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A 9-year old boy vanishes with his mother’s boyfriend, after she is murdered.
CASE DETAILS On December 27, 1993, Jack White went to visit his daughter, Latricia, at her home in Lockhart, Texas. Latricia, a 38-year old nurse, hadn’t been seen or heard from in almost 24 hours. Jack said that he was worried:
 Lee “Dub” Wackerhagen, Jr. Jack rushed into the home and found his daughter in her bedroom.
Latricia White had been shot six times in the head with a .22 caliber weapon. Her death stunned her friends and neighbors. She left behind two children and lots of unanswered questions. Despite the violent nature of the crime, there were no signs of a struggle, and nothing in her house had been disturbed. Just as puzzling was the disappearance of Latricia’s live-in boyfriend, Lee Wackerhagen, a local trucker nicknamed Dub. Also missing was Dub’s nine year old son, Chance, who had been visiting for the Christmas holidays. Sheriff Mike Bading of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Department said that meant they had two possible scenarios to investigate:
 Latricia White Three days later, Dub’s pickup truck was found abandoned in Austin, Texas, about thirty miles from the crime scene. In the truck, investigators found Dub’s hunting rifle, which had not been fired, his checkbook, and his wallet. In the back were a toolbox, a spare tire, and Christmas gifts. Some of the gifts were unopened, and they were all streaked with blood. According to Sheriff Bading:
Could that someone else have been Dub or Chance? The question could not be answered. All of the blood tests were inconclusive.  Was Dub the killer or a victim? The police and the White family believe that Dub murdered Latricia in a jealous rage. But Dub’s family and friends are convinced that he and Chance also met with foul play. Barbara Stage is Dub’s sister:
Dub’s friend, Melissa Reagan, was shocked:
 Dub’s truck was found in Austin To the police, however, Dub was the obvious suspect, especially after they began to take a close look at his relationship with Latricia. According to Latricia’s family, Dub was extremely jealous and suspicious. Dub’s ex-wife and Chance’s mother, Gaye Williams, agreed:
Dub’s son, Chance, was often the focus of his arguments with Latricia. Two days before Christmas, a heated argument led to Dub packing his bags and threatening to leave. Just three nights later, Dub, Chance, and Latricia were seen enjoying themselves at a local restaurant. The argument was apparently forgotten. But late the very next day, Latricia’s father found her shot to death in her bedroom. Dub and Chance had disappeared. Three days later, Dub was formally charged with first-degree murder. Four months passed with no sign of Dub or Chance. Then, Chance’s maternal grandfather, O.P. Williams, got an anonymous phone call at his home:
Could the plea for help actually have come from Chance? Dub’s family is convinced the answer is no. They believe that the phone call was a hoax and that Dub and Chance were murdered. But Latricia’s family and the police believe that Dub is a killer and that he’s still very much alive. UPDATE: Investigators now have evidence that Lee and Chance Wackerhagen were victims of foul play. It is believed that this was a crime of passion and that they were murdered by someone closely associated to the family. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season seven with Robert Stack and in season six with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
Sherlock Woods
Has anybody ever thought that the kid was coached to shoot his stepmom? unsolved mysteries they made it look like Chase did not get along with a stepmom. Maybe Chase was calling his grandparents to tell them what happened and the father grabbed the phone out of his hand and hung up. I believe dub is still alive. Chase is not still alive, because if he was still alive after he turned 18 or even in his teenage years someway, somehow he would’ve got away from his father. or the other scenario would be his father scared him so much to tell him he was gonna get the electric chair being in jail for life for what he did, and Chase is still alive, and he knows the consequences of what would happen.. There is so many scenarios. I definitely don’t think it was someone close to the family I definitely think Dub’s family has been helping him out throughout the years. You kind of wish in 1993 they would’ve had caller ID maybe they did I don’t remember or star 69.
Me
Wouldn’t Chance be 39 today? Either he’s keeping his Dad’s secret and his Dad had good connections to get new identities or they’re both dead. He wouldn’t kill his son definitely.
Brian
He’d be about 41 or 42 now. We were childhood friends.
Shewolf
I bet dub owed someone money they probably came for said money dub was gone latrica was in the way and probably a liability so they unalived her . Dub came home with the kido they had to ambush him either in the car or at gun point got him to drive somewhere and that’s probably how they moved him and he probably put up a fight thinking he was big enough and had to try for the kid then something happened and he was injured whatever it was over or whoever it was I 100% believe it was planned out ! definitely wasn’t heat of the moment or there would be more blood shed and she would not be in bed ALONE might I add if she was having an affair where is he ? And if it was the person she was with why would he hurt her it makes no sense at all !! It had to be someone who hated them both or was over money and no emotions were involved
L
I’m going to bet there’s reasons why LE said they feel it’s a crime of passion that aren’t released to the public
Patrick
Maybe the ex-husband killed Latricia and stole Chance back. Dub was shot in the truck and forced elsewhere and murdered. Chance could still be alive, maybe the call he made stating HELP ME was really him?
Anonymous
There is so much wrong with this article. Dub is Chance’s Father, but the victim is NOT his Mother. Dub’s ex-wife, Gaye is Chance’s Mother. Dub had only been the live-in boyfriend of the victim. So, let’s clear that up. Therefore, a 9 year old boy did not vanish with his Mother’s boyfriend. He vanished with his own biological Father, and was no relation to the victim in this case.
Not ALL of the blood tests were inconclusive. They did conclude the blood on the gifts was NOT that of the victim; and the tests for Dub and Chance were the tests that were inconclusive.
After doing some further investigating, years after the crime, detectives believe that Dub and Chance were also met with foul play. What was not initially released, it seems, was that the victim was in a “heated/serious” custody battle with her ex-husband.
