Julie Rank Earley is an Ohio woman who went missing at the age of 50 in a disappearance case that has gone on since 2012. There has since been a Facebook page dedicated to her and she has been featured in various missing person websites, including the Charley Project and NamUs.
Earley’s sister, Kimberly Willey, and her sister-in-law, Jill Rank, have cast suspicion on Earley’s husband, Cregg Earley, who has vehemently denied having anything to do with his wife’s disappearance.
Anyone with information is being asked by the Ohio Attorney General’s office to call the Trotwood Police Department at (937) 854-3988.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Earley Had 2 Special Needs Children
According to the podcast Unfound, Earley was a nurse who had a “huge heart.”
The Charley Project reported that Earley she was the mother of two sons, both of whom had special needs. She had divorced the father of those children and in 2005, she married Cregg Earley. He, according to the Charley Project, said that she had bought a home months prior to her disappearance.
Here is a description of Earley, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s office: “Ms. Earley has sandy blonde hair and wears glasses. She is a type 1 diabetic and is in need of her medication. She has frozen shoulders which limits the movement of her arms.”
Earley is also described as 5-feet-4-inches tall and 130 pounds; she would be 59 years old in 2020.
2. Earley’s Son & Her Husband Had a Fight Before She Left the Home: Charley Project
According to the Charley Project, Cregg said he had argued with one of Earley’s sons and as a result, did not want him to visit on the Memorial Day Weekend; he said that he last spoke to Earley at 3:30 p.m.
Earley then left her Molane Street home on May 21, 2012 and was never seen or heard from again.
Cregg said that his wife left with medication, her purse, a curling iron and $6,000, the Charley Project reported. He also said that she didn’t take any other belongings, including her family photos. He said that he originally thought she was upset and had gone to stay with some relatives, which is why he didn’t report her missing until May 30.
Unfounded podcasters reported that Cregg was working on a roof and when he returned home, his wife was gone. They also reported that Earley had spoken to multiple people on the phone on that day before 3:30 p.m.
3. Police Have Said They Believe Earley’s Husband Know Where She Is Located
Initial searches of the Trotwood and the nearby area for Earley by police and volunteers failed to find Earley.
News station WHIO-TV reported that Trotwood Police did not have enough evidence to officially change Earley’s case from a missing person case into a homicide.
However, Captain Dan Heath told the station, that he believes Cregg has not been entirely forthcoming. “We believe he knows what happened to her, where’s she at,” he said. “We believe he’s spoken to people and if those people would come forward and just share the story with us, so we can put some closure to this case.”
Heath also told the station that they found spots of blood “on the inside of the garage door,” but they came back as inconclusive as to their origins.
The Huffington Post reported that Cregg was asked to take a polygraph by the FBI and refused, telling them “I don’t believe in them.”
4. Earley’s Husband Cregg Went on Dr. Phil to Defend Himself
Willey and Rank have long believed Cregg was responsible for her disappearance and — as search efforts failed — contacted the “Dr. Phil” daytime talk show to bring more attention to the case, WHIO-TV reported.
Cregg also appeared on “Dr. Phil” show the in an attempt to clear himself of wrongdoing.
On the show, he was confronted with a request for a protection order against Cregg that Earley had written, according to WHIO-TV. In that order, the station reported, “Julie said her husband was very dangerous and she was afraid that he will kill her.”
However, Cregg told Dr. Phil that he didn’t think she was afraid of him and also said, “Why would she have been afraid of me? I love Julie.”
Cregg has professed his innocence multiple times. The Huffington Post reported that he said, “I’ve saved her life so many times; I would have never hurt her.” He also professed his innocence while explaining why he refused the polygraph:
I don’t personally feel that I have to prove anything to anybody … Her family’s been falsely accusing me since she disappeared. I don’t care what they think. I don’t care what anybody thinks. I have nothing to do with my wife’s disappearance. My wife has been missing three years, and my world is still in shambles.
However, Willey has said she doesn’t believe Cregg and said, “He tries to play like he’s the victim. In fact, he’s the murderer,” according to The Huffington Post.
5. Here’s Why Her Family Said They Believe There Was Foul Play
Both Willey and Rank have told news outlets that they believe Cregg killed Julie. Along with the blood evidence found and Earley’s petition for a protection order, they said that they believe Cregg was violent enough to have killed her in a rage.
In a video, Willey described Cregg as “a rageful, violent person, a liar and very narcissistic” and added that she is afraid of him, The Huffington Post reported. Willey also said, “When I found out my sister was missing, it was instant panic. I immediately thought Cregg had done something to her.”
Rank agreed and said, “Am I convinced Cregg killed her? Yes, I am. I want Cregg to know, you think you can run, but you can’t hide.”
Rank told WHIO-TV that there has been no evidence Earley ever had her medicines refilled and that she would not have left her sons. As a result, they believe she is dead. “We know she’s in heaven and we just look at it like that,” Rank said. “She’s with her parents. But, where is her body?”
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