Overview

Last reliably seen: May 31, 1976
Last reliably seen location: Her parents’ farm near Eagle Lake/Mankato, Minnesota
Age: 38
Home: Fargo, North Dakota
Status: Endangered missing; foul play is suspected
NamUs: MP23460
Doe Network: 4167DFND
Investigating agency: Fargo Police Department

Mildred Louise Butterworth Roche was last known to have been seen by her parents on May 31, 1976, when she and her husband, Ronald Roche, departed her parents’ farm near Eagle Lake, Minnesota, to return to their home in Fargo, North Dakota. Ronald later told authorities that Mildred left their Fargo home on June 2, but investigators have never established an independent sighting of Mildred after she left Minnesota with him.

Main circumstances: Mildred reportedly disappeared as her marriage was breaking down. Her husband said she left voluntarily with cash, luggage and thousands of dollars in traveler’s checks. Yet those checks were never cashed, her prescription medication was never refilled, her Social Security number showed no later activity, investigators found no confirmed transportation she used to leave Fargo, and police could not substantiate reports that she later called from Minneapolis or Boston.

Detailed Case Breakdown

The Disappearance of Mildred Louise Roche: The Unsolved 1976 Fargo, North Dakota Case

Brief Case Summary

Last reliably seen: May 31, 1976
Last reliably seen location: Her parents’ farm near Eagle Lake/Mankato, Minnesota
Age: 38
Home: Fargo, North Dakota
Status: Endangered missing; foul play is suspected
NamUs: MP23460
Doe Network: 4167DFND
Investigating agency: Fargo Police Department

Mildred Louise Butterworth Roche was last known to have been seen by her parents on May 31, 1976, when she and her husband, Ronald Roche, departed her parents’ farm near Eagle Lake, Minnesota, to return to their home in Fargo, North Dakota. Ronald later told authorities that Mildred left their Fargo home on June 2, but investigators have never established an independent sighting of Mildred after she left Minnesota with him.

Main circumstances: Mildred reportedly disappeared as her marriage was breaking down. Her husband said she left voluntarily with cash, luggage and thousands of dollars in traveler’s checks. Yet those checks were never cashed, her prescription medication was never refilled, her Social Security number showed no later activity, investigators found no confirmed transportation she used to leave Fargo, and police could not substantiate reports that she later called from Minneapolis or Boston.

Mildred Roche Disappears After Memorial Day Visit to Her Parents

Mildred Louise Butterworth Roche was 38 years old when she vanished during the Memorial Day period of 1976. She lived with her husband, Ronald Roche, in the 1400 block of University Drive in Fargo, North Dakota, but the last confirmed sighting described by current case sources occurred hundreds of miles away at her parents’ farm near Eagle Lake, Minnesota.

On May 31, Mildred and Ronald left the farm for the approximately five-and-a-half-hour drive home to Fargo. According to Ronald’s later account, he told Mildred during the trip that he wanted a divorce. He said the couple argued during the drive and continued arguing after reaching their Fargo home.

Mildred was never independently confirmed alive again.

That distinction is important because case databases do not all record the disappearance in exactly the same way. Fargo Police lists May 31, 1976, as the date associated with Mildred’s disappearance and says she was last seen leaving her parents’ farm in Minnesota. North Dakota’s Missing Person Database, meanwhile, lists June 2, 1976, with Fargo Police as the investigating agency.

Her Husband Said Mildred Left Fargo on June 2

Ronald told investigators that on the day after the couple returned home, he heard Mildred on the telephone obtaining information about buses leaving Fargo.

According to his account, Mildred packed two suitcases and an overnight bag on June 2. Ronald said she also took cash and approximately $3,000 to $4,000 in traveler’s checks before leaving while he was at work.

There was a significant problem with that account: investigators could not establish how Mildred supposedly left.

Police found no taxi known to have gone to the residence, no convenient bus service in the immediate area, and no person who reported giving Mildred a ride. The traveler’s checks reportedly taken with her were flagged but were never cashed.

Mildred’s Parents Become Alarmed

Mildred’s parents apparently did not immediately realize their daughter had disappeared.

On June 16, they received a letter from Ronald concerning the couple’s pending divorce. According to later case summaries, her parents were shocked because Mildred herself had not contacted them.

Her parents reported her missing on June 23. They obtained an attorney, had Mildred’s father appointed as her guardian during her absence and hired a private investigator to search for her.

The private investigator contacted police. Authorities then spoke with Ronald on June 25. Ronald supplied a photograph of Mildred but reportedly opposed issuing a missing-person bulletin at that point because he believed she would return when she was ready.

Approximately a week later, Mildred’s parents authorized a missing-person broadcast.

Her Clothing Turned Up at a Fargo Salvation Army

Mildred’s parents continued searching independently and eventually discovered some of what they recognized as their daughter’s better clothing being sold at a Salvation Army store in Fargo.

