Waller business cards found along Highway 177

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield business cards belonging to Jacque Sue Waller, a mother of triplets missing from Jackson for 44 days, were found Monday on Highway 177 by a Cape Girardeau County resident, investigators said Wednesday.

Lt. David James of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said a woman was going about her daily routine when she found the business cards in a Blue Cross Blue Shield packet. Waller was a manager at the Cape Girardeau location. The cards were found near a home's mailbox on Highway 177 near Procter & Gamble.

Waller was last seen in Jackson at Woodland Drive and North Neal Street.

"I don't know if they've been out there since day one or how long they've been there," James said. "The people that found them don't remember seeing them before, when they go about their daily routine activities."

The business cards are readable, James said, and are in good condition.

Although Waller was no longer working out of the Cape Girardeau office, she was still doing work for the company from her sister's home in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Her sister, Cheryl Brenneke, said Wednesday that Waller carried the business cards in her purse. Waller had been working out of an office at Brenneke's home for seven days. She returned to Cape Girardeau and Jackson the day of her disappearance to file some paperwork and finalize her divorce with her estranged husband, Clay Waller, a person of interest in the case.

James said Jacque Waller's purse and cellphone have not been located. The business cards and case are being kept as evidence and will be sent to a crime lab to be examined and tested for fingerprints.

Brenneke said she believes someone placed the cards in the area on purpose, although she wasn't sure if the person is trying to lead them to her sister or not.

In light of the discovery, authorities are asking county residents, especially people in the area the cards were found, as well as on Route V, to search their property.

"That's a force multiplier for us," James said.

While friends and family of Jacque Waller have organized searches of their own since her disappearance, law enforcement is searching various areas in the county. James said they've used cadaver dogs, dive teams from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and helicopters. James added that they've also done a search in Illinois and that an agency there is assisting in the investigation. They'll also do a more extensive search in the area Waller's business cards were found.

"A lot of officers are working this case diligently and treating it like she's a member of their own family," James said.

According to James, authorities have contact with Clay Waller "occasionally for various reasons."

In an interview with police immediately following Jacque Waller's disappearance, Clay Waller said the two of them fought and she left his home on Woodland Drive around 4 p.m. June 1. He then left his home, he said, and returned around 6 p.m. to find her blue Honda Pilot gone. It was later found abandoned on Interstate 55 near the Fruitland exit.

After weeks of hoping their daughter's case would hit national news, Waller's parents Stan and Ruby Rawson announced late Wednesday that they'd be appearing today on "Good Morning America." Locally, the Rawsons will appear on Channel 3 at 6:30 a.m.

A $3,500 reward is still being offered for information that leads directly to Waller. Tips can be phoned in to the Jackson Police Department at 243-3151.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Woodland Drive and North Neal Street, Jackson, MO