It appears to be a great theory that the victim’s ex husband is the root of this whole case. I’m on the fence about him being the trigger man; but he was definitely involved. Victim was murdered, and Dub and Chance were taken, seemingly murdered and disposed of. The victim’s ex husband had her out of the way; and witnesses done away with. Makes perfect sense, hard ordeal that there’s no evidence that would ever lead to the ex husband.
Visitor
Agreed. And thanks for pointing out the facts they got wrong in this article. I was about to point these things out myself when I came across your comment.
Jonathan
I go along with that . I think she was the intended target ,the father and son were witnesses and were snuffed out.
Beth
Micheal D Keith
Good theory but an ex husband was never mentioned in the story. Do you know something about this case that we all don’t?
Norb
Listen to the Trace Wvidence Podcast on this case. Steven Pacheco does a fabulous job on all the cases he covers.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trace-evidence/id1239217007?i=1000654544212
Janay C
Steven does an amazing job! I love Trace Evidence!
Johnathan
I don’t think Dub killed latricia.. it has to be a guy that latrica has dated in the past. I believe that he found out that she was with someone else and became jealous. So he killed her..waited until dub n chance got home..took them for a drive and then killed them too. I don’t think that the call chance made was a hoax it was real. They was being held against they’re will and the grandmother could’ve called the police and trace that number to see where was he at.
Michael D Keith
There is no mystery here. The police completely botched this case from the beginning.
The wife was killed by her Ex-husband. They had been going through a nasty custody battle at the time. Why did no one look at this guy in the first place? Becuase the killer was highly creative. He came into the house, probably when she was alone, or when they all were asleep. The killer used a .22, likely modified with a silencer(a .22/silencer is virtually silent and is commonly used by hitmen, which is a possibility that the ex husband hired a professional) and shot her in the head multiple times. 6 shots is not overkill when dealing with a low caliber weapon. A professional killer would know this, many times a single .22 shot to the head is survivable.
After the wife was murdered, he either waited for the husband and stepson to come home, or if asleep, woke them both up. He then took them outside and got them into the pickup truck. The pickup truck had the presents and other items in the back. The killer then got them either inside the cab of the truck and forced them to drive to an unknown location where they were both shot multiple times. The blood in the back was blood splatter from the both the step son and father. My guess is that they were in the cab and the killer didn’t realise that the truck had a slider rear window that was left open, and the blood splatter went into the back. The killer cleaned up any blood in the cab and disposed of the bodies. He left the truck where the cops found it, only leaving the wallet and checkbook behind to make sure the truck was quickly identified(this was the early 90s and police weren’t all connected by computers like they are now). This made the father an instant patsy, thus keeping the spotlight permanently on Lee and away from the obvious ex-husband. I think they only now have figured it out becuase the original investigators(idiots) have all since retired and a ne cold case investigator is now on the case. They most likely disposed of the blood spatter evidence long ago, due to the fact of being a small town police force and stupidity.
Fred
Very thought out but it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why would the killer both taking Dub and Chances, seeing that Dub being a man, would be a major risk? Why not just shot him where he first encountered them? Whether that be sleeping or awake. I don’t know? Everything points to Dub. Still the one thing that bothers me with that line of reasoning is that if Dub did kill her, and took Chance on the run, it’s been so long why haven’t Chance at least reappeared. He would be a grown man now.
TJ
Because the real killer wanted it to look like Dub did it and ran with his boy. Perfect distraction for the ex husband.
Jeff
This is possible but it doesn’t explain the phone call from Chance
Sara
Hoax
Charles
So…they are dead, but the elusive question is why and for what reason was Latricia killed along with them? This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Perhaps a stalker or ex lover of Latricia killed all three of them? A close associate of the family is equally as baffling. To what end would killing all three of them serve? Does anybody have any theories on this?
Benjamin
Did I miss something? He didn’t “take off with his mother’s boyfriend”
Hecate Sparks
Cayleigh Elsie did a Youtube video regarding the case (The Unsolved Case of Latricia White | DARK MATTERS #9) . Chance’s mother Gayle commented on the video (which is pinned). Like it is stated above, the police now believe they were victims of foul play. Although Dub had a bit of a temper and argued with Latricia White, the family was seen eating and enjoying themselves at a diner prior to Christmas. Police think that Latricia was killed before the boys came home and upon coming home they either interrupted the killer or the killer ambushed them in the truck where blood was found.
Their bodies have yet to be found and no suspect is named as of February 2018. Gayle was told in a recent meeting with the police that evidence was looked over and the initial investigation was flawed. But they do believe after looking over everything collected and retested, that Dub and Chance are sadly deceased. As of who the person may be is unknown. Gayle did not say it was a crime of passion but the police cant be sure. All that is know is that the killer(s) knew the family well and was welcomed into the home (as a break in was not present) it seems.
I hope this family finds answers.
Hecate Sparks
*Mothers name is Gaye. Pardon the misspelling.
Tina Taylor
I always thought that Dub did it and he and Chance were in hiding. You would think that they would have been found in 25 years though. I wonder what the Police have that tells them someone else killed all 3 of them and set Dub up. So sad that Dub’s father committed suicide. I pray that they all get answers soon and the deceased rest in peace.
Anna
To bad you don’t have an aged photo of them both, I think they are alive and the truck was just staged.
Rocky Lore
The police no longer consider Dub a suspect, but a victim.
http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/news/rangers-reopen-caldwell-cold-case
Anonymous
I think I might have seen Chance on Monday. I’m going to submit the tip just in case it might be him.
unsolved
Thank you – we have passed your tip on to the law enforcement agency handling this case.
reg
This is a very sad story. I hope that Chance is alive. I pray for the families
Miranda shortt
I hope chance is found alive soon.