MN MN - Vickie Arleen Sundgaard, 23, Alexandria, 19 Apr 1987

Vicki Sundgaard
Missing since April 19, 1987 from Alexandria, Minnesota
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics
Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Vicki disappeared from a party on Cedar Street in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday 1987.

Her car was found parked a couple blocks away the next morning, with her purse and inhaler inside.

Vicki’s asthma had been particularly bad in the days leading up to her disappearance, so she probably wouldn’t leave her inhaler behind.
She left behind her two boys, who were 5 and 3 at the time.
Sundgaard had told her sister a week before she disappeared that she would be leaving the area and a tumultuous marriage. Sundgaard's husband was once investigated but was cleared.

Sundgaard was last seen with a convicted rapist, who is a person of interest in her disappearance, and was interviewed several times in connection with the case.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Source Information:
Echo Press
doenetwork.org case file 1957DFMN
http://doenetwork.org/cases/1957dfmn.html

Erin Klegstad
EchoPress Staff Reporter
05/03/2006
Since April 19, 1987, Betty and Roger Sundgaard have wondered what happened that night – the night their daughter-in-law, Vicki, disappeared from Alexandria. “We have never heard anything in 19 years,” Roger said Monday from his home in Nelson. But last week, the Sundgaards finally heard something – someone has been named in possible connection with her disappearance. Michael Dale Benson, the convicted rapist who escaped from the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter last month, is believed to be the last person seen with 23-year-old Vicki. “He would be the strongest person of interest,” said Douglas County Sheriff Bill Ingebrigtsen on Friday.

Her disappearance
Vicki disappeared from a party on Cedar Street in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday 1987. Her car was found parked a couple blocks away the next morning, with her purse and inhaler inside.Roger said Vicki’s asthma had been particularly bad in the days leading up to her disappearance, so she probably wouldn’t leave her inhaler behind. She also wouldn’t leave behind her two boys, Anthony and Troy, who were 5 and 3 at the time. “Mothers just don’t do that,” Ingebrigtsen said. “It was very hard on them…I think it still is,” Roger said about his grandsons he and his wife raised. “Can you imagine a kid growing up without a mother?”

Benson connection
Benson and three other men escaped through a hospital window April 15 with, authorities believe, help from Benson’s father (he is suspected of supplying the hacksaw blades the men used to cut through the window’s concrete-filled steel bar). The other men were arrested that night. Benson was finally captured on May 2 in Kansas City, Missouri (see related story).
Benson was convicted in 1989 of raping an Alexandria woman at a local construction site and was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison. He was later civilly committed to the hospital in St. Peter, and according to authorities, he admitted to five other rapes in California and Colorado. Because of that, it makes authorities’ “suspicions stronger” that he had something to do with Vicki’s disappearance, Ingebrigtsen said. After witnesses recalled seeing Benson at the Cedar Street party and hearing him talk about Vicki, “he was questioned at the time, at least a couple times,” Ingebrigtsen said. “We were rather surprised to hear anything about it…we more or less kind of put it at the back of our minds,” Roger said. “We just figured it was a cold case and there was nothing we could do about it.” ...

Source Information:
EchoPress.com

Link:
http://www.echopress.com/article.cfm?Article_ID=39766

Since her asthma was bad, I wonder if she was raped and this caused her to have an asthma attack which killed her? This man has apparently raped several times but he's not connected to any other deaths that I know of. Of course he'd still be guilty of murder if this is what happened.

Old Broad

This April 19th will mark the 20 year anniversary of Vicki's disappearance.

Bumping case up. This month marks the 21st anniversary.

Today marks the 25 year anniversary of Vicki's disappearance.

Is anyone else following this or have any updates?

Uah

April 2017 will mark the 30 year anniversary of Vickie's disappearance.

Richard said:

April 2017 will mark the 30 year anniversary of Vickie's disappearance.

Click to expand...

Yeah I have been following up on this quite a bit. Would like to open it for discussion again. What do you think?

