Lisa Marie Wallace Geise
Geise, circa 1989
- Missing Since 02/26/1989
- Missing From Gwinnett County, Georgia
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 12/18/1962 (61)
- Age 26 years old
- Height and Weight Unknown
- Associated Vehicle(s) 1983 Nissan Pulsar (accounted for), BMW (accounted for)
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair. Geise wears contact lenses. Her ears are pierced and she has a petite build.
Details of Disappearance
Geise was last seen at her place of work, a picture frame company in Norcross, Georgia, on February 26, 1989. It was her day off, but she had gone there to run inventory.
That same day, someone started a fire at the company. The fire triggered the sprinkler system, but the sprinklers were not connected to an alarm, so the water poured for hours without being detected. When employees arrived the following morning, the water was ankle-deep on the floor. Near Geise's desk, where the fire had started, was a pool of blood.
Due to the circumstances, authorities began searching for Geise immediately. Her purse was found on the roof of a nearby building; nothing was missing except the keys to Geise's car, a 1983 Nissan Pulsar. The vehicle was found parked a block away.
In the woods near Geise's workplace was a 10-pound doorstop and a cloth mail card, both stained with blood. Some bloodstains were also found on the door of a company van. There was no sign of Geise or her remains.
Authorities attempted to test the blood at her work site for DNA, but the water had destroyed the DNA in the blood. It had been raining the day Geise disappeared and the bloodstained items outside got wet, which precluded the possibility of doing DNA tests on them. Investigators have never been able to determine whether the blood was Geise's.
Authorities suspected that a former employee of the picture frame company may have had something to do with Geise's disappearance. He had been fired from the company for falsifying his resume, and he was also on probation for embezzling money from a previous employer. Investigators believe he may have gone into the company building to erase their computer files as revenge for his termination.
The company's computer showed someone was in the building sabotaging the system on the day of Geise's disappearance. They theorize this individual encountered Geise and murdered her so she could not inform the police of his actions.
The suspect was arrested for probation violation after Geise's disappearance. He maintained his innocence in her case and refused to cooperate with the investigation. The suspect has no alibi for the time Geise disappeared.
Authorities tested the suspect's BMW car with Luminol, a substance designed to detect blood traces. The Luminol revealed spots on the vehicle, but there was not enough of a sample to determine whether the specks were blood, and Luminol can also test false-positive for about 100 other substances, notably bleach.
Several years after Geise's disappearance, the suspect's ex-wife told authorities she believed Geise's body was in a well on property she and the suspect had owned in Talbot County, Georgia. Investigators searched six well sites, but turned up only animal carcasses. The suspect has not been publicly identified and has never been charged in connection with Geise's case.
All of the employees working at Geise's company at the time, as well as her roommates and her fiance, were ruled out as suspects after her disappearance. She had no enemies authorities know of, and she was planning to marry just weeks after she vanished.
Geise is a native of Pensacola, Florida and had resided in Gwinnett County for about a year before she vanished. Investigators stated they had received no substantial leads in her disappearance since 1992, and her case is no longer being actively investigated.
Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved. Gwinnett, Georgia police are investigating.
Investigating Agency
- Gwinnett Police Department
- 770-513-5300
- 770-513-5100
Source Information
Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated November 1, 2019; picture added.