Episode 190: Tracy Gostomski-Tribble

When a woman disappears after a fight with her husband, his story doesn’t match the evidence. What really happened to Tracy Gostomski-Tribble?

Episode Media

Tracy Denese Gostomski-Tribble *(Find a Grave)*

Stanley Tribble *(Iowa Department of Corrections)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a case that I came across while researching last week’s episode, one that took place just across the river. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

In the spring of 2006, 35-year-old Tracy Gostomski-Tribble was living in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a city on the banks of the Missouri River, which formed the border between Iowa and Nebraska. Tracy worked as a travel agent, and her husband, 40-year-old Stanley Tribble, worked in the service department at a local car dealership. Tracy and Stanley had met in 2003 and decided to get married after just a few months of dating, despite the fact that Tracy’s family didn’t particularly like Stanley. Tracy’s father John later recalled telling Tracy that she could do better. Tracy was outgoing and fun, and her family worried that being in the wrong relationship would dull her sparkling personality.

Unfortunately, their worries weren’t unfounded. Tracy and Stanley fought constantly, and the police were called to their home multiple times, the first time just three months after their wedding. Neighbors described hearing loud voices and slamming doors at all hours of the night, the arguments usually fueled by alcohol. Tracy and Stanley would get drunk, start a fight, then call a friend or family member to intervene. One of them would leave in a drunken fury, swearing it was the last straw, but within a few hours, they would make up, and the cycle would start over again.

On May 1, 2006, Tracy and Stanley got into another argument. Stanley called their friend Chris, who was also their landlord, and asked him to come over and mediate, claiming Tracy was out of control. When Chris arrived, he found the couple in separate rooms, screaming at each other across the house. It was clear they were both intoxicated. Chris told Tracy to go to bed and encouraged Stanley to go to his sister’s house for the night, which he did. They needed time away from each other to cool down.

The next morning, Tracy called in sick to work, likely hungover and exhausted after a night of fighting. She talked to Stanley’s sister over the phone and told her that she wanted to go to marriage counseling, but Stanley refused. He kept threatening to get her fired from her job, and she was worried that Chris would kick them out of the house. Tracy even called Chris and begged him not to evict them, but Chris assured her that he wasn’t planning on kicking them out. They needed to get help and work out their issues.

But later that night, the cycle began again. Tracy called Stanley’s sister just before 11pm, drunk and crying. She and Stanley were fighting again, and Tracy was upset that Stanley wouldn’t talk to her about their marital problems. She kept trying to apologize, but he wouldn’t listen. Stanley’s sister told Tracy to calm down and go to sleep – she would check on her in the morning.

The next day, Wednesday, May 3rd, Stanley’s sister called him and asked if he and Tracy had made up yet. Stanley told her that Tracy had been up all night pacing back and forth, shouting and slamming doors. When his alarm went off at 5am, he had barely slept a wink. He left for work an hour later, leaving Tracy asleep in her bed. He hoped she would be in a better mood when he got home.

Around 5:30 that evening, Stanley called his sister again. He said he had just arrived home from work and Tracy wasn’t in the house. However, her car was parked outside, and her purse and cell phone were on the kitchen counter. He had also gotten an alarming phone call from the local animal shelter telling him that Tracy’s dog had been found running around a nearby cemetery. Tracy loved her dog and would never leave him unattended. Stanley’s sister encouraged him to call some of Tracy’s friends and family members to see if they had heard from her.

When Stanley called Tracy’s mom, Mary Gostomski said she hadn’t heard from her daughter all day. Stanley told her that he and Tracy had been arguing, and Tracy had said terrible things to him, telling him he was the worst mistake she’d ever made. Despite the seriousness of his words, Mary later recalled how Stanley sounded unconcerned, even bored, as he relayed the story. Mary told Stanley that he needed to call the police and report Tracy missing, and he said he would.

Shortly before 8pm, an officer from the Council Bluffs Police Department arrived at Tracy and Stanley’s home on Benton Street. Stanley told the officer that he had last seen his wife asleep in bed when he left for work at 6:00 that morning. When asked if Tracy had ever left before, Stanley said it wasn’t the first time she had disappeared after an argument – she usually just needed some time to cool off. According to Stanley, they had had “a little tiff” the night before, so at first he hadn’t been surprised to come home and find she was gone. But when he realized her car and purse were still at the house and her dog had been found running around the neighborhood, he knew something was wrong.

According to the police report, the officer didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary in the house. Stanley was polite and calm, and he didn’t have any obvious injuries. Because Tracy was an adult, the officer didn’t file a missing persons report at that time, but he did alert other patrol units in the area and told them to keep an eye out for Tracy Tribble.

The next day, May 4th, two detectives showed up at Stanley’s workplace and asked to speak with him. Tracy still hadn’t resurfaced, and the fact that she didn’t have her car or cell phone with her was concerning. Stanley told them the same story he’d told the night before, but this time he admitted that his and Tracy’s “little tiff” was more like an argument. He suspected that she might have gone to a friend’s house or had left to visit her mom in Omaha. She might have even gone to Las Vegas to see an ex-boyfriend. Again, Stanley was calm and cooperative, and he gave detectives permission to search his house and Tracy’s car. But their search didn’t turn up much – just a wallet with Tracy’s driver’s license and debit card.

