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Unsolved October 2, 1985 Missing Person

Sheree Warren

Status Unsolved
Type Missing Person
Date October 2, 1985
Location Roy, Utah
Victim Age 25
Gender Female

Sheree Warren, a 25-year-old credit union employee and mother from Roy, Utah, vanished on October 2, 1985, after leaving her workplace in Salt Lake City, telling a coworker she planned to meet her estranged husband at a nearby car dealership. Six weeks later her car was found abandoned in a Las Vegas casino parking lot. Her remains have never been found, no one has been charged, and the case — examined in depth by KSL's 'Cold' podcast — remains open with the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force.

Sheree Warren was a 25-year-old employee of the Utah State Employees Credit Union, living in Roy, Utah, and raising a three-year-old son while going through a divorce from her husband, Charles Warren. On the evening of October 2, 1985, she left the credit union's offices in Salt Lake City at about 6:30 p.m., telling a coworker she was headed to a nearby Toyota dealership to meet her estranged husband and give him a ride back to Ogden. She was never confirmed to have arrived at the dealership. When Warren and her son failed to return home, her mother, who had been watching the boy, reported her missing the next day.

Suspicion of foul play deepened on November 11, 1985, when Warren's maroon 1984 Toyota Corolla was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Aladdin hotel-casino in Las Vegas, more than 400 miles away. Detectives did not believe Warren had driven it there herself. Investigators focused on two men in her life. Charles Warren told police he had called off the planned meeting and gone jogging in downtown Ogden, an account police could not verify; according to the Charley Project, he and his first wife, who partially supported his alibi, both later refused polygraph examinations. He died in 2022 without ever being charged. Warren's boyfriend, Cary Hartmann, a former Ogden Police Department reserve officer, said he had spent the evening at an Ogden bar.

Hartmann's background later drew renewed scrutiny: in the years after Warren vanished he was convicted of multiple rapes in the Ogden area and spent decades in prison before being released in March 2020. He has never been charged in connection with Warren's disappearance. An elk hunting guide reported encountering Hartmann trespassing near Causey Reservoir, in the mountains east of Ogden, on October 6, 1985 — four days after Warren was last seen — though when detectives questioned him in 2005, Hartmann denied having been in the area. KSL's 'Cold' podcast, which devoted its third season to the case, reported additional inconsistencies: Hartmann's Weber State College timecard showed he took eight hours off work on October 3, 1985, contradicting his earlier statement that he had worked that day, and a period airline timetable showed a person could have driven Warren's car to Las Vegas overnight and returned to Salt Lake City on an early-morning flight. Both observations concern opportunity only; neither man was ever charged, and both maintained their innocence.

Warren's family, who said she never would have abandoned her young son, had her declared legally deceased in the 1990s. The case has remained active: in August 2023, Roy City police excavated a suspected gravesite in the mountains near Causey Reservoir after receiving information in the case, but found nothing. Police presume Warren was murdered, though her remains have never been located. The investigation is now handled by the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force together with the Roy Police Department, and authorities continue to seek tips from the public.

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February 6, 1960
Sheree Warren is born; she later settles in Roy, Utah, and works for the Utah State Employees Credit Union.
October 2, 1985
Around 6:30 p.m., Warren leaves the credit union offices in Salt Lake City, telling a coworker she is going to meet her estranged husband at a nearby Toyota dealership. She is never seen again.
October 3, 1985
Warren's mother reports her missing after she fails to return home to her three-year-old son. Timecard records later show boyfriend Cary Hartmann took eight hours off work this day, contradicting his statement to police.
October 6, 1985
An elk hunting guide reports encountering Cary Hartmann trespassing near Causey Reservoir, east of Ogden; Hartmann later denies being there.
November 11, 1985
Warren's maroon 1984 Toyota Corolla is found abandoned in the Aladdin hotel-casino parking lot in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Late 1980s
Hartmann is convicted of multiple rapes in the Ogden area and imprisoned; he is never charged in Warren's disappearance.
1990s
Warren's family has her declared legally deceased; the case remains open.
2005
Detectives re-question Hartmann, who denies ever visiting the Causey Reservoir area in October 1985.
March 2020
Hartmann is released from prison after serving his sentence for the rape convictions.
2022
KSL's 'Cold' podcast devotes its third season to the case, reporting the timecard discrepancy and an airline timetable suggesting her car could have been driven to Las Vegas overnight. Charles Warren dies this year without ever being charged.
August 2023
Roy City police excavate a suspected gravesite near Causey Reservoir but find nothing; the case remains open with the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force.

Have Information About This Case?

Cold cases are solved when someone comes forward. Even a detail that seems minor can matter. If you have any information about this case, contact law enforcement through one of these channels:

  • FBI Tips (tips.fbi.gov) — submit a tip online to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FBI Tip Line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
  • NamUs (namus.nij.ojp.gov) — the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System accepts information on missing persons cases
  • National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)
  • The local police department or sheriff's office in Utah, or the state bureau of investigation

Tips can usually be submitted anonymously. To report an error on this page, email info@coldcaseindex.com.