HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- What happened to Tracy Butler Epps? Family and friends are still searching for her remains one year after she disappeared from a Henrico hotel where friends said she lived with her husband.
"Family and friends have done several searches throughout the year and now that we are at the anniversary -- the one year mark,” Bud Butler, Epps' brother, said. “There's a plea to the public again."
Butler Epps remains listed as missing in the law enforcement system.
Her bother said that due to escalating differences with her husband, she would also answer to her maiden name.
“From Epps to Butler… she was real proud to get her maiden name back," Bud Butler said.
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The 56-year-old was last seen on March 1, 2022, inside a West Broad Street hotel room in Henrico near Glenside Drive.
Then on March 3, 2022, eyewitnesses told detectives they heard bumping sounds in the hotel room where she was staying. Surveillance video showed her husband, husband, Lester Carlton “L.C.” Epps, wheeling out a luggage rack.
"Even a blanket because the last thing we have is footage of what looks like a body wrapped in a beige blanket,” Bud Butler explained. “And he wheeled that cart to the trunk of a car and lifted it in there."
L.C. Epps is not around to answer questions as days after his wife’s disappearance he was shot to death by Richmond Police. It happened in the Fulton area of East Richmond after he lunged at officers with a weapon, according to police.
Henrico Police said they continue to work with Richmond Police on the case.
“We've searched various areas across the county which both parties had ties to and these search missions have occurred over the last year and even the past few months," officers said.
If you have information about the case that could help detectives, call Henrico Police at 804-501-5000 or Crime Stoppers 804-780-1000. If you were in the area and saw something, submit an anonymous tip via www.P3tips.com. All tips submitted on P3Tips or Crime Stoppers are anonymous.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
