21 Solved in '21 : Day 8 : Patricia Kalitzke & Lloyd Duane Bogle

21 Solved In ‘21 : Day 8 : Patricia Kalitzke and Lloyd Duane Bogle

On Jan. 3, 1956, three hikers found the body of Lloyd Bogle near his car by Sun River near Wadsworth Park in an area that was a known “lover’s lane.” He had been shot, and his hands were bound behind his back with his own belt. Nothing appeared to be stolen, and his car was left running with the headlights on, in park, with the emergency brake on. Even his expensive camera was left behind. The next day, a road worker found the body of Patricia Kalitzke off of a gravel road just north of Great Falls. She too had been shot in the head. She had injuries consistent with a struggle or sexual assault. The two were a couple, and had been discussing marriage.

Over the next half a century, approximately 35 leads were followed, but none ever led anywhere, and the case went cold. Frigid, even. In 2001, a DNA swab from a rape kit was sent for testing, and it found DNA not belonging to Bogle or Kalitzke. Familial DNA helped authorities name the man believed to be their killer, who died in 2007.

This man was 29 at the time and lived just over a mile from Patricia’s home. He even kept horses within 600 yards from the home she grew up in. In 1952, he married a 16-year-old girl whom he eventually had 5 children with. After the murders, he left the area. First to two different towns in Montana before fleeing the state altogether and settling in Alton, Missouri. He never returned to visit family, and had no known criminal history. Beyond proximity, it remains unknown if he had any prior relationship with either Patricia or Lloyd.

Patricia was a junior at Great Falls High School, while Lloyd was an airman from Waco, Texas, stationed at the Malmstrom Air Force Base. When the couple met in December of 1955, they were instantly head over heels for one another. They both loved to dance, and loved music. They’d been discussing marriage before their lives were cut short. When the couple didn’t return home the night of January 2, their families assumed they had gone and eloped.