that they may have been exposed to the same dangers within this social circle—dangers that their families might not have fully recognized. Sara’s school friends were reportedly unaware of her involvement with this older crowd, suggesting she may have led a double life, one where she was more vulnerable to manipulation or harm.

The Disappearance of Sara Bushland

Sara’s last day was filled with a mix of routine and unease. After being grounded for weeks, she was finally free to socialize, but her life at home was far from peaceful. There were tensions with her stepbrothers, and she was known to have written about her frustrations in her diary—entries that may have sparked anger in her stepfather, Jim Lambert, when he found and read them.

On April 3, 1996, Sara got off the school bus at the end of her driveway, where witnesses saw her interacting with the driver of a dark-colored pickup truck that had been following the bus. This truck, which some identified as belonging to an older man Sara had dated, became a central element in the investigation. Although witnesses couldn’t agree on whether Sara actually got into the truck, it was clear she knew the driver. The truck backed out of the driveway and drove off, leaving behind a mystery that would haunt the community.

When Sara didn’t return home, her family’s initial reaction was not one of panic—they assumed she was with friends, enjoying her newfound freedom. It wasn’t until later that evening, when Sara’s mother, Marie, began searching for her daughter, that the reality of her disappearance began to sink in.

The response from law enforcement was slow, largely due to the assumption that Sara had run away. It wasn’t until much later, when the runaway theory began to crumble, that the investigation took a more serious turn. Sara’s belongings were all left behind, and those closest to her insisted she wouldn’t have left voluntarily.

The Disappearance and Death of Crystal Soulier

Crystal Soulier’s disappearance followed a similar pattern. On a crisp autumn day in October 1996, Crystal vanished from Cable, Wisconsin. Her disappearance received little attention initially, much like Sara’s case. It wasn’t until five months later, in March 1997, that her remains were discovered behind an adult store in Beloit, Wisconsin—hundreds of miles from where she was last seen.

The delay in identifying Crystal’s body only added to the tragedy. For five years, she was listed as a Jane Doe, her identity unknown, and her case effectively stalled. It wasn’t until 2002 that authorities confirmed the remains were hers, and by then, any leads had long gone cold.

The location where Crystal’s body was found is significant. It was the same spot where another woman, a Chicago sex worker named Terryl Stanford, had been found murdered three years earlier. The similarities between these cases, both in the manner and location of the body disposals, suggest the possibility of a serial offender operating in the area, although no definitive link has been established between the two cases.

A Web of Intrigue and Suspicion

As investigators began to dig deeper into both cases, they couldn’t ignore the shared connections between Sara and Crystal. Both had ties to the same group of older men, and both had been involved in social activities that their closest friends and family were largely unaware of. The fact that neither girl’s disappearance was initially treated with the urgency it deserved meant that crucial evidence and leads were likely lost in the critical early days.

The focus on the Lambert property in Sara’s case is particularly telling. Despite numerous searches, including the use of cadaver dogs, nothing definitive was ever found. Yet the persistence of law enforcement in returning to the property suggests they had reason to believe that the answer to Sara’s disappearance lay close to home. Whether this was due to direct evidence or simply a lack of alternative leads is unclear, but the repeated searches hint at a suspicion that someone within Sara’s immediate circle might know more than they were letting on.

Meanwhile, Crystal’s case remained a separate enigma, with her death being officially classified as a homicide but with no suspects or strong leads. The fact that Crystal and Sara shared so many mutual connections, and that they both attended parties hosted by the same group of older men, adds a layer of complexity to both investigations.

Theories and Speculations

One of the most persistent theories is that both Sara and Crystal fell victim to the same individual or group of individuals. This theory is fueled by the similarities in their social environments, the timing of their disappearances, and the potential involvement of the same older men in their lives. However, despite these similarities, no concrete evidence has ever emerged to definitively link the two cases.

Another theory is that the dark-colored pickup truck seen near Sara’s home on the day she disappeared is somehow connected to Crystal’s fate. While the truck was never identified, and its driver remains unknown, it is possible that whoever was behind the wheel may have played a role in both Sara’s disappearance and Crystal’s death. However, this remains speculative, as the truck’s connection to either case has never been proven.

Conclusion: A Tale of Two Tragedies

The cases of Sara Bushland and Crystal Soulier remain intertwined in the annals of Wisconsin’s cold cases, two young lives cut short under mysterious circumstances. While their families and the community continue to seek answers, the lack of definitive evidence and the passage of time have made these cases increasingly difficult to solve.

Yet the connection between Sara and Crystal, tenuous as it may be, serves as a haunting reminder of the dangers that can lurk in the shadows of small-town life. Whether their fates were linked by a shared social circle, a common predator, or simply by tragic coincidence, the questions surrounding their disappearances continue to linger, leaving behind a legacy of pain, unanswered questions, and the enduring hope for closure.