The Disappearance of a Young Mother: Rose Marie Bly

**Information is obtained from the Where Are They? Podcast and other online sources as cited**

In February of 2009, Rose Marie Bly married Christopher Larson, the father of her children. Rose was just 21-years old, and the mother of two children both under the age of 2.

On the night of August 21, 2009, Rose left her home in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, telling her husband that she was meeting her cousin at a bar, but would be home before midnight.

Only Rose never returned home.

On August 22, 2009, Christopher reported his wife missing.

Four days later, Rose’s car was found in a business parking lot. There was no sign of Rose anywhere.

In fact, Rose hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

Where is Rose Marie Bly?

The case of Rose Marie Bly never really made mainstream media when she vanished in 2009. However, in 2021, a young 5-year-old would vanish, and this little girl, Summer Wells, would capture the attention of the country. Summer Wells is the niece of Rose Marie Bly.

For a family to have two missing person cases that happen 12 years apart from each other, is a pretty rare occurrence. And because of the media attention on Summer, there was a little bit of renewed discussion about Rose. But was there enough?

Authorities have stated they don’t believe the cases are connected. They did happen in separate states, and there is nothing to lead anyone to believe that they have anything to do with each other.

The case of Summer Wells is so frustrating and baffling. The little girl remains missing, and this June it will be a full year. I’ve followed the case closely, but Summer has had plenty of media coverage, so I think it’s time for Rose to get her fair share of media attention.

Just to clarify for those of you curious, Summer’s mother, Candus, is the sister of Rose Bly. Candus and Rose have the same mother, whose name is also Candus.

Who is Rose Marie Bly?

Rose Marie Bly was born on September 16, 1987, to Candus Harer. She spent the majority of her life growing up in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Rose’s mother, Candus, says that her daughter loved children and dreamed of becoming a children’s author someday.

Grantsburg is a very small town, considered a village, with under 2,000 residents. Grantsburg sits on the western side of Wisconsin, near the Minnesota border.

Rose went to Grantsburg High School, and after graduation, she would move to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

St. Croix Falls is about 26 miles south of Grantsburg, about a half-hour drive.

Right out of school, Rose gave birth to a daughter. Her boyfriend, Christopher Larson, and Rose would go on to have another daughter a year and a half later. They would get married in February of 2009.

All marriages and relationships have their problems, but Rose and Christopher definitely struggled more than most. They were young, with two young babies, and money was tight.

Their relationship was rocky, and sometimes physically violent. Those close to Rose said that Christopher was physically violent with Rose, but in the summer of 2009, it was Rose who was arrested and charged with domestic violence and disorderly conduct.

Rose went to court in July of 2009 and pled not guilty

Christopher did file for divorce that summer, but eventually withdrew his petition. In August of 2009, they were together and trying to fix their relationship.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

On August 19, 2009, Rose called her mother, Candus. They spoke for a while on the phone, and Rose told her mom that she had a headache and wasn’t feeling great. When Candus asked more about that, Rose told her mom that she was riding a horse the other day and had fallen off, hitting her head. Her mom told her to see a doctor (as most moms would), and Rose told her she would think about it.

On Friday, August 21, 2009, Rose told her husband she was going to head out over to the neighboring town of Cushing. She told him that she was meeting up with her cousin for a little while, and then would be back home before midnight.

Cushing is a small town that sits directly in the middle of St. Croix Falls, where Rose and Christopher lived, and Grantsburg, where she grew up.

Christopher didn’t think anything of it, and eventually, that evening fell asleep waiting for her to come home.

When he woke the next morning, however, he was surprised to see that Rose still hadn’t made it home. He started calling a couple of people, but no one knew where Rose was.

It was that day, August 22, 2009, that Christopher reported his wife missing.

THE SEARCH.

Investigators started the search for Rose where they believed she had been the night before- at the bar with her cousin.

They reached out to her cousin, only to learn something surprising. Rose and she never had any plans to meet up that night. So was Rose’s story a cover for something else? Or was Christopher lying?

Law Enforcement began questioning everyone that knew Rose, not really finding any great leads or a trail to follow. That is, until August 26, five days after she was last seen when her car is discovered in a parking lot in Grantsburg.

Now, she lived in St. Croix Falls and was supposedly going to Cushing that evening, but her car would end up in Grantsburg. And remember, Rose grew up in Grantsburg- her mother still lived there- so she was familiar with the area.

The car- a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am was sitting in a parking lot near some businesses- which included a bank and a post office. Not a completely inconspicuous area. It was also noted that this particular parking lot often was a spot for truckers to park their tractor-trailers overnight because it was a wide-open space.

I have to say, I looked at Google Maps for where this was, and I went back to 2008. Even traveling up and down the road I really don’t see a place for a tractor-trailer to park, unless they just meant work trucks. There are a lot of businesses, all close to the road, with street parking. This leaves me with some questions about the area. If her vehicle was left there, did no one see her putting it there- or someone else- parking it there? Any surveillance footage? I’m sure there wasn’t, or we would have heard about that, but with all the businesses around, that’s a shame.

Investigators went over the car and searched the inside thoroughly, but found no clues to lead them to Rose. No evidence, not even any fingerprints they could use- which in and of itself, is odd. Does this mean the car was wiped clean? Or were the fingerprints found not useful?

