GILLETTE, Wyo. — It’s been more than three years since Chance Englebert disappeared from a Nebraska city in 2019, but the family remains more determined than ever to find out what happened to him.
Earlier this month, the reward offered for any information that could lead authorities to Chance’s location as well as result in the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in his disappearance was increased to $220,000 following a substantial donation from his grandmother, Linda Kluender, multiple reports say.
Kluender told the Gering Courier that she made her $200,000 donation in honor of Chance’s 29th birthday and that the reward will remain available for one more year until her grandson’s 30th birthday on Dec. 2.
Chance, a 25-year-old resident of Moorcroft at the time of his disappearance, went missing in July 2019 following a trip to visit his wife Baylee’s family in Gering, Nebraska, with their infant son, Banks, for the Fourth of July weekend.
Following a disagreement with his wife’s family, Chance stated he wanted to go home and walked away, reportedly unable to secure a ride due to the distance after reaching out to multiple friends and family.
He was last seen walking on foot a few miles from his in-laws’ house at 7:50 p.m. July 6, 2019, according to the Help Find Chance Englebert social media page.
Those friends and family later reported making additional attempts to contact Chance to no avail; his last correspondence was a text sent at 9:08 p.m., consisting of jumbled numbers and emojis.
Dawn, Chance’s mother, told County 17 in the months following his disappearance that her son never used emojis and speculated that someone likely sent the text using Chance’s phone.
In the months and years that followed, over a dozen agencies and hundreds of volunteers have carried out multiple searches in efforts to find Chance or determine what could have happened to him.
Cadaver dogs, surveillance drones, and ground efforts on horseback have not turned up anything concrete regarding his disappearance.
Anyone with information about Chance’s disappearance is urged to contact the Gering Police Department at 308-436-5088 and the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Department at 308-436-6667.
