MICHELLE L. RICE
Born: February 8, 1972
Last seen: September 7, 2009 — leaving her shift at the White Castle, 1901 North Bechtle Avenue, Springfield, Ohio
Last known contact: September 7, 2009 — she was expected home at 602 West High Street, Springfield, and never arrived
Age at disappearance: 37
County: Clark County, Ohio
Status: Missing — reported September 24, 2009 (case no. 09-48645)
Investigating agency: Springfield Police Department — tip line 937-324-7680 Database references: NamUs · The Charley Project (Michelle L. Rice) · Ohio Attorney General, Missing Adults
Last updated: September 2026
Michelle L. Rice was born in Springfield, Ohio on February 8, 1972. She was 37 years old when she disappeared. She was last seen on September 7, 2009, leaving a shift at the White Castle at 1901 North Bechtle Avenue in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. She was reported missing on September 24, 2009 by her oldest daughter, Jessica Morris, under Springfield Police case number 09-48645. Her case remains open. She is listed with the Ohio Attorney General's missing-adults database and with The Charley Project.
Michelle L. Rice had buried a three-year-old daughter after a house fire, lost her younger sister to the C.J. Brown Reservoir in a death her family has never accepted as an accident, and lost custody of the five children who survived. Each of the men she married or lived with left a documented trail through the Clark County courts. Seventeen days after she was last seen, her oldest daughter walked into a Springfield police station and reported her missing. Nothing has been heard from her since.
The Case File
This page is updated as each installment goes live, or when we have an update in the case.
The investigation
Could I Endure This — A Prologue to the Disappearance of Michelle Rice
Goodbye Miss American Pie — The Girl Springfield Made
If You Know Something
If you know anything about Amanda Ward-Romine’s disappearance — however small — submit it at tips@unsolvedohio.com, or contact the Springfield Police Division directly at 937-324-7680. Your name will never be published without your explicit written permission.
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