Over the next several months, authorities would perform physical searches, obtain warrants for cell phone records and computer files, and even send the entire missing person file off to the FBI Missing Person Unit in Quantico, Virginia for assistance, but nothing ever came of it either.

The Missing Person Unit in Quantico specifically goes through the file, looking for anything the detectives might have missed, or might want to follow back up on.

There were tips that would come in locally, of possible sightings of Rose, but most turned out to be mistaken identity or unconfirmed.

I want to point out some inconsistencies found in all of the reports, and these would be quotes from people that knew her, and media articles along with the official press releases from authorities.

There are almost always inconsistencies in missing person cases, which makes it difficult to report on.

So there are a few in this case, and I’m going to let you know both sides.

First, let’s talk about domestic violence in the home.

Some people say he was abusive. Some say it was her. The only documentation we have to go off of is Rose’s arrest, but just because Christopher was never arrested, doesn’t mean he wasn’t taking part in these physical fights either. I think it’s fair to say, we just don’t know for certain what was going on inside the home.

Next, we have the issue of where Rose was going that night, the night of August 21, 2009, when her husband said he last saw her.

Most reports stated, in the beginning anyhow, that she was leaving to go meet her cousin at a bar in Cushing. As mentioned, the cousin disputed that, leaving people to wonder if Rose had lied or used her cousin as a cover, or even if Christopher had lied. Later, a family member told the media that Rose was supposed to be going to a birthday party that evening, at a location that was only two miles from her house.

Later once again, in a media interview, a reporter asked Christopher about that night and the bar in Cushing. He stated that he never said a bar in Cushing, but he did state that she was supposed to be meeting with her cousin.

In any event, no one in her family claimed to have seen Rose that night.

Whether she was going to meet her cousin in Cushing or a birthday party near her house, there is no logical explanation that anyone knows, for her car ending up in Grantsburg, 25 miles from her home, and another 15 miles from Cushing.

THE AFTERMATH.

Shortly after Rose disappeared, within a few months, Christopher filed for divorce and sole custody of the children.

Police have stated that he was given a polygraph, and he passed, and he has always been forthcoming and cooperative. Now we know polygraphs are problematic, but authorities have proclaimed that he is not a suspect, but in the same interviews, they also claim that no one has been ruled out.

In order for Christopher to retain the children in the event that Rose would come back into the picture, he had to legally obtain custody and a divorce from Rose.

So some people look at that action as a sign of a guilty husband, but others point out that legally it was something he had to do to protect himself and the children.

If he thought Rose might come back at some point, it was in his best interest to divorce her and get custody.

So this case does leave us with questions.

What is the real story about what happened on the night of August 21, 2009? Where was Rose really headed? Surely someone knows…Wouldn’t phone records have helped clear that up?

Are there any other people Rose might have been talking to around the time of her disappearance? Many friends and family members have come forward, but is there anyone else? This is also something that should be answered possibly by phone records.

Since Rose had a pending court case happening when she disappeared, there is an active warrant out for her. This is the court case regarding the misdemeanor disorderly conduct and domestic violence charge.

Many have wondered, did that play a role in her disappearance? Was she trying to avoid court and possible jail time?

Those that knew Rose don’t believe it did. Rose was an amazing mother to her little girls, and absolutely loved kids. No one believes she would abandon them for something as trivial as a misdemeanor charge in court.

The search for Rose continues, and now so does the search for her niece, 5-year-old Summer Wells.

If you aren’t that familiar with Summer’s case, I do urge you to check it out. There are several different podcasts that cover it, and several YouTubers as well.

Since Summer went missing in June 2021, authorities in Tennessee where Summer is from have connected with detectives in Wisconsin regarding Rose’s case. While right now their disappearances appear to be nothing more than a tragic coincidence, authorities are not ruling anything out.

Summer vanished one summer day, seemingly from her home in Tennessee, in June 2021. Rose would go missing on the evening of August 21, 2009, in Wisconsin.

Summer’s Grandmother, and Rose’s mother, have had to endure the disappearance of two loved ones. And Candus Wells has endured the disappearance of her sister and now her daughter.

There are many, many theories and rumors out there about Candus Wells, and now Candus Harer. I’m not going down that path because right now, it’s all speculation and rumor- but I am curious- Do you think the case of Rose Marie Bly and Summer Wells are connected in some way? Or, is this a case of a tragic coincidence within a family?

Christopher Larson has remained fairly quiet regarding his wife’s disappearance, although recently in an interview he stated that he does hope that one day she shows back up or reaches out to someone. Rose would now have two teenage daughters, who no doubt would probably like to have answers about their mother one day as well.

Here it is, 2022, and everyone would still like to know…Where is Rose Marie Bly?

Rose is described as being 5 feet tall and weighing around 110 pounds when she was last seen, in August of 2009. She was 21-years old and would now be 34.

She was last seen wearing a white tank top, a green v-neck sweater, blue jeans, and flip-flop sandals. Rose has brown hair, brown eyes, and a tattoo of red cherries on the outside of her right ankle.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Rose Marie Bly, please contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Department at 715–485–8300.

The Where are they? Podcast can be found Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter with regular case updates.

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