They also noticed another puzzling detail.

A suitcase Mildred had packed for the visit to her parents remained at the Fargo residence, despite Ronald’s account that she had packed other luggage before voluntarily leaving town. Ronald also reportedly sold the automobile the couple used for their Minnesota trip less than a week after returning to Fargo.

Police initially approached the disappearance as that of an adult who may have left voluntarily. By late September 1976, however, Mildred’s continued silence and the information supplied by her parents caused investigators to consider other possibilities.

Claims of Telephone Calls From Minneapolis and Boston

Ronald maintained that Mildred contacted him after she disappeared.

He reportedly described three telephone calls, including communications said to have originated from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Boston, Massachusetts. He said that by August 1976 he believed Mildred might have been living in Boston.

Investigators were unable to find evidence substantiating those alleged contacts.

No confirmed independent witness has emerged publicly who saw Mildred in Boston, Minneapolis or anywhere else after she left her parents’ farm. Police likewise found no documented trail demonstrating that she established a new life elsewhere.

Medication and Financial Records Raised More Questions

Mildred had epilepsy and used phenobarbital to control the condition. She had reportedly been gradually reducing her dosage, but the medication remained an important consideration for investigators and her family.

After she disappeared, her prescription was never refilled.

The thousands of dollars in traveler’s checks Ronald said she took were never cashed either. Mildred’s Social Security number has shown no activity since 1976. She also stopped participating in organizations and causes that had previously been important parts of her life.

Together, those circumstances have made the theory that Mildred simply abandoned her established life increasingly difficult to reconcile with the available record.

Mildred Was Active in Her Community

Mildred was more than a name in a missing-person database.

She graduated from Mankato State College with a degree in elementary education in 1960 and married Ronald, a former high-school classmate, less than a month later.

She was described as deeply religious and was also active in community and women’s causes. She participated in the American Association of University Women, supported efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and helped establish an Epilepsy Foundation chapter in Fargo.

Investigators considered whether Mildred might have joined a religious community or women’s activist organization after leaving Fargo. Authorities found no evidence supporting either explanation, and she never renewed her memberships in the organizations with which she had previously been associated.

Investigators Return to Ronald Roche

Ronald was questioned multiple times about his wife’s disappearance.

According to published case information, investigators asked him to take a polygraph examination. He declined and retained an attorney. No criminal charge was filed against him in connection with Mildred’s disappearance.

Ronald remarried in 1977. He and his second wife had two sons and continued living in the same Fargo property he had shared with Mildred.

Two decades after Mildred vanished, investigators returned to that property.

Police Excavated the Fargo Property in 1996

In 1996, Fargo police again questioned Ronald about Mildred’s disappearance and excavated the backyard of the Fargo residence.

The search did not produce evidence publicly described as significant, and authorities filed no charges as a result of the excavation.

The search nevertheless demonstrated that investigators were no longer treating the case simply as an unexplained voluntary departure.

Ronald Roche died in 2018 without Mildred’s disappearance being solved.

Why Investigators Suspect Foul Play

Several unresolved elements continue to stand out.

Mildred has no confirmed sighting after leaving her parents’ Minnesota farm with Ronald. The traveler’s checks reportedly taken during her supposed voluntary departure were never cashed. Her epilepsy medication was never refilled. Her Social Security number ceased showing activity. Investigators could not establish how she supposedly traveled away from her Fargo residence, and they could not verify Ronald’s account of telephone calls from Minneapolis and Boston.

Her parents also found personal clothing being sold in Fargo after her disappearance, while luggage associated with the trip to Minnesota remained behind.

None of those circumstances proves what happened to Mildred or establishes responsibility for a crime. No one has been convicted or publicly charged in connection with her disappearance. Current case summaries nevertheless state that foul play is suspected.

Latest Public Investigation Information

Mildred’s disappearance remains an active unresolved missing-person case.

The Fargo Police Department continues to feature Mildred among its long-term missing people and publicly asks anyone with information, regardless of how small it may appear, to contact police. The North Dakota Missing Person Database also continues to list Mildred, now showing the age she would be if alive and identifying Fargo Police as the investigating agency.

The case has also continued receiving database attention. The Doe Network added Mildred as case 4167DFND in February 2022, updated her information in August 2023 and recorded another case-information update in March 2024.

The Charley Project most recently recorded an update to Mildred’s page on December 1, 2025, adding a photograph and updating disappearance details.

As of August 26, 2026, publicly available sources reviewed for this article do not disclose an arrest, identification of Mildred’s remains or another physical search comparable to the 1996 excavation. Fargo Police continues to request information from the public.

Fifty years after Mildred Louise Roche left her parents’ Minnesota farm with her husband, the central question remains unchanged: What happened to Mildred after May 31, 1976?.