In Part 1 of this series, we explored Troy Galloway’s life and the events surrounding his January 13, 2016, disappearance from Sonora, California. We walked through the confusion of those early days, eyewitness accounts of a disturbance near Crystal Falls Lake, and the later phone data that appeared to place Troy’s phone in that same area. Those elements combined to form the backbone of the investigation and ultimately led to the extensive search of the lake, an effort that, despite its scale, uncovered no trace of Troy.

In Part 2, we shifted our focus to Troy’s relationships and the people who knew him best after his move to Sonora. We heard from the Brainstormers, the friends and loved ones who traveled to Sonora themselves, spoke with neighbors, and worked to piece together what Troy’s life looked like in the months before he vanished.

This week, in Part 3, we are going to take a deeper look at the other lines of investigation that have been pursued over the past decade, where the case stands today, and the impact that ten years of searching without answers has had on everyone who loves Troy.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Troy Galloway, please contact the Tuolumne Sheriff's Office at (209) 533-5855.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last week, we walked through the timeline of Troy Galloway’s disappearance and the events that unfolded in the days leading up to January 13, 2016. We learned how, after years of building a life and a steady support network in Santa Cruz, California, Troy moved to Sonora with his wife, placing hours of distance between himself and the people who had always been his safety net. Troy was a devoted father to his young son, but the distance made it difficult to maintain that same level of involvement in his life after the move.

On January 15, 2016, Troy’s mother, Nancy, received a message from his wife telling her that Troy had disappeared two days earlier. Nancy was confused and alarmed by what she was hearing. His wife said Troy had run out of the house, underdressed for the cold, and never returned. After that exchange, Troy was finally reported missing, but a miscommunication between local agencies delayed getting the case to the appropriate investigators and beginning the search for Troy.

Over time, pieces of information slowly came together. Neighbors recalled hearing a disturbance at Crystal Falls Lake on the night Troy vanished. Years later, advances in technology enabled investigators to interpret Troy’s phone data with greater clarity, suggesting that his phone had been near the lake around the time he disappeared. For a long time, this became the guiding theory: that Troy had somehow ended up in the water.

That idea guided the investigation, culminating in an extensive, highly coordinated search effort. Crystal Falls Lake was drained, scanned, and combed through by forensic specialists, dogs, and sonar teams. But when the search turned up no trace of Troy or his belongings, the explanation that had once seemed most likely suddenly stood on shaky ground. If Troy wasn’t in the lake, then the story everyone had been leaning on for years no longer fit, and the investigation was forced back to its earliest questions.

This week, we’re going to dig deeper into what Troy’s loved ones learned about his time in Sonora, what they began to uncover about the dynamics within his marriage, and the questions that still haunt Troy’s family as they enter the tenth year of searching for answers.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Troy Galloway, please contact the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office at (209) 533-5855.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

January 13, 2016, was a chilly winter day in Sonora, California. That day, thirty-four-year-old Troy Galloway was reportedly at home with his wife and young daughter when the couple had a disagreement. According to his wife, Troy ran out of the house and into the cold, snowy yard wearing only a t-shirt, jeans, and shoes. Troy never returned, and no one has seen or heard from him since. A couple of days later, Troy’s mother, Nancy, who was back home a few hours away in Santa Cruz, received a text from Troy’s wife saying that he was missing. Nancy was both shocked and frustrated that she hadn’t been notified sooner. At that point, Troy still had not been reported missing, and once he was, a jurisdictional mix-up further delayed search efforts.

Since Troy was not reported missing right away, it took time to connect his disappearance to a commotion that neighbors said they heard the night he vanished. The neighbors were concerned enough to report it to law enforcement that evening. However, learning that information didn’t bring anyone closer to finding Troy; it only deepened the mystery. If Troy had truly run from the home on foot that night, underdressed for the January weather, where did he go? How did he disappear without a trace? And was that commotion heard by neighbors connected to Troy’s disappearance?

For nearly a decade, Troy’s loved ones have been trying to piece together what clues they have to answer those questions. Today, they’re hoping to reach someone who holds the missing piece that could finally explain what happened to Troy Galloway back in January of 2016.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Troy Galloway, please contact the Tuolumne Sheriff's Office at (209) 533-5855.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.