WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A suspect was arrested in connection with the disappearance of 56-year-old Laura Willsey on Friday, and her family told WPTV they're still wondering where she is.
Todd Reichert, 56, is facing a first-degree murder charge for the murder of Willsey, who was reported missing by her daughter in July 2024.
WATCH: Suspect arrested in murder of missing woman
“We didn't know how he did it, but we knew he did, and we told him that from the beginning,” Laura's sister Brenda Willsey told WPTV on Friday.
An affidavit offers more details on an argument between Willsey, Reichert and 64-year-old Timothy Wyman Smith, which was captured on surveillance video.
On July 29, a dispute over food in the refrigerator at the Garden Avenue home where Willsey resided led to Reichert apparently striking Willsey.
According to a witness who gave a sworn statement in October 2024, Reichert and Smith were talking in the master bedroom and Willsey was in a bedroom next door when Smith stated Willsey was going to press charges against Reichert for assaulting her, and that she was going to "snitch" on him.
The affidavit confirms that Willsey was working as a confidential informant for the North Palm Beach Police Department, regarding a burglary case in which Reichert, Smith and Michael Vincent Ohler were suspects. WPBPD detectives made contact with Detective R. Johnson with the North Palm Beach Police Department, who expressed concern Willsey might have been targeted for her involvement in the case.
The witness says Reichert then entered the bedroom where Willsey was, and they heard Reichert hitting Willsey. The witness then heard plastic trash bags being dragged through the bedroom and living room. Reichert told the witness he was going to Belle Glade and wasn't taking his phone to avoid being "tracked."
Reichert was arrested on Aug. 1, 2024, on charges unrelated to Willsey's disappearance, and the 2010 Volkswagen he was driving the night Willsey disappeared was towed to a crime scene bay. A DNA report from Reichert's vehicle showed blood found on the carpeting matched Willsey's blood.
Reichert is currently in Palm Beach County jail.