Uah

I wonder if she told her sister or anybody of any concrete plans on leaving the area/ending the tumultuous marriage.

LavenderLotus said:

I wonder if she told her sister or anybody of any concrete plans on leaving the area/ending the tumultuous marriage.

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking. I've found some stuff but wanna dig more and contact in laws. I live in the area.

Uah

:bump:

From the Charley Project this info has had little response?
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sundgaard_vicki.html

Or the Doe Network -
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1957dfmn.html

And what happened with this guy?

"Benson is suspected in the 1987 disappearance of then 23-year-old Vicki Sundgaard, who went missing from Alexandria.
He served more than 3 years in prison for breaking into a woman’s apartment and sexually assaulting her. After serving the sentence, he was in 1993 civilly committed to the St. Peter hospital as a predatory sex offender."
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/new...cle_dd376149-a56f-52aa-8671-65eeddc133ab.html

Nice to see 80's cases get some attention!

I will try to look back... :lookingitup::

Thanx so much!

Uah

This case bugs me so much. Did a lot of digging because I just don't think that Michael Benson was responsible. I can't link much just quite yet because the echo press archive on her case was only on paper. Any way to reference that source?

Uah

I found the location of the party, what she was wearing, and her whereabouts before the party..

Uah

I cannot send you a pm. Says your box has reached the limit.

If you're referring to me, I just emptied it.

Uah

I wonder what the evidence was for clearing the husband, Dwayne Rodger Sundgaard In 1989 and 1999 he was convicted of criminal sexual conduct (see http://www.courtrecords.org/people/DWAYNE+SUNDGAARD+MN/ ). Whilst Vicki may just have been unlucky it certainly seems a coincidence both to have met a rapist and married a sexual offender. Of course, the husband's subsequent record does not mean he had anything to do with Vicki going missing, but you would have thought it would cause LE to re-examine any alibi he provided at the time.

[h=1]Vicki Arleen Sundgaard[/h]

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Sundgaard, circa 1987

• Missing Since 04/19/1987
• Missing From Alexandria, Minnesota
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Date of Birth 05/15/1963 (54)
• Age 23 years old
• Height and Weight 5'4 - 5'6, 115 - 125 pounds
• Medical Conditions Sundgaard has asthma and uses an inhaler to control her condition. She did not have her inhaler with her when she vanished. In addition, her skin is sensitive to most metals and she has problems wearing jewelry as a result.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Sundgaard had her ears pierced, but the holes may have closed by the time of her disappearance. She has a faint scar on her lip. Sundgaard has had extensive dental work, including a white cap on one of her upper front teeth. Her first name may be spelled "Vicky" by some agencies.

[h=3]Details of Disappearance[/h] Sundgaard was last seen at a party on Cedar Street in Alexandria, Minnesota during the early morning hours of April 19, 1987, Easter Sunday. She has never been heard from again.

Her vehicle was found parked a few blocks away the following morning. Sundgaard's purse and asthma inhaler were inside it. Her loved ones stated her asthma had been bothering her in the days leading up to her disappearance and they did not believe she would have left her inhaler behind. She also left behind her two young sons, which is uncharacteristic of her.

A week before her disappearance, Sundgaard told her sister she planned to leave her husband and move out of the area. The couple had two young sons and Sungaard stated he was violent and she did not trust him around the children. Sundgaard's husband was investigated by police, but is not considered a suspect in his wife's disappearance.

One of the last people known to have seen her, Michael Dale Benson, was convicted of raping an Alexandria woman in 1989. He was incarcerated, and later civilly committed to a hospital for life. He escaped from the hospital in 2006, but was apprehended several weeks later.

While in custody, Benson told authorities he had raped five other women in Colorado and California. He is considered a suspect in Sundgaard's case, but maintains his innocence and has not been charged in connection with it.

Sundgaard's disappearance remains unsolved. Her family does not believe she would have abandoned her children.

http://charleyproject.org/case/vicki-arleen-sundgaard

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/12044/

Same photo but color




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