Overview

Last seen: September 12, 1980, approximately 1:30 p.m., leaving his maternal grandmother’s residence in Riverton, Wyoming, with his mother Virginia and brother Richard.

Homicide location: Gerald Uden’s court admissions placed the murders near an irrigation canal/rural area in Fremont County, near Pavillion, Wyoming. The precise date is generally associated with the family’s September 12, 1980 disappearance, although some older reporting contains a September 13 discrepancy. The Wyoming Supreme Court’s account supports the September 12 sequence.

Main circumstances: Reagan and Richard believed they were going bird hunting with Gerald Uden. Gerald admitted planning the murders and shooting Virginia and Richard before pursuing Reagan after the child ran and fell in a ditch. Gerald later said he moved the bodies from a mine, placed them in containers and sank them in Fremont Lake. The remains have never been recovered or identified. In July 2026, searchers located a barrel and another container-like object in deep water in Fremont Lake; recovery planning was still underway in August.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Reagan Cordell Uden: The 1980 Wyoming Disappearance, Triple Murder and Renewed Search of Fremont Lake

Ten-year-old Reagan Cordell Uden disappeared with his mother, Virginia Lynne Uden, and his older brother, Richard Loren Uden, in Fremont County, Wyoming, on September 12, 1980. For more than three decades, the whereabouts of the family remained one of Wyoming’s enduring mysteries.

The case eventually became a solved murder prosecution without recovered bodies. Reagan’s adoptive father, Gerald Lee Uden, pleaded guilty in 2013 to murdering Virginia, Reagan and Richard. More than 45 years after the family vanished, however, investigators and searchers are still trying to recover their remains — and a major development in Fremont Lake in 2026 has brought renewed attention to the case.

Reagan Cordell Uden’s Disappearance

Reagan was born May 25, 1970. At the time he disappeared, he was 10 years old, approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall and 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Identifying features included a small scar on his right eyelid, an abdominal surgical scar from a hernia operation and a gap between his two upper front teeth. His NamUs case number is MP3970, and another missing-children case source lists his NCMEC number as 601928.

On September 12, 1980, Reagan was with his mother, 32-year-old Virginia Uden, and his 11-year-old brother, Richard. At approximately 1:30 p.m., the three left Virginia’s mother’s home in Riverton, Wyoming. They were supposed to meet Virginia’s ex-husband and the boys’ adoptive father, Gerald Uden, who was reportedly going to take the boys bird hunting.

They never returned.

The Abandoned Station Wagon

On October 4, 1980, the family’s borrowed 1973 Ford station wagon was discovered in the Wind River Canyon area near Dickson Park Road and Trout Creek Canyon.

The vehicle had apparently been pushed toward the canyon but became lodged on rocks. Pine branches had been placed over it in an apparent effort to conceal it. Blood was found throughout the vehicle’s interior. Later case summaries identify the blood as Virginia’s.

Virginia, Reagan and Richard remained missing, and the case continued for decades.

Gerald Uden Confesses to the Murders

The investigation changed dramatically in 2013.

Gerald Uden, who had moved to Missouri, was arrested and charged with murdering Virginia, Reagan and Richard. He subsequently pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder.

According to the Wyoming Supreme Court’s account of Uden’s admissions, Gerald arranged to meet Virginia and the boys after Richard had a medical appointment. They traveled to an area near an irrigation canal where the boys expected to shoot a .22-caliber rifle.

Instead, Gerald used the rifle to kill Virginia and Richard. Reagan witnessed what was happening and ran, but he fell in a ditch. Gerald followed him and killed the 10-year-old there.

Gerald admitted the killings were planned. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

What Gerald Uden Said He Did With the Bodies

The recovery of the family’s remains has become the central unresolved question.

According to the account contained in the Wyoming Supreme Court’s 2020 decision, Gerald said he initially placed the bodies in old gold mines in the Lewiston area. Approximately a month later, he returned and removed them.

Gerald said he placed Virginia in a 55-gallon drum and Reagan and Richard together in a 35-gallon container or drum. He said he sealed the containers, drilled holes in them and transported them onto Fremont Lake, where he dropped them into extremely deep water.

Law enforcement conducted searches of Fremont Lake after Gerald’s confession but did not recover the family.

Gerald Uden Later Tried to Challenge His Convictions

Although Gerald confessed and pleaded guilty, he later sought to overturn his convictions.

In 2020, the Wyoming Supreme Court rejected his effort under Wyoming’s Post-Conviction Determination of Factual Innocence Act. In 2023, the state’s high court also dismissed another attempt by Gerald to withdraw his guilty pleas after he claimed his confession was false or coerced.

The convictions remain in place.

The continuing mystery is therefore not principally who was convicted of killing Reagan, Richard and Virginia. It is where their remains are and whether Gerald’s account of disposing of them in Fremont Lake can finally be verified.

2026 Search of Fremont Lake Brings a Major Development

In July 2026, the Reagan Uden case returned to the spotlight when a privately funded search called Operation Cold Current used modern underwater technology to examine Fremont Lake.

Organized Search and Rescue, or O-SAR, searched an area of the lake associated with Gerald’s account. Searchers located an old barrel on the lake bottom at a depth reported at approximately 388 feet.

The discovery was significant because Gerald had claimed for years that he placed the victims’ remains inside containers before sinking them in Fremont Lake.

Searchers subsequently reviewing underwater footage also identified what appeared to be another container, described as resembling a trash can, in the same general area. This was considered potentially important because Gerald’s account specifically involved separate containers for Virginia and the two boys.

Importantly, the discovery of the containers does not by itself establish that they contain human remains. They must be recovered and examined before any connection to Reagan, Richard or Virginia can be confirmed.

Latest Investigation Information

As of the latest publicly available reporting in August 2026, the next phase of Operation Cold Current is focused on recovering the objects from Fremont Lake.

O-SAR is working with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and FBI. The recovery presents major technical challenges because of the extreme depth and cold water.

The reported plan calls for remotely operated underwater vehicles and specialized recovery equipment capable of lifting the objects from the lake bottom. Once recovered, the objects are expected to be transferred to law enforcement under forensic chain-of-custody procedures for examination.

Reporting on August 11 indicated that the recovery operation remained in the planning and equipment-fabrication stages. Specialized equipment was being developed for retrieving objects located hundreds of feet beneath the lake’s surface.

For the first time in years, investigators and searchers therefore have specific physical objects on the bottom of Fremont Lake that may be capable of testing a crucial portion of Gerald Uden’s confession.

Until those objects are recovered and examined, however, there is no public confirmation that they contain the remains of Reagan, Richard or Virginia.

Why Reagan Uden’s Case Remains Open in the Public Record

Reagan continues to appear in missing-person resources because his remains have never been recovered and identified. NamUs-associated information lists him as MP3970, while contemporary missing-person databases continue to identify his disappearance date as September 12, 1980.

The case occupies an unusual position: Gerald Uden confessed, pleaded guilty and was convicted of murdering all three members of the family, yet the physical recovery of his victims remains unfinished.

The discovery of submerged containers in Fremont Lake in 2026 could potentially provide the final physical evidence needed to locate Reagan, Richard and Virginia after more than four decades.

For Reagan Cordell Uden, who was only 10 years old when he was killed, recovery and identification of his remains would finally resolve the last major unanswered question in a case that began in Wyoming in September 1980.