The Strange Disappearance of Terri Ackerman

My grandmother, Terri Ann Ackerman, was in a moderately good mood as she left her daughter’s home, Ambyr Carolus, late in the afternoon on Thursday, August 23rd, 2018. She said goodbyes to her daughter and grandchildren as it seemed to be a regular day. She drove an estimated 20–30 minutes to her home in Lochbuie, Colorado. Around 4:30 pm, Terri called Ambyr to let her know she arrived home safely.

A few hours after their first call, Terri called Ambyr, crying and in anguish. She told her daughter on the phone that she couldn’t watch the kids the following day. This surprised Ambyr as it was a sudden change in decision and emotions from her mother. “Then two hours later, she called back crying and said, “I cannot watch the kids,” and I didn’t understand,” said Carolus. Ackerman did not explain why she was unable to watch her grandkids but claimed to have not slept. Ambyr assumed her mother had gone to bed shortly after the phone call; little did she know that would be the last time she would hear her mother’s voice.

The day after the phone call, Ambyr had to leave for work at 3 am. Carolus was a 911 dispatcher who worked 12-hour shifts. Her fiancé, Jesse Contreras, took the day off to watch their two children that following Friday.

At 6 am, Jesse and his kids were awoken by a knock at the door. It was Terris’s husband, Delbert Ackerman. He claimed he would babysit the kids because Terri could not.

Jesse was perplexed because it was not usual for Terri or Delbert to make changes in plans without informing him beforehand. Initially, Contreras had taken the day off to look after the kids, so he had told Ackerman that he didn’t need any help. However, Delbert appeared hesitant to leave and suggested staying because he had already driven for 30 minutes to reach their house.

It is reported that Delbert Ackerman waited in his car outside of Ambyr and Jesses’ house that Friday for about an hour. Why he did this is unknown.

Delbert, also known as Dale, stayed in their home until around 11:00 am before driving to a nearby marijuana dispensary. When Dale returned an hour later, he helped Jesse fix a fence before driving back to his home, 130 Poplar St, in Lochbuie, Colorado.

When Ambyr Carolus got home later that evening, she was told about the weird day Jesse and Dale shared. She and her Fiancé agreed it was strange and a bit out of the ordinary for Terri and Delbert. The situation was quickly dismissed as it didn’t seem very disarming or important at the time.

A few hours later, Ambyr would receive an incoming call from Dale at 8 pm. During that call, he informed her that Terri had gone missing.

Ackerman claimed to have last seen Terri sleeping in bed at about 5 am before he left for their house that Friday morning. Once he had gotten home, she was nowhere to be found. Her cell phone, wallet, keys, and cigarettes were left behind. Outside of Terri and Delbert's home, her car remained untouched.

It is strange how he last saw her at 5 am but waited outside Ambyr’s house for around an hour. Specific time stamps need to add up.

Delbert told Ambyr that he allegedly drove through the town of Lochbuie looking for Terri. When he didn’t find her, he went straight to the Lochbuie police station to file a missing person's report. Ambyr then knew that something was not right.

She had wondered why Delbert had waited two hours before calling her about filling out a missing person report. Terri had no family in Colorado, only her daughter and granddaughter. She also had a small circle of friends because she had only moved to Colorado a few years prior.

Thus, Terri would have gone only to Ambyr’s house. Carolus needed clarification as to why Dale didn’t think of that.

Ambyr also knew deep down that her mother would never leave deliberately. Terri had a family; she was a dedicated mother and grandmother who lived a quiet life.

Ambyr Carolus said in an interview with Denver 7, “She was happy. You know, her family was everything. That makes me believe she just wouldn’t do this to us.”

Carolus had a very demanding schedule due to her job as a 911 dispatcher, which allowed little flexibility. She would work for almost an entire week without a break. To help her out, Terri would babysit her grandkids for at least three days a week. In Terri’s free time, she enjoyed reading books, watching TV shows, listening to music, and finding joy in life’s simple things.

Terri’s Husband and Son in law | Dale Ackerman and Christopher Ackerman

Terri’s sister, Kymberly, immediately caught a flight to Colorado when she heard the news of her sister’s disappearance. Not just Kim but immediate family and close friends saw a change in Terris’s behavior once she married Delbert Ackerman. It was said that Delbert controlled Terri. According to Ambyr, they would fight very often. One day, when Ambyr and her kids drove to their house, she could hear distant screaming coming from their home. It was silenced once Ambyr, and her kids entered the house.

