Money Crimes with Nicole Lapin - Misty Copsey: The Missed Bus Pt. 1

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

On September 17, 1992, 14-year-old Misty Copsey went to the Puyallup Fair in Washington with her best friend and never came home. The two girls missed the 8:40 PM bus back to Spanaway and split up to find their own way. The last anyone saw of Misty, she was standing alone near a bus stop after dark, told there were no more buses on her route that night. Then she walked off, and vanished. Leading to a decades long mystery. For more, follow The Final Hours wherever you listen to podcasts: https://pod.link/1872821250If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money, & Murder to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free, subscribe to Crime House+. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Scams, Money, & Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios.🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of Reddit, Crime House 24/7, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Murder True Crime Stories, and more wherever you get your podcasts!Follow me on SocialInstagram: @CrimehouseTikTok: @CrimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudiosX: @crimehousemediaYouTube: @crimehousestudios

Hi everyone, it's Vanessa Richardson. Real quick before today's episode, I want to tell you about a show I host with Forensic Psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels. It's called Serial Killers and Murderous Minds. Every Monday and Thursday, we take you deep into the psychology of the most chilling murderers and uncover what drives them to kill. Follow serial killers and murderous minds, available wherever you listen to podcasts. This is Crime House.

It's the night of Thursday, September 17. 19, 1992, and you're a bus driver finishing the last run of your shift in downtown Puyallup, Washington. The local fair is wrapping up, but there's one person you see in the crowd that catches your eye. A girl standing alone near the stop. She can't be more than 14. Everyone else seems to have a ride. She doesn't. She just needs to get home, up the hill to Spanaway, and she's realizing the last bus that goes there is already gone. You tell her, you're not headed. that way again tonight, but if she catches the next bus to Tacoma, 10 miles out of her way, she can pick up a connection home from there. She nods. Maybe she thinks you. And then you

pull away back into the dark. You don't know her name. You have no reason to remember her face. But in a few days, a frantic mother will track you down, because you may be one of the last people who saw Misty Copsie alive. That was more than 30 years ago. Misty's body has never been found. and no one was ever able to say what happened after she missed that last bus. Every year, over half a million people go missing, and that's just in the United States alone. Most of those stories barely get a headline.

Some don't even get a flyer or a tip line. And when cases do get media attention, we usually only get the broad strokes. But for those of us who have lived these true crime cases, we know the devil's in the details. This is the final hours, a crime house original powered by Pave Studios. I'm Sarah Turney.

And I'm Courtney Nicole. Every Monday and Wednesday, Sarah and I will be looking at the final hours of someone's disappearance. The small, seemingly mundane moments to see if there was anything hiding in plain sight. Looking back at all those last conversations, connections, and choices is critical. And it could be the key to unlocking it all. Each episode, I'll offer insight on what those close to the victim might have been going through. And Courtney will use her expertise to get more context into the crime scene, the red flags, and the investigation itself.

Crimehouse exists because of listeners like you. Want even more? Join Crimehouse Plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the Saturday before Part 1 even airs. Plus, plus crimehouse bonus episodes every month. To join, go to CrimehousePlus.com. Or if you listen on Apple Podcast, tap Try Free at the top of the final hour show page. As always, this show is made and recorded by humans, not AI. This time, we're discussing the disappearance of Misty Copsie.

On September 17, 1992, 14-year-old Misty went to affair with her best friend. When they missed the bus, they decided to split up and find their own ways back. But Misty never made it home that night. When we're young, we feel invincible. It's one of the best things about being a teenager, that certainty that nothing bad can touch you. The world still feels safe.

people still feel earnest and sincere. You haven't yet learned to see the signs of danger in a familiar face, or to ask what a stranger might really want. That openness isn't naive. It's how it's supposed to be. Kids should be able to trust the people around them, to assume that an adult will help them, not hurt them. The tragedy is when that trust is misplaced through no fault of their own.

