The Disappearance of Kathleen Ranft

Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

Vincent Strange

True Crime, Society & Culture, News

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On April 5, 1985, 29-year-old Kathleen “Kathy” Ranft finished her shift at Lippe Tire Center in Seguin, Texas, and headed into the weekend. She was in the middle of a separation, moving into a new apartment, and trying to build a fresh start for herself and her three sons. That night, Kathy was supposed to meet friends at the Country Cabaret, a small nightclub off FM 467. She never made it.

The next morning, her 1980 Chevy Citation was found in the club’s parking lot. Inside were two cigarette butts and a child’s wristwatch. Back at her apartment, her purse and makeup sat untouched, but her wallet and keys were gone. Kathy was never seen again.

In the weeks that followed, the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office chased leads that led nowhere. Investigators even called in a Dallas psychic, who led deputies and reporters to dig the clay pits of Acme Brick, where Kathy’s estranged husband worked. The spectacle drew headlines but uncovered nothing.

Decades later, Kathy’s disappearance remains Guadalupe County’s most haunting cold case. With no suspects, little evidence, and only painful silence, her family has spent nearly forty years waiting for answers.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Kathleen Ranft, please contact the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office at (830) 379-1224 or Guadalupe County Crime Stoppers at (877) 403-TIPS.

Sources: The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, The Wichita Falls Times, The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, The San Antonio Express-News, KTSX.com, FoxSanAntonio.com, SeguinToday.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Gone Cold Podcasts may contain violent or graphic subject matter. Listener discretion is advised.
0:09.2	Sigeen, Texas, April 5, 1985, Good Friday. The workday was winding down at Lippe Tire Center. The move to a new location had everybody pulling long hours. Just before 6 p.m.,
0:24.7	29-year-old Kathy Ranft stepped out the door and into the early evening light, a young mother
0:31.3	trying to steady her life after a recent separation. She was in blue jeans and a blue and white flowered Western shirt,
0:39.7	had a Seco watch on her wrist, and the small diamonds on the wedding band she still wore,
0:45.2	nine tiny stones set in gold, shined as they reflected against the sun. She was supposed to meet
0:52.5	friends later, maybe do some dancing at one of the local
0:55.9	bars where neon glowed over a gravel lot and the jukebox inside blared honky-tong. She'd been
1:03.5	going about a month, easing back into a social routine while she got back on her feet.
1:09.8	But Kathy never made it inside the nightclub. By dawn,
1:13.9	her car sat in the parking lot, locked. The owner swore it wasn't there at 1 a.m. when he closed up
1:20.4	the place, but it was there at 8 a.m. when he returned. Two cigarette butts and a child's wristwatch were found in the car. Back at her
1:30.5	apartment, her purse and makeup were untouched, but her wallet and keys were gone. Kathy was gone.
1:39.4	Over the next days and weeks, the sheriff's office beat the bushes, the family pleaded for help,
1:45.8	and a psychic from Dallas led a caravan of deputies and reporters to the yawning clay pits of
1:52.0	the Acme brick plant. The search became a spectacle, and then it stopped. No answers,
1:59.4	no resolution, and no Kathy. Kathleen Laura Atwood was born on February 18, 1956 in Harris County, Texas.
2:36.5	Known as Kathy Tommost, she grew up tight with her mother, Glenn Francine.
2:42.6	Later, Glenn would say that as an adult, her daughter called every couple of days.
2:48.0	Routine check-ins that, in hindsight, became anchors or time stamps.
2:54.8	Like a lot of young Texans of her era, Kathy stepped into adulthood fast. In March
3:01.5	1973, when she was just 17, she married 19-year-old Ronald Keith Rodriguez. On January 15, 1975, she gave birth
	...

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