Months before Ackerman’s disappearance, it was said that she had been secretly planning to divorce Delbert. According to the family, she had a new bank account and was researching state assistance programs to help with the divorce. Ambyr helped her mother do this as she knew the negative effect Delbert had on Terris’s mental health. There was also certain things Terri would not tell her daughter.

Jesse’s mother, Geraldine Contreras, had become close friends with Terri in recent years. Terri spent the night at Geraldine's before going missing soon after the two talked. Terri talked about the deteriorating state of her marriage while Geraldine comforted her.

Geraldine offered to let Terri live with her in her apartment, which seemed to calm Terri down. Having options and a place to go helped. Little did Geraldine know that would be the last time she would see Terri Ackerman.

Once Ambyr heard the news of her mother’s strange disappearance, she was drove unannounced at Delbert’s house. When she arrived, she found Delbert and his son, Christopher, engaged in a deep conversation. Their demeanor and body language spoke more than words.

Immediately after she walked into the home, they stopped talking. Christopher abruptly stood up and exited near the back of the trailer.

Ambyr picked up a few details that did not go unnoticed. The day Terri went missing, she noticed Delbert’s white pickup truck, usually parked in the driveway, was gone. Delbert and his son had a small car repair business in Parker, Colorado.

The police questioned Delbert about why his truck was missing at an important time like this. He claimed it was at the shop getting fixed for dents.

A few days after Dale claimed to have his truck repaired, it still was covered in dents, found out by Ambyr. It is still being determined whether or not investigators ever followed up on the repair shop.

A few years after Terris’s Disappearance, Ambyr checked to see if Chris and Dale’s repair shop was still at the same location; it was not. Years prior, on their website, someone commented on a bad review accusing Christopher and Dale of being the cause of Terris’s disappearance. This review was taken down along with their website. As of 2024, it is unknown if it is still an ongoing business.

The second thing Ambyr noticed is that every trash can, and recycling bin was empty even though it wasn’t garbage pickup day.

One of the last things Carolus noticed was Terri’s ashtray, which was usually filled with cigarette butts, only containing one inside. She would wake up early in the morning and multiple times throughout the day to go out on the porch and smoke a cigarette.

Authorities later investigated and searched Delbert and Terri’s home and found no evidence of foul play. A search and rescue K9 team was deployed to search the property and surrounding areas, but no scents or further clues were found.

Ambyr would often go searching for her mother in different areas across Colorado. Every time she asked Delbert to come and help her look for her mother, he refused, which Ambyr found suspicious.

When Dale agreed to take a polygraph test, he told Ambyr he knew how to lie on the polygraph. He took it, and although the results were never released to the public, he was never named a suspect in her case.

Christopher was also asked to take a polygraph test but refused as he saw no point in taking one if he didn’t know what happened to her.

Terri’s granddaughter, Amariana Carolus, claimed her grandmother had told her her feelings about Christopher. When Christopher was visiting Delbert in Colorado when he was living in Maryland at the time, Terri would keep her distance. When walking in the hallway, Terri told Amariana that she did not like Christopher and felt unsafe around him. Amariana said the way she looked and how she said it was alarming. This statement always stuck with Carolus.

A few months after Ackerman’s disappearance, her granddaughter continued to spend the night at their home. One night, while she was having dinner with Delbert, a police officer showed up unannounced at their doorstep, causing Dale to break down and start crying. The unexpected visit from SGT Stephanie Southard left him overwhelmed with emotions as he wasn’t prepared for it. Amariana, who was present then, couldn’t tell if his tears were genuine or a sign of guilt.

Over the past five years, Christopher’s behavior has become increasingly hostile and unapproachable. He has been known to avoid answering people’s questions and instead threaten them with legal action. Unfortunately, there are suspicions that Christopher, along with his father Delbert, may have played a part in Terri Ackerman’s disappearance. As the saying goes, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Ambyr’s Side of the Story | Daughter

August 23rd, 2018, was the worst day of my life and one that I continue to carry with me, even as the world continues to turn. Losing a loved one is painful, but knowing they are missing, and you can’t do anything to bring them home is heart-wrenching. As each minute, hour, and day goes by, a piece of your heart is being torn away from you piece by piece.