So let us introduce you to Misty Copsie. She was born on March 10th, 1978, and almost immediately after birth, her parents separated, then formally divorced. For most of her life, Misty was raised by her single mother, Diana, who said she was always a really good kid. She consistently got A's and B's in school. She played team sports like softball, volleyball, and basketball. She never drank or smoked, and by 1992, at 14 years old, she was just starting to get interested in boys. She was mostly interested in other. good kids like herself, though. Boys who were well-behaved and got excellent grades. However, some of her loved ones said that she could be naive, common for a 14-year-old girl. But they said that

Misty sometimes acted young for her age. She skipped everywhere she went, and she was often caught singing the Sesame Street theme song. This made it hard for Misty now in the eighth grade to make friends. To make things harder, she and her mom moved that same year. They left the home where Misty had grown up in South Hill, Washington, and settled into a new duplex about nine miles away and span away. It wasn't a big move geographically. Diana and Misty were still in the Tacoma area, but it represented a huge change. Diana had saved for years to afford a bigger home in a nicer neighborhood. However, it did mean taking Misty further away from her friends.

This is a big move for her, and I feel like it can be kind of split, right? it's hard to move away from your friends. I feel like that's true for any kid anywhere in any situation. But it's also a fresh start for her. If the kids weren't so nice to her at school or she had a hard time making friends, this could be the fresh start that she needed. That's kind of like a really optimistic way to look at it. It's a good way to start fresh if you want to.

But yeah, like you said, I do think moving away from all your friends, especially in eighth grade when you usually are kind of already established at your school. And especially being a teenager, like that's just really, really hard. You know, you're already navigating so much that age. So I couldn't see it making someone more susceptible to peer pressure or just wanting to fit in. But that being said, by all accounts, Misty seemed like her own person. Well, Misty was always looking for opportunities to hang out with her old friends. So when the state fair came to Puyallup that fall, Misty really wanted to go.

It was close to her old neighborhood, within walking distance, in fact. She'd gone several times in past years. The problem was that Diana worked evenings as a nurse. She was an overnight in-home caretaker for a woman with Alzheimer's. Her client needed constant care and couldn't be left alone, meaning Diana couldn't pick Misty up that evening. But Misty knew that there was a public bus that ran the 10 miles from the fairgrounds to her home. So she asked her mom's permission to take that instead.

And Diana did have some hesitations. But ultimately, she agreed to drop Misty and her friend Trina Bavard off at the fair. and let them take the bus that evening. The girls arrived at the fairgrounds at about 3 p.m. on September 17th, 1992. They spend the afternoon going on rides, probably stuffing themselves with sweets and fried foods. According to a later statement from Trina,

they mostly keep to themselves that day. They don't meet up with anyone else. By 8 p.m., they're exhausted. They leave the fairgrounds and head toward the bus stop. Their bus leaves at 8.40, and Misty and Trina assume they have plenty of time to get there. But they've misjudged how long the walk takes, and they don't make it in time. At 840, the bus leaves, and Misty and Trina aren't on it.

Happy Halloween, Crimehouse listeners, I'm Vanessa Richardson. Join me every Sunday this month on Crimehouse 24-7 for Crime House of Horrors, where I dive into four stories behind some of our favorite scary movies. If you can't wait and want all four episodes now, ad-free, join Crimehouse Plus, Join on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or at Crimehouseplus.com. It's September 17, 1992, and Misty and Trina have missed the bus home from the fair. So they immediately start looking for otherways home. They don't have the bus schedule memorized, and they don't know how long it'll be before the next one comes,

which is a problem for Trina because she has a strict 10 o'clock curfew. On top of that, Trina never told her parents that she was going to be taking the bus. Before she left home that day, she lied and said Misty's mom was giving her a ride. So now she's really afraid of getting caught, which is why Trina doesn't call home for a ride, and Misty knows her mom can't leave work either. Instead, the girls make their way to a phone booth.

There, they dial everyone they know who has a license and a car. Supposedly, Misty reaches a friend who agrees to pick her up at the fairgrounds. Then she calls her mother to explain what happened. It's about 8.45 p.m. when Diana picks up the phone, Misty tells her that she missed the bus, but has arranged for an 18-year-old boy named Ruben Schmidt to take her home. As soon as Diana hears Ruben's name, she cuts Misty off. She says, quote, no, you're not doing that. I don't want you getting a ride from that kid.

