The disappearance of Nancy Renkas: Part I

FLORENCE, WISC. — “A very caring person, compassionate and outgoing.”

“Just very friendly with everyone she ever talked to; just a compassionate person, just a loving and caring mom.”

Joseph and Marvin Renkas are very close with their mom, Nancy. On July 18th, 2016, the 47-year-old from Florence, Wisconsin woman was reported missing by her sons.

Marvin says Nancy left their house that morning to get the mail and some food. Nancy said she would be back that afternoon.

That was the last time Marvin saw his mom.

“I kept texting her after 4:00 p.m., even after 4:00 p.m.,” Marvin said. “It was just really odd. We kept calling her and kept calling her, no answer, no answer. It was really strange, really strange not hearing from her at all.”

The boys filed a missing persons report with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Jeff Rickaby is part of a task force that’s investigating Nancy’s disappearance.

“It’s an odd thing around here, especially to have someone missing for this period of time,” Rickaby said. “Almost a year now is an exceptional case for us.”

On the day she disappeared, Renkas was last seen getting into a white SUV at the Super One Foods parking lot in Iron Mountain. Authorities say the vehicle left the parking lot, heading eastbound on US-2.

“It’s a big person that’s out of your life; it’s your mom. It’s been really tough,” said Marvin Renkas.

“One of the reasons we’re coming forward at this time on the anniversary is to ask people to help us tie this case up,” said Sheriff Rickaby. “We know there’s people out there that know what happened.”

Nancy Renkas is 5’4″, weighs 200 lbs with dark hair. In part two of our series on Tuesday, Sheriff Rickaby has the latest on where the investigation stands one year later.

If you have information concerning the disappearance of Nancy Renkas, call 1-800-427-5857