Kayla Gunter filed a missing-person report after her sister failed to collect her children from the Boys & Girls Club Wednesday.
Kandice Gunter, 30, had relocated from Nevada to Casper, Wyoming, roughly a month earlier to be nearer to her kids, ages 9 and 6, according to the Casper Police Department. She was last seen Thursday morning in Natrona County, and authorities took the report that evening. The children’s father resides in Casper, and though the couple had separated, Gunter had been staying in his household and assisting with childcare.
The sisters maintained an unusually tight bond, typically connecting by phone at least three times daily. Their final conversation came at 10:41 a.m. Wednesday, and Kayla, who lives 930 miles away in Dayton, Nevada, said nothing in that exchange hinted at trouble. After that, the calls went unanswered.
“That’s why I started freaking out. It’s totally out of character for her not to show up to get her kids,” Kayla told Cowboy State Daily. She noted that the recent move appeared to be proceeding smoothly and that Kandice had given no sign of planning to depart or sever contact abruptly. Gunter remained relatively new to the area and had not built a substantial local friend network.
Family members learned that Kandice’s phone pinged in the Gillette area around noon Wednesday, approximately two hours after the sisters’ last conversation. Her last known cellphone location surfaced along Highway 387, near the Natrona County line, around 12:30 p.m. Friday. Police said she was believed to be traveling in a gray 2016 GMC Canyon pickup with Wyoming temporary registration.
In the period preceding her disappearance, Gunter posted an enigmatic message on Facebook: “Success for me, happens in silence.” She had also written in June about “focusing on a better me. Again,” accompanying the text with a heart-mending emoji.
Kayla issued an anguished appeal on Facebook Saturday, writing: “Lord please just give me a sign my sister is alive. Please.”
A friend added their own post that same day: “I looked so hard but there’s so much wide open spaces with one set of sad eyes hope you’re okay!! 14 years you’ve been in my life and can’t end it like this Kandice Gunter.”
Gunter stands 5-foot-7 and weighs approximately 185 pounds, with black hair and blue eyes. She bears a distinctive butterfly tattoo on her neck, a memorial piece dedicated to her mother on the side of her neck, and additional tattoos on her arms, hands, legs and feet.
Authorities have asked anyone with information regarding Gunter’s whereabouts to contact the Casper Police Department.
