On Saturday, October 2, 2010, Patricia “Patti” Ann Krieger went hiking on Sauk Mountain, near Rockport, Washington. She was accompanied by her Rottweiler, Bear, her boyfriend Larry Lee Pressley, and a few of his relatives; Troy Robinson and his girlfriend Nichole Gardner, Matt Robinson and his girlfriend Chrissie Jones-Bumgardner, and James Pressley.
According to Larry and his relatives, they had all gone to the mountain to spread the ashes of Larry’s parents who had died a few months earlier. They claim Patti got emotional after the ceremony and took a different trail with Bear around 1:30 PM. They assumed the trails would link up.
When Patti and Bear failed to show up at the trail’s head, the group decided to go buy food at a grocery store.
Four hours later, the group returned to the mountain and reported Patti missing.
Though 65-year-old Patti was not an experienced hiker, she was in good shape — she was training to run a marathon with her grandchildren in Alaska. She wore hearing aids.
On Sunday morning, Patti’s long-time boss began to worry about her whereabouts as she was unusually late for work. He notified Alan Petterson, Patti’s son, and he went to his mother’s house to check on her.
When he arrived, he saw suitcases filled with Patti’s belongings in the trunk of a car and was informed that his mother had gone missing. Because Larry had told the authorities that he was Patti’s family, no one called Patti’s actual relatives. Larry wouldn’t let him inside the house so Alan went to the mountain.
Noteworthy, Larry, a convicted felon, was in possession of Patti’s keys and driver’s license and one of his friends had Patti’s phone.
Sauk Mountain was thoroughly searched by foot, with cars, quads and search and rescue dogs. Moreover, a helicopter with forward-looking infrared (FLIR) technology was also used. The only sign of Patti came from the search and rescue dogs who tracked her scent down the main trail to the parking lot. Authorities said they did not believe Patti was on the mountain.
Larry and his relatives were not cooperative. Whenever Patti’s family tried to talk to them about the situation he would verbally attack them. Patti’s son had to get a court order to enter his mother’s house as Larry, who was still living there, would not allow him in.
The house had been trashed and Patti’s safe was empty. Patti’s relatives decided it would be best if they removed her luxury cars and parked them in the garage of a family member. The day after, there was a drive-by shooting at the family member’s house. They believe it was Larry retaliating.
26 days after they went missing, Bear was found wandering around Sauk Mountain Road between mileposts 3 and 4. He was emaciated but survived. Larry did not let Patti’s family keep him and he has since moved from home to home.
Patti’s family believes that she was hurt by Larry. In the months leading up to her disappearance, she had been distancing herself from her friends and family. They believe she realized who Larry really was, but was too scared of him to do something about it.
Less than a month before her disappearance, she told a co-worker she was scared Larry was going to kill her.
Patti had previously been married to Jason Graham, however, he suddenly passed away in 2006. While Larry was in prison, he claims to have found out about Jason’s death, however, Patti’s family believes he purposefully looked Jason up. In his obituary, it was stated that he was a real estate investor. Larry contacted the recent widow claiming to be an associate of his and told her Jason had asked him to take care of her if anything were to happen to him.
Her family believes that Larry took advantage of her because she had multiple rental properties and luxury cars.
Soon after Patti and Larry began dating, she realized he had a temperamental side. Once, while she was at the mall with her friends, he showed up there and threatened to beat up a few people.
According to Patti’s friends, Larry had told her he was impotent, therefore the two were unable to have intercourse. They would later discover that he had been sleeping with multiple women, even getting one of them pregnant shortly after Patti went missing.
Due to Patti’s caring nature, she allowed several of Larry’s friends to live on her property, some in her house and others in trailers.
At one point, Patti bought Larry a Harley Davidson. The day before she went missing, she found a gun in the motorcycle’s saddlebags. She confronted him about it and he got angry.
Not even a year after Patti went missing, Larry married Dawnica Laird. In 2013, the couple was arrested and charged with illegally possessing guns and body armor. Larry has a history of convictions. He raped an 11-year-old girl, violently beat and robbed someone, and committed a drive-by shooting where he fired into a home full of children.
Larry is serving ten years in prison. In the meantime, Troy is in possession of Larry’s custom Nova show car and Matt and Chrissie live rent-free in his house. It is rumored that this is Larry’s way of keeping them quiet.
Troy and Nichole broke up shortly after Patti’s disappearance. Nichole, who had given news reporters conflicting accounts about what happened the day Patti went missing, died by suicide in 2013.
Patti’s family and friends do not believe she is alive, nevertheless, they are still looking for her body.
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Cat Leigh
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