Hello, devoted readers. I decided to do something a bit different and, instead of a hot take, I’ll do a true crime instead. Now this true crime really hits close to home for me, quite literally.
During the Fourth of July weekend, a man by the name of Chance Englebert, his wife Baylee and their son Banks decided to make the four-hour drive from Moorcraft, Wyoming, to Gering, Nebraska, to spend time with Baylee’s family.
The weekend seemed to be going well. On the morning of July 6, 2019, Chance was talking to his family, discussing plans for how he was going to stop by his family’s ranch in South Dakota to pick up a package before heading back to Wyoming. Later on that afternoon, Chance went golfing with his brother and father-in-law, with plans to go get dinner with Baylee and a couple of her friends afterward.
With that being said, Baylee decides to stop by the golf course with their son to visit Chance, her brother and father. Now, prior to her coming to the golf course, Baylee said that she talked on the phone with Chance and that he was in a great mood. However, when Bailey got there, she saw that Chance’s mood had changed drastically because he told Baylee to get back into the car because they were leaving.
Chance was so full of anger that he told Baylee that they would be heading back to Wyoming; however, Baylee wanted to stay. Baylee then told Chance that when they got back to her grandparents’ house, cause that was where they were staying, she was going to go pack up their belongings and head back home.
At around 7:00 p.m., that is when they pulled up to Baylee’s grandparents’ house, and instead of going inside to help pack, Chance started walking away. Baylee proceeded to go inside and give Banks to her grandparents, but by the time she got back outside, Chance was already gone.
Now, according to what Baylee has said in countless interviews, this was a typical thing for Chance to do. So she then gets back into her car and starts driving around looking for Chance, tries to call him, but he doesn’t answer.
It was last reported that Baylee had talked to Chance at about 7:45 p.m., where Chance told her that he was walking towards Kimball, which was 42 miles south. This was also the last time that Baylee heard from Chance.
At 7:23 p.m., Chance decided to call his friend Matt, asking him to come pick him up, but Chance told Matt that he was walking towards Torrington, Wyoming, which is 36 miles northwest of Gering. Matt then told Chance that he wasn’t able to because he had been drinking, but that he would make some calls to see if someone else could come and pick him up.
But since there was a storm rolling in, Baylee told Matt and all of their friends and family that she and her family would go back out and try to look for him. However, when the next morning rolled around, he was still gone and has been gone ever since, or so people think.
Back on Oct. 11, 2025, skeletal remains were found at Scottsbluff National Monument that looked like they had been there for years. This leads people to speculate that those remains are indeed Chance Englebert’s; however, it is taking officials quite a while to determine whether the remains belong to Chance or not.
Now, I want to be clear that I am not trying to be disrespectful towards the family and friends of Chance, who have been wanting nothing but answers for years. But I, as a former resident of Scottsbluff County, also want answers to this story.