I don't like that kid. You know I don't. Call somebody else, end quote. It's unclear if Diana ever met Rubin in person, but it's very possible. He used to live in their old neighborhood, which is how Misty knows him. Diana learned that Ruben had a crush on Misty earlier that year, but Misty turned him down. He wasn't her type. For one, he was too old for her.

He was 18, four years older, and a legal adult. Plus, Diana doesn't love the idea that Ruben had dropped out of school. Misty doesn't seem to be romantically interested in Rubin, but she does like Rubin as a friend, so she's been hanging out with him and talking on the phone with him regularly. But there was one time when Diana picked up the phone and heard Misty and Rubin chatting. According to her, Rubin was making some sexually graphic comments to her, which Diana heard firsthand. So no, she doesn't want her daughter alone in a car with him. So she tells Misty to keep asking around and find another way home.

I agree with Diana. And I don't know if my age is showing because, you know, now I'm 28 and I'm agreeing with the mom rather than, you know, the child. But I do agree. I think 18, like that's way too old to be talking to a 14-year-old. Yeah, a thousand percent. I mean, especially making those sexual comments, too. I think that that's more than enough for any parent to want to cut off this relationship entirely. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I feel like it's really tough when your only parent is working nights

because I'm sure that Misty probably felt like getting home by a certain hour and maybe by a certain person wasn't that big of a deal if her mom wasn't even home. That's where Diana jumps in. She's saying no. Like, I've heard you guys talking on the phone. I don't like that they dropped out of school. I don't like that he's four years older than you. These are all red flags.

You have to find a different way. And, I mean, by all accounts, it seems like maybe Misty agreed. But Misty's a good kid. She tells her mom she'll do what she can and reach out to more people. She'll figure something out. She even promises to call Diana back once she has a plan. After hanging up, Misty and Trina tried to think if there's anyone else to call. It's hard to say exactly what they decide.

The events of the next hour have never been verified. But we know. About a half hour later at roughly 9.20 p.m., a bus driver for a different route, talks to Misty. She's still lingering near the bus stop. And she's alone. There's no sign of Trina. Misty asks the driver when the next bus for her route will be coming by. But he tells her she missed the last one of the night.

There is one other way for her to get home, though. But it involves a roundabout trip. 10 miles back into Tacoma. Then she'll have to transfer to another bus that will eventually take her home. The trip will be almost 30 miles in total. And who knows how long that could take? Misty thinks there's got to be a better option.

So she shakes her head and walks away a bit defeated. And that's the last time she's ever seen. You know their names. You know their faces, but you've never heard these stories. On Celebrity Ghost Stories, an A&E original podcast presented by Rewind Studios, you'll hear spooky stories directly from the actors, musicians, and athletes you love in their own words. What do you do when a spirit saves you from the edge of death? When a single night in a strange hotel ends with you running for the door,

from angry spirits to haunted houses to unexplainable magic. These are true first-person accounts told. by the stars who lived through them. Follow Celebrity Ghost Stories, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. It's September 17, 1992. At about 8.45 p.m.,

Diana speaks to her 14-year-old daughter, Misty Copsie. She says she missed the bus, and was trying to find a ride home from a fair in Puyallup, Washington. When Diana doesn't hear from her for another hour or two, she starts to worry. Misty promised to call her back when she had a plan.

It isn't like Misty to forget to check in. And since Diana's still at work, she tries calling home to see if Misty made it there. But Misty doesn't pick up. As it gets later, Diana tells herself there's a logical explanation. Maybe Misty left the fairgrounds in a hurry and didn't have time to stop by a payphone. She could have gone straight to bed after getting home. Maybe she's asleep right now and doesn't realize that her mom is worried sick. But the moment Diana's shift ends the next morning, she speeds home as fast as she can.