I remember that day as if it were yesterday, one I will never forget. My mom and her husband, Delbert Ackerman, had marriage problems, just like anyone else did. They would verbally fight often but then work things out, nothing out of the ordinary until it wasn’t. My mother expressed to me how unhappy she was becoming and couldn’t take the pain Delbert, also known as Dale, was inflicting not only emotionally but mentally on her as well.

She would mention that he would break her down, saying she was useless and would never be anything without him, and she wouldn’t be able to take care of herself financially. He would intentionally ignore her, making her feel so bad that she would constantly apologize for things so he wouldn’t be mad at her anymore. She stated that he would put her down, especially when he was drinking, making her feel afraid to be in her own home.

A couple of months before she went missing, I became alarmed due to a statement she advised Dale had made to her. My mother was hospitalized due to being found unconscious in her home, and the ambulance had to take her to the hospital; it is still unclear as to what may have caused this. She informed me they were in a verbal altercation a couple of months after this incident, and Dale stated, “I wish you would have just died.” At this time, I felt I had to start taking action and advising my mom that she needed to think about leaving him. She agreed, and I began helping her leave him behind his back. I felt that if she told him she was leaving him, she would have more significant issues at home, but looking back, I guess I was wrong.

We began getting her financial help from the state so she could find housing. We opened up a separate bank account, and things were looking up. Until the day before she went missing, she told me she couldn’t go through with this and that she loved Dale and didn’t want to go through another divorce. I was so confused, but I also felt that it was her life, and who am I to force her to do something she didn’t want to do? I didn’t want to believe it, as she was crying and telling me she was afraid to go home because she was afraid of Chris, Dale’s son, and I still don’t believe it.

After our long conversation, she told me she would go home and would be okay. My heart was breaking for her; I wanted her to stay, and if only I had made one choice differently, maybe I wouldn’t be here telling this story now. I know now that this was beyond my control, and God only knows why things unfolded. She hugged me, told me she loved me, and would call me when she got home. I had no idea that that moment would be the last time I would ever see her again, the last time she would tell me she loved me, or the last time I would get to embrace her hugs again. Our lives were changed forever.

Once she got home, she called me to tell me she was okay and had made it home. She appeared to me as usual: happy, just a little tired. I told her, okay, and I would see her tomorrow to watch the kids. I said I love you, and we hung up. Later that night, a couple of hours later, she called me; this time, she sounded upset. She cried, told me she couldn’t watch the kids, and asked me if I was mad. I told her no, Mom, I’m not angry; I don’t understand. She told me she hadn’t slept well the night before and was just tired. I completely understood, and I told her it was okay, not to worry, I would figure it out, and that she should shower and go to bed. That was the last time I ever heard from my mom again.

I went to work as usual the following day, and my fiancé, Jesse, stayed home to watch the kids. While at work, I received a call from Jesse around 6:10 AM; he sounded alarmed and stated, “Ambyr, Dale is here?” I was just as confused as he was and asked what he was doing there. He noted that Dale said that since he was there, he would take our daughter to school and return to help Jesse fix our fence. During my lunch break around noon that same day, I called my mom to check on her to see how she was doing. The phone rang and rang, but she had yet to answer. I figured I would leave a message, hoping she would call me back as always, but I was still waiting for something.

When I got off work, I learned from Jesse that l Dale left our house at about 01:30 PM. I found this odd because why would he need to stay? Why didn’t he go home? I tried calling my mom again, but no answer. I began to worry because this was not normal for her. I then received a call that night from Dale, stating he filed a missing person's report with the Lochbuie Police Department as he couldn’t find my mom. He had never called me to tell me he couldn’t find her or if I had seen her. Why would he do this? He knew how close my mother and I were, but it felt like he was avoiding me and wanted to get his side of the story to Lochbuie Police before I had any say in it. It has always struck me as suspicious that he would go straight to the police without calling family to see if we had seen her.

It all didn’t sit well, so I left work and went straight to their house. Upon pulling up to the house, Dale and his son Christopher Ackerman were sitting on the couch in a deep conversation. As soon as I walked to the door, Chris went directly to the back of the trailer. I tried to get Dale’s story about what happened. I started rummaging through their house, looking for anything that was out of place or that seemed odd to me.

