A woman disappeared in Johnson County nearly 40 years ago. Police seek help now

The Lenexa Police Department is asking for the public’s help in its investigation of a nearly 40-year-old unsolved homicide.

Joyce Welch, 39 at the time, was last seen on July 4, 1986 walking east toward Santa Fe Trail Drive after she left a bar in Old Town Lenexa, where she had spent the evening with friends.

Her purse was found July 5 a few blocks from where she was last seen. A friend reported her missing July 7 when Welch had not reached out or returned home.

Welch’s remains were discovered nearly two years later on April 9, 1988, in a field in Miami County near 271st Street and Block Road. Detectives are investigating her death as a homicide.

“Cold cases are never forgotten,” Lenexa Detective Jamie Rader said in a news release. “Relationships change, memories resurface, and people may be willing to share information today that they were unable or unwilling to share years ago. Even the smallest detail could help move this investigation forward.”

Details of Welch’s disappearance and death can be found on the department’s cold case webpage. Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Lenexa Police Department at 913-825-8169 or the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.