She runs straight to Misty's room to find her bed is empty. Misty never made it back home. Diana's next move is to call 911 and report her daughter missing. When the dispatcher picks up, she begins describing the situation. But as soon as she says that Misty is 14 years old, the dispatcher seems to check out from the conversation. They say Misty's probably a real. runaway, and they add that usually when teenagers go missing, they turn up on their own a few days later. The dispatcher tells Diana that if Misty is still gone after 30 days, she can call back,

and then they'll open an investigation. One more time for those in the back, I said 30 days, which is absolutely insane. Diana's baffled by this advice too. She knows Misty did not run away. Since the 911 operator isn't willing to help her, Diana tries calling the county sheriff's department directly, except they say the case is out of their jurisdiction. Diana needs to call the Puyallup Police, and the Puyallet Police say the same thing as a dispatcher. They can't do anything because Misty is probably a runaway.

This is so infuriating just talking about it. I mean, it's unbelievable even for 1992. Diana's on her own and she knows it. She feels like she has no choice but to launch an investigation by herself. So that very same morning, she calls everyone she can think of who might have tabs on Misty. First, she calls Misty's friend Trina, who was with her at the fair. Trina tells her that she walked home from the fairground without incident, and adds that Misty was planning to take a later bus.

She has no idea what happened after they parted ways, though. Diana also calls Rubin, the boy Misty originally asked to give her a ride home. Ruben confirms that Misty called asking him to pick her up, but he says he told her he couldn't. His car was out of gas and he didn't have the money to refill his tank, so he never left his house. Days go by with no word for Misty. So Diana prints missing person flyers with Misty's photo and her phone number.

She hangs them up all over Spanoe in Pua. Diana also contacts numerous local reporters. Her hope is, if Misty's disappearance becomes a major news story, it will shame the police into opening an investigation. All the while, Diana privately suspects Ruben may have had something to do with her daughter's disappearance, especially once she talks to his roommate, James Tinsley. James contradicts Ruben's story about his car being out of gas. Instead, he says Ruben did leave to pick up Misty last night.

He had his uncle with him, but that's all the roommate knows for sure. Right after she's done talking to James, Diana calls Rubin again to demand the truth. but he sticks to his original story. He didn't pick Misty up. However, he does admit that he went to a party that night. He says, perhaps when he left the house, his roommate mistakenly thought he was on his way to get Misty. Diana doesn't buy anything Rubin tells her,

but six days go by without any breaks. Meanwhile, Diana keeps calling the police speaking to various departments and divisions. Each time she reaches someone, she demands they do something, and they do eventually respond, but not in the way she wants, because instead they begin investigating her. Thank you for listening to the final hours.

We'll be back with part two on Misty Copsie's case on Wednesday. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. Your thoughts, condolences, and feedback are what make this community so special. At Crime House, we value your support. Share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review, and follow the final hours to help others discover the show. And to enhance your listening experience, don't forget to join Crimehouse Plus at crimehouseplus.com.

Or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap Try Free at the top of the Final Hour's show page. The Final Hours is hosted by Sarah Turney and me, Courtney Nicole, and it's a Crimehouse original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Final Hours team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Betadon, Lori Baranelli, Natalie Partsovsky, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Angela Thomset, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. The police closed my sister's case in 2019.

Last month, her killer commented on my post. On Reddit, true crime doesn't come from journalists. It comes from the victims, the witnesses, and sometimes the suspects themselves. People post the things they never say out loud, anonymous, unfiltered, and completely real. And every Tuesday, on crimes of Reddit, we read them out loud. I'm Sabrina Deanna Roga from Two Girls, One Ghost. And I'm Alexis Linkletter from the first degree. Each week, one of us brings the most unhinged, true crime stories the internet has to offer.

And the other goes in completely blind. No prep, no spoilers, reacting in real time, same as you. And then we swap. And we pull every thread until the whole twisted picture comes into view. It's dark. It's messy. And the scariest part is that these are real. stories posted by real people. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Listen to and follow Crimes of Reddit, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to this episode from Crime House.

If you're looking for another show to check out, listen to serial killers and murderous minds. Every Monday and Thursday, Dr. Tristan Engels and myself dig into the most chilling murders and uncover what drives them to kill. Follow serial killers and murderous minds available. wherever you listen to podcasts.