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Crime Junkie

MISSING: Kerry O’Brien-Krueger

When Kerry O’Brien Krueger vanished in 1989, her husband claimed she left for a work trip that never existed. Decades later, investigators are still untangling shifting stories, missing evidence and some crucial clues that could help reveal what happened - and they need Crime Junkies’ help.
Duration
1h 11m
Broadcast on
03 Aug 2026
Audio Format
other

When Kerry O’Brien-Krueger vanished in 1989, her husband claimed she left for a work trip that never existed. Decades later, investigators are still untangling shifting stories, missing evidence and some crucial clues that could help reveal what happened - and they need Crime Junkies’ help.

  • If you know anything about the disappearance of Kerry O’Brien-Krueger, call the Racine County Sheriff's Office directly at (262) 930-8254, or if you’d prefer to remain anonymous, call the Crime Stoppers of Racine County at (888) 636-9330.

 

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Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host Ashley Flowers, and I'm Brett. The story I have for you today is one I can't believe I've never heard of, but it came to us straight from the investigator who's trying to solve this mystery, and he needs your help. Because the truth of what happened to one Wisconsin woman back in 1989 might be right in front of him in two important clues he holds, but he needs the help of our crime junkies to interpret them. One of you might be able to help solve the mystery of what happened to Carrie O'Brien and Kruger. It's December 1989 in Wisconsin, and with the holidays right around the corner, 19-year-old Molly O'Brien is getting into the spirit. She's spending the chilly night curled up in her Milwaukee dorm room, watching the nutcracker with her roommate and her boyfriend. Suddenly, her landminerings. And it's her brother-in-law, Tracy Kruger, which isn't strange. He's married to Molly's 32-year-old sister Carrie, and Molly's close with both of them. But what he's asking is odd. He wants to know if Carrie is with her. Now Molly spends plenty of time with Carrie, Tracy, and their three-year-old daughter, but it is always at their house an hour away in Burlington, Wisconsin. Carrie doesn't just randomly stop by her dorm room, so she tells him no. And that's when Tracy starts laying it all out, why he's concerned. The night before, this would have been Tuesday, December 5, 1989. He says that Carrie got this call at around 8.30 p.m. Tracy thinks it was maybe her manager, Jim, calling. Carrie works in PR for Gander Mountain, this like hunting and sporting goods company. And when she hung up, she told Tracy that she had to fill in for somebody the next day at this trade show in Wyoming. And that would have been this day, like the day that he's calling Molly, Wednesday, December 6. Now Jim was supposed to swing by and drive them both to Chicago so they could catch an early flight. Tracy says that Carrie got up super early, left before dawn, like 4 or 4.30 in the morning after a goodbye kiss and a reminder to take good care of their daughter while she was gone. But a few hours later, after Tracy had gotten their daughter off to the babysitter and he was at work, he got a message that Jim was trying to reach him. And what Jim said was really weird because he wanted to know where Carrie was. She had pulled a no call no show at work for the first time ever. And Tracy says that he's like confused. He's like, what do you mean? Where is she? Like she's with you in Wyoming. But Jim had no clue what he was talking about because it turns out there was no trade show. And Carrie would know that tracking the trade shows is literally part of her job. Now the more Tracy talks, the sicker Molly feels because there is one thing that Molly is sure of. Carrie would never leave her daughter. So if no one can find her, she's sure right then and there that something bad happened. But Tracy tries to keep her calm. He's like, listen, don't worry. Maybe she just went somewhere. I'm going to start calling around. I'm going to start checking with everyone. And he's already sounded the alarm to another O'Brien sister, Kathy. And even though she lives far away in New Orleans, she knows what to do because she's a prosecutor. So Thursday morning, the moment she hears that Carrie still isn't home, Kathy brings their parents in the loop and instructs them to make Tracy file a missing persons report with the Burlington Police Department. Like do it now do it today. So Carrie's parents bring Tracy to the station where he runs through it all again, the 11th hour work call, the early trip and how nobody can reach Carrie now. But while her family seems to be frantic, officers are like, you know, meh, not so much. They put out a bolo for her, but you know, she's an adult. She might just need some space. So they give it to her until they realize that space might even be dangerous. Because a couple of days later, Tracy brings them a note from Carrie's doctor saying that she had been treated for depression. And she might be suicidal. So that is what escalates things, at least enough so that she gets entered into the NCIC database. Now what the doctor's note

Transcription truncated.

When Kerry O’Brien Krueger vanished in 1989, her husband claimed she left for a work trip that never existed. Decades later, investigators are still untangling shifting stories, missing evidence and some crucial clues that could help reveal what happened - and they need Crime Junkies’ help.