TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — In November 1982, the body of 19-year-old dancer Ruth Elizabeth Bettis was found in a field in Travis County. More than 40 years later, KVUE caught up with her older sister, who recounted the moment a friend gave her the news.
"She just said, 'Elizabeth has been murdered.' I'm a quiet person, but I just, I wailed and screamed like the world just went black," Katherine Bettis, Elizabeth Bettis' sister, said.
Elizabeth Bettis was gone. Her sister chose not to show her face on camera for this interview, but said that day back in 1982 remains clear.
"It was such a shock," she said.
Only three years apart in age, the two sisters were close.
"We moved a lot. And so, we kind of just had each other," Katherine Bettis said. "She was really special."
Special, likeable and beautiful. Family and friends knew her as "Elizabeth" or "Liz." But at her job at an Austin gentlemen's club called Sugar's, located on Highland Mall Boulevard, she was called "Gibson."
"She was dancing there, and she needed money to live on," Katherine Bettis said.
PHOTOS: Ruth Elizabeth Bettis
Travis County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) Det. Javier Hernandez said after her shift on Nov. 25, 1982, witnesses reported seeing Elizabeth Bettis getting into her car, a light blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, with an unknown man. Police released a sketch of the man.
"The sketch would be of the person as they saw them back then. So if there's family of that individual or maybe someone who was at Sugar's at that time, they might still recognize that person, even though they may be 20 or 30 years older today," Hernandez said.
Elizabeth Bettis' body was found Thanksgiving at around 2, in an area off Sprinkle Cutoff Road. Two teenage boys were out driving around and spotted the body about seven miles from Sugar's. Back then, the area was a pasture; today, it's a housing development.
Detectives spotted her car a short distance away.
"She was found with a gunshot wound to her head. There were signs of strangulation and signs of a sexual assault," Hernandez said.
Investigators stripped the car of its seat covers and door panels and sent the evidence off to FBI labs. But despite their best efforts, they still don't have a motive or a suspect.
"She was young and healthy and full of goals and ambitions and things she wanted to do," Katherine Bettis said.
To this day, she carries the pain of knowing her sister's killer is still somewhere out there.
"She knew a lot of people, and she had a lot of friends. If anyone has any clue at all, please come forward. Maybe you know something," Katherine Bettis said.
Over the years, homicide detectives have interviewed more than 200 people in connection with this case. They came up with two possible suspects, but firearms testing and fingerprints ruled them both out.
If you have any information about this case, call the TCSO tip line at 512-854-1444 or call Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477. Tips can be submitted anonymously, and a reward may be available for information leading to an arrest.
KVUE Daybreak's Yvonne Nava is shining a spotlight on several Central Texas cold cases as part of a monthly series called KVUE Crime Files.