Family Still Hopes Waller’s Body Is Found

The hope continues.

It has been more than eight years since Nicole Waller went missing. Her vehicle was found abandoned between Poplar and Wolf Point. In October of 2016, a jury found Cody Johnston of Fairview for deliberate homicide of his former girlfriend.

Family members of Waller still wish that the day comes when her body is found.

“We will never get over it, but we can move forward,” Carmen Keibler, Nicole’s sister, said.

Keibler said there is so much that Nicole has missed. She would be a grandmother now, and one of her nieces recently got married.

In January 2017, District Judge Elizabeth Best sentenced Johnston to life in prison. Johnston is still in the process of appealing the sentence.

“I wish they would find her, because it would definitely be a slam dunk,” Keibler said of keeping Johnston in prison. “It’s Cody’s hold on everything.”

She feels Johnston either disposed of the body in a barrel or was able to hide it while using an oil fracing truck.

She urges people to call the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, 1-406433-2919, if they have any helpful information.

Bob Burnison, undersheriff in Richland County, said there have been few now clues regarding the body’s location.

“We have exhausted many of the clues we’ve gotten over the period of time,” Burnison said. “It’s pretty much looking for a needle in a haystack now.”

Through the time period, he has attempted different methods to get the word out about information being needed for the search.

“I know the family would certainly like some closure,” Burnison said.

Prosecutors said Waller contacted family members on Valentine’s Day 2013 and said she was breaking up with Johnston and returning from Fairview to Kalispell. No one heard from her again.

Agents from the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation worked with the FBI, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Office on the investigation Johnston had his cellphone off for about three hours, which prevented law enforcement from tracking his whereabouts, on that day. A man testified that he assisted Johnston in moving Waller’s vehicle to where it was found near Poplar.

In May of 2017, the case was featured in a NBC Dateline episode titled, Under The Prairie Sky.