All of my mom’s things were left behind: cell phone, wallet, social security card, debit cards, car keys, her car, purse, and cigarettes. The only thing that I found missing was her medications, not to mention that all her clothes were still at the house. None of it made sense; she would never do anything like this. I continued to walk around the house, looking for any clues. The two large trash cans outside were empty, there was one cigarette bud in the ashtray (my mom smoked a lot), and Dale’s white pickup truck was not there. I instantly reported all this to the police because everything about this situation felt wrong.

Shortly after this, a friend who worked for the Adams County Sheriff’s office made moves instantly. He arranged for RAMPART Search and Rescue to start looking for my mom; this was not an action that Lochbuie enforced. Lochbuie Police Department was not treating this as a high priority because, as they told me, it is not a crime for an adult to go missing! We didn’t have time to waste, and I was not going to sit there while my mom’s life was at stake; every minute and every detail counted. Disappointingly, we never found her, but I would not give up hope; I would continue to fight for her and be the voice that was taken from her. Many searches were conducted, and Dale never involved himself with any of them. I specifically asked him if he wanted to go and help us look for her, and his reply was, “Why? The police are already out there looking.” The police department is also 2 minutes from his house, and since she has gone missing, he has not followed up with the police for any follow-up on her case.

I contacted multiple newscasts to create stories about my mom, hoping to get her face and story out there. I appeared on many podcasts, determined to fight for her and bring her home. I continued to walk through fields, afraid of what I would find, and that was one of the most challenging things I ever had to do. Hoping and prayed I would find her, but I was afraid of what I would find. Again, I couldn’t see her. I felt defeated, and here we are going on six years, and she still has not been found.

I want to clarify that she didn’t disappear; no one ever disappears. Something happened to her; someone did this to her, and I will not stop until she gets justice. I will never give up searching and let it be known that she will be found. Whoever did this to her, you will not get away with this. She is and never will be forgotten, and may God have mercy on you.

Terris Background and Description

Terri Ann Ackerman was born on 03–20–62 in Zaragoza Spain. Terri resided with her late husband, Delbert Ackerman at 130 Poplar Street. She weighed approximately 170 pounds and was 5 feet, 4 inches tall. She was last seen in Lochbuie, Colorado on August 23, 2018, wearing a teal short-sleeved shirt, light blue jeans, and a gold wedding band with her hair in a clip. She is a Caucasian female, with Spaniard descendants. Her purse, clothes, ID, keys, and cigarettes were left at home during the time she was reported missing, and a report was initiated by The Lochbuie Police Department.

Terri suffered from bipolar disorder. This may have played a factor when it came to the authorities’ efforts. When there are cases involved with people who suffer from bipolar disorder, it is sometimes dismissed. It seems as though people believe they went manic and chose to leave. Lochbuie Police made it clear to her daughter, Ambyr Carolus, that it is not a crime for an adult to leave, as in most cases they return on their own. Not every person who has a mental disorder such as bipolar disorder, is unmanageable, they are people too, and deserve to be treated as so.

Why did I choose to write this?

I am writing this with the help of my mother. As stated in the beginning of the article I am the one who wrote the first article. There are two separate stories written in this article, one of which, written by Ambyr Carolus, Terri Ackerman’s daughter. Ambyr Carolus is the one who took action. Ever since the beginning, she’s done as much as she could to find her mother. She needs more recognition as this is not easy. I am writing this because of many reasons. I want justice for my grandmother. It is not fair to live everyday unaware of where she is. There are many things that were not released to the public which need a say. Much information that no one knows except family is mostly written on Ambyr’s side of the story. Much of how Chris and Dale acted. If you are not guilty, why are you threatening people? That is my question. I was 7 years old when my grandma went missing, and as of right now, I’ll be turning 14 in September. I have a website that has everything to know about Terri Ann Ackerman’s disappearance and information. Before the website, everything was mixed up and it was hard to decipher if the correct information was written. Thank you for reading feel free to contact me or my mother listed below.

Ambyr Carolus | Daughter | Email: [email protected]

Amariana Carolus | Granddaughter| Email: [email protected]