A Musician Mother of 3 Disappears After An Open Mic Concert

On the evening of Monday, October 16th 2000, 40 year old musician Regina Bos was at Duggan’s Pub in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A warm and familiar presence, Duggan’s had been Regina’s on-and-off workplace for the past four years, where she regularly sang and played guitar. She was well known and well liked among the locals who frequented the bar.

That night, Regina took part in the open mic, finishing her set at around 10:30pm. Rather than heading out afterward, she stayed on, chatting and socialising with friends, as she often did.

Sometime just before 1:00am, Regina decided to pack up and call it a night. A handful of patrons were still lingering inside the pub and later recalled watching her leave, heading toward her car parked just outside.

Chillingly, in the few short steps it took Regina to reach her vehicle, she vanished—never to be seen again.

Back at home, Regina’s boyfriend of three months, Michael Johnson, was waiting for her. He had planned to join Regina at the pub that evening but had decided against it at the last minute.

Instead, Regina told Michael she would pick him up on her way home so he could spend the night at her house. As the hours passed, Michael eventually fell asleep while waiting.

He woke sometime later in a panic. Regina still hadn’t arrived. It was now well into the early hours of the morning—long past the time she should have been finished.

Michael immediately paged his girlfriend, but there was no response.

Unbeknownst to Michael, Regina had accidentally left her pager at home that night. His frantic messages instead woke her three children—aged 11, 13, and 15—who had also been waiting for their mother to return.

Regina would never leave her children alone overnight, and as the hours dragged on with no sign of her, their concern quickly turned to fear. Unsure of what else to do, they contacted their father, Tony Williams.

Meanwhile, Michael reached out to one of Regina’s closest friends to see if she had heard from her. She hadn’t.

By around 6:00am, Michael and the friend were driving through the city, desperately hoping to find some trace of Regina. Their first stop was the last place she had been seen—Duggan’s Pub.

There, they spotted Regina’s green Saturn sedan. Disturbingly, the trunk was slightly ajar.

Fearing what might be inside, Michael reluctantly opened the trunk. A brief wave of relief washed over them when they saw that Regina was not there—only for it to be replaced by a deeper sense of dread.

Inside lay Regina’s beloved guitar and her music sheets. She would never have willingly left such personal items behind, let alone unsecured.

Her friend would later comment:

With this discovery seeming to confirm that something deeply sinister was at play, Michael contacted the police to report Regina missing, and an investigation was launched almost immediately.

Later that morning, officers and search dogs combed the surrounding area for any sign of the missing woman. Lead detective Greg Sorenson also began questioning patrons and staff at Duggan’s Pub, hoping to uncover any detail—no matter how small—from those who had seen Regina that night.

Several patrons reported seeing Regina leave the bar. One witness, a 61-year-old man, told police he had last seen her walking toward her car with her guitar strapped to her back. He said he had headed off in the opposite direction and did not hear any sounds of a struggle or disturbance in the minutes that followed.

An examination of Regina’s vehicle suggested she had unlocked the trunk and carefully placed her instrument inside. Investigators theorised that she may have been approached from behind while doing so, which would explain why the trunk had been left open.

As the days passed, Regina’s family and friends grew increasingly devastated. They knew she would never have willingly walked away from her life—or from her children—and remained convinced she had fallen victim to foul play.

Law enforcement received dozens of tips in the days that followed, but each one led to a dead end.

On November 3rd, Regina’s loved ones organised a fundraiser in her honour, featuring live bands and the sale of T-shirts printed with her face. The goal was to raise money for a reward, hoping it might encourage someone with information to come forward.

Sadly, the event generated no new leads. As the weeks slipped by, public attention waned, and Regina’s name was spoken less and less.

Detectives found themselves at a standstill, unsure which direction—if any—could move the case forward.

Desperate to keep the case alive, Regina’s friends and family plastered her face across dozens of billboards throughout the city and continued handing out flyers at every opportunity.

November 4th—Regina’s 41st birthday—came and went with no answers, only quiet prayers for resolution. As Christmas drew closer, the grief deepened. Regina’s three children felt their mother’s absence more acutely than ever.

Her parents, Dee and Carlos, later spoke of the overwhelming “emptiness” left behind without their daughter.

Weeks slowly turned into months, and despite investigators continuing to follow up on every possible lead, they were no closer to finding Regina than they had been on the night she vanished.

On October 16th 2001—one year to the day since Regina’s disappearance—a candlelit vigil was held at Duggan’s Pub, the place she had loved and the last location where she was seen.

At the vigil, law enforcement addressed the public, assuring them that the case had “by no means” been forgotten and that the investigation remained very much active.

Sadly, as of 2026, the case of Regina Bos has gone cold. Detective Greg Sorenson has since acknowledged that he no longer believes Regina is alive and now considers the case to be a homicide. He has also stated that he believes he knows who is responsible for her death, though he has never publicly elaborated on that belief.

Sorenson retired from law enforcement in 2016, but he has never let the case go. He continues to follow up on any potential leads, vowing to one day secure justice for Regina and her family, later commenting:

Today, Regina Bos has been missing for over 24 years. If alive today, she would be 64 years old.