Dr Phil: When A Wife Goes Missing, Is Her Husband To Blame?
Much like a Cancer diagnosis, I imagine that being a family member of a missing person is not something that can be understood until you have lived with it firsthand. A woman named Kim reached out to Dr Phil for help and advice in locating her sister Julie, who disappeared in May 2012. The family thinks that her husband Cregg, to whom she was married for seven years, is behind the mystery of what happened to her sister.
Cregg has always maintained that he was not involved in her disappearance, and he took the opportunity to defend himself on Dr Phil’s stage. Cregg thinks that investigators should look into Julie’s ex-husband, Steven. Kim was not shy about saying she thinks that Cregg killed her sister in a rage. In 2012, after weeks of not hearing back from Julie, her family got the police involved.
Dr Phil: Missing Person’s Report

Dr Phil profiled the case of missing woman Julie Earley, who vanished three years ago. Why does her family suspect that her husband Cregg is responsible?
That is when they learned that Cregg did file a missing person’s report about his wife, though he waited until she had been gone for nine days. Kim and the rest of the family went into a panic when they learned the news. Jill, Julie’s sister-in-law, also recalled the chaos and thinks that God will take care of Cregg one way or another.
“He tries to play like he’s the victim. In fact, he’s the murderer,” Kim said. Cregg is tired of what he has always said are false accusations. So what does he say really happened around the time that his wife went missing? “My world’s still in a shambles,” Cregg said. He recalled that he was working on a roof in their neighborhood.
Dr Phil: Disappeared with Cash and Medicine
When he finished work, he spoke to Julie on the phone to ask if she wanted to join him in visiting a friend. She did not want to come along, and that was the last time that Cregg says he spoke with her. When he arrived at home, the security alarm was set, Julie’s insulin was gone, and so was $6,000 in cash from the safe in their home.
Julie’s phone was going straight to voicemail. When he was unable to get in touch with her, he assumed that she had gone to visit family. Six days later, one of her children called to ask for Julie. “That is when I called law enforcement,” Cregg said. Police obtained a search warrant, but Cregg said that their investigation did not turn up anything in the home.
Dr Phil: Not Involved in Wife’s Disappearance?
Cregg said he does not feel he has to prove anything, and added that Julie’s family never liked him to begin with. “I don’t care what they think,” he said. “I have nothing to do with my wife’s disappearance.” He then sat across from Dr Phil on the stage in hopes of generating more leads. Cregg said he believes Julie is alive somewhere out there.
Cregg’s theory is that someone picked Julie up from his home. Dr Phil asked whether Julie was afraid of Cregg. He claimed he could not understand why she would be afraid of him, because he loved her. The family and Cregg disputed the number of instances in which Julie pursued a protective order against her husband.
Dr Phil: Missing Wife Sought Protective Order
According to her petition for a court order, Cregg drove Julie around while he was drunk. At the time, according to the documents, Cregg did not have a driver’s license. She also alleged that he threw her blood glucose meter and other medical supplies from the vehicle. “He is very dangerous. I am very afraid he may kill me,” Julie wrote in the petition.
Cregg choked up and said he has no idea where those ideas might have come from. “I’ve saved her life so many times. I would have never hurt her,” he said. Cregg also said that Julie changed her story when they were in a courtroom in front of a judge. A couple weeks later, Julie filed another petition in which she said she was afraid he might run her over, among other details.
Dr Phil: Curious Text Messages
Cregg also shared some text messages that he says he received from his stepson in the months after Julie’s disappearance. In July and October, his stepson reached out, asking Cregg to call because there were details about potential sightings of Julie.
In May 2013, about one year after her disappearance, Cregg received a text message from his stepson’s phone that said: “Hey creggy this is Julie plez call this number [sic].” Cregg said that he never followed up or spoke with his stepson about these messages.
Dr Phil: Disappearance Questioned
Dr Phil could not understand why Cregg would not pursue any and all leads, if in fact he were serious about her safe return. Cregg insisted that he did follow up on one of the messages, even getting the police involved. So what happened when Cregg picked up the phone? “I don’t even remember anymore. The police were supposed to investigate that,” Cregg said.
No wonder this is a #DisappearanceQuestioned. Cregg didn’t seem to appreciate Dr Phil’s suggestions that he could have been a lot more proactive. Cregg admitted that he avoided his stepson because he cannot stand him. I’m not sure that Cregg’s appearance did as much to clear his name as he might have hoped.
Dr Phil: Missing Person Julie Earley
If you have any information about the 2012 disappearance of Julie Earley, call the Trotwood Police Department at 937-854-3988. One of the most compelling leads to me in this scenario is the fact that Julie is an insulin-dependent diabetic. That means if she is still alive and well, she has to be getting her diabetic testing supplies and prescriptions filled from somewhere, which would create some type of paper trail.
Even if this story does not have a happy ending, I’m sure that Julie Earley’s family would like to have as much information as possible to help them get some type of closure in this scenario. For information on other open cases, visit the FBI’s list of Kidnappings & Missing Persons.
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