Account
Dec 08, 2014
May 31, 2023
Alice
Hummel
80
46
67 inches
140 lbs
240 lbs
White / Caucasian
Female
In the autumn of 1990, 46-year-old Alice Kristina Hummel vanished from her home in Bellingham, Washington. A former teacher who lived with a disabling lupus condition, she was last seen on October 6, 1990. At the time, she resided on Alabama Hill with her husband, Bruce Allen Hummel, and two of their three children. The days leading up to Alice's disappearance were fraught with turmoil. Her youngest daughter, then twelve, had just confided in her that Bruce had been sexually abusing her for years. Alice, who had previously suspected the abuse, told her daughter she would "take care of it." This conversation, occurring just before her daughter's birthday, would be one of the last known significant events in Alice's life before she disappeared. Following Alice's disappearance, Bruce Hummel provided varying accounts to their children. He initially claimed she had taken a job in California and later moved to Texas. He told the children their mother was involved with another man who did not want children around. For a time, the children received some correspondence, including birthday cards and a letter signed with Alice's name, but these communications eventually ceased. Bruce reportedly became angry if he found the children checking the mail for letters from their mother. It wasn't until 2001, years after Alice's father passed away and attempts to locate her were unsuccessful, that her eldest daughter officially reported her as a missing person. Investigators found no evidence that Alice had died or established a new life elsewhere. The investigation into Alice's disappearance uncovered a web of deceit spun by her husband. When first contacted by investigators in 2004, Bruce claimed he had last seen Alice in October 1990 when he drove her to the airport for a job interview in California. He later changed his story, writing a letter in which he claimed he found Alice dead in their bathroom after she had taken her own life, and that he had disposed of her body in Bellingham Bay to spare their children the trauma. However, a search of the home yielded no evidence to support this claim, and weather records contradicted the feasibility of his story about the bay. The investigation also revealed that Bruce had been forging Alice's signature to illegally collect over $276,000 of her disability pension payments for years after she vanished, a crime for which he was eventually convicted and imprisoned. A former cellmate of Bruce's later testified that Bruce had confessed to poisoning Alice. The case against Bruce Hummel for the murder of his wife was complex and prolonged. In August 2008, while incarcerated for wire fraud, he was charged with Alice's murder. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2009, but the verdict was later overturned. A second trial in 2014 resulted in another first-degree murder conviction and a 26-year sentence. In a stunning turn of events, this second conviction was also overturned in October 2016 by an appellate court, which ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the murder was premeditated. Because this reversal is equivalent to an acquittal, Bruce Hummel could not be tried for his wife's murder a third time and was set free. Alice Kristina Hummel's body has never been found, but authorities strongly suspect she was a victim of foul play. The prevailing theory is that Bruce murdered her after she confronted him about the abuse of their daughter, and then concocted stories to conceal the crime. Despite the legal battles and convictions that were ultimately undone, the case remains officially unresolved, a painful and lingering mystery for her loved ones.
Oct 06, 1990
Bellingham
Washington
Whatcom County
No
23683
Bellingham Police Department
Bellingham
Washington
Whatcom County
98225
505 Grand Avenue, Washington
3607788800
Local
Law Enforcement
01B31039
Bellingham Police Department
Brown
Brown
Brown
06/16/2026
