Nicole Waller: Woman missing one year

Montana and Flathead County officials are again asking for help solving the February 2013 disappearance of a 32-year-old Kalispell woman whose maroon Ford Expedition was found abandoned near Poplar with her children’s pet guinea pigs inside.

Agent Mark Hilyard with the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation said Wednesday that the Valentine’s Day 2013 disappearance of Nicole Waller is being investigated as a homicide.

She was last seen in Fairview.

In November last year, Hilyard said Waller’s disappearance was “clearly not normal behavior and has every indication of a homicide.” A news release at the time did not include any details of the investigation but stated that several factors were pointing to foul play.

Waller was first reported missing Feb. 16, 2013, after leaving Fairview at 7 a.m. two days before to return to Kalispell and her children — a teenage daughter and two young sons.

She was never seen or heard from again.

Her abandoned vehicle was found Feb. 18.

Waller had a brain tumor and diabetes and was undergoing treatment for legal drugs she was prescribed as the result of surgeries.

Hilyard urged anyone with information to call the Division of Criminal Investigation at (406) 444-7068 or the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 758-5600. He said an observation that might not seem important could break the case. He said a request for help last fall generated some tips, but none that solved the case.

Along with the state justice department and the local Sheriff’s Office, the Sidney Police Department, Richland County Sheriff’s Office, Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation have at some point been involved in the investigation.