As the days passed with no sign of Tracy, her family and friends grew more and more concerned. Even if Tracy had disappeared on her own, she would have found a way to contact them and let them know she was okay. Her father flew in from Arizona and set up a search headquarters, gathering volunteers to paper Council Bluffs and Omaha with missing flyers. He even announced a $75,000 reward for information leading to Tracy’s whereabouts. He told The Daily Nonpareil that he was going to use every resource at his disposal to find his daughter. “I plan on being here until the point that I can’t do any more good.”

Over the next week, officers searched the Tribble home several more times with Stanley’s permission, hoping they could find some indication of where Tracy might have gone. But then, Stanley hired an attorney, who told the police that they would need a warrant to perform any more searches of the house.

On May 9th, detectives interviewed Stanley again. This time, Stanley said that he and Tracy always fought, and he had recently been thinking about divorce. He told them, “If you can’t get along with someone and you’re fighting all the time, you’ve got to get away from each other.”

Stanley also told detectives that he didn’t think Tracy was still alive; she’d been gone far too long. But he didn’t know what had happened to her.

Council Bluffs police issued a plea to the public to call in with any information about Tracy. Police Sgt. Ray Mabbitt said, “We are trying to track down her friends, relatives, and coworkers, and touch base with everyone to let them know that we are looking for her. Everyone would like her to call home and let her family know she is OK.”

On May 11th, the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office announced that they were charging Stanley Tribble with misdemeanor serious assault domestic abuse stemming from a previous incident. According to court records, Tracy had called the police on April 3rd to report that Stanley had assaulted her during an argument. She said he had been so angry that he had ripped the bedroom door off its hinges, then grabbed her around the throat and punched her in the chest. After he stormed out of the house, Tracy called 911. When police found Stanley in his car just a few blocks away, he denied assaulting Tracy, saying she had just fallen down the stairs. He was arrested, and a no-contact order was issued, but it was dismissed just two days later, and Stanley was released. Now, eight days after his wife disappeared, Stanley was officially being charged with assault.

Meanwhile, the community continued to search for Tracy. The family organized large-scale searches of the city and established a dedicated tip line. Tracy’s father John went on several news shows to talk about his daughter’s case. He told NBC News, “We’re hoping that she is still alive… hopefully she will see this and see that we do love her and would really, really love to have her call, and that‘s what our hope is.”

On Friday, May 19th, a worker spraying pesticides at a cabin along the Missouri River spotted something floating along the banks. When he got closer, he saw that it was the body of a woman. He called 911, and soon, dozens of officers from the Council Bluffs Police Department and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office swarmed the scene. The woman’s body was pulled from the water and transported to the state crime lab for identification and autopsy. Through tattoos and dental records, the woman was positively identified as Tracy Gostomski-Tribble.

Tracy’s stepsister Christine made a statement on behalf of the family, saying, “The fact that she was found, even though this wasn’t how we wanted this to end, gives us some closure.”

It would be a while before the results of Tracy’s autopsy were released and her cause and manner of death were determined, so investigators could only continue moving forward on the information they had. On May 23rd, they executed another search warrant on the Tribble home, this time specifically looking for signs of a struggle that may have left DNA evidence behind. According to the police report, investigators seized pillowcases and bedding along with the vinyl bladder and lining of a waterbed. They also seized one of the family’s vehicles and sent it for forensic analysis. Investigators were starting to put together the puzzle, but they were still missing some important pieces.

On June 1st, hundreds of Tracy’s friends and family members gathered together to celebrate her life. They shared their favorite memories, speaking about her love of animals and her dreams for the future. She was described as a firecracker, full of energy and positivity that she spread to everyone around her.

They also touched on Tracy’s turbulent relationship and her desire for peace. Reverend Michael Harvey spoke boldly to the gathered mourners, encouraging anyone who was experiencing domestic violence to reach out for help. “No matter what you’ve done, you do not deserve to be hit or verbally abused. The only way to find relief is to get out now. The sanctity of marriage is no excuse for abuse.”

Through it all, Stanley Tribble sat in the back of the funeral home, listening in silence.

Finally, on August 5th, the results of Tracy’s autopsy were announced. The medical examiner reported that Tracy had suffered numerous blunt force injuries to her body, including at least three blows to the head. The bones on the left side of her face had been fractured, and several teeth were missing. Tracy’s blood alcohol level was .25 percent, three times the legal limit. The medical examiner stated that while her intoxication and head injuries contributed to her death, Tracy’s likely cause of death was asphyxiation. With all factors considered, Tracy’s death was officially ruled a homicide.

Tracy’s family was heartbroken by the news. At a press conference, her mother spoke through tears, saying, “I am just as hurt today as I was three months ago when she went missing. We miss her so much; she was my only child – I miss her so much.”

County Attorney Matt Wilber told the press that they would be fighting for justice until the end. “My goal is not to see Tracy’s murderer arrested. My goal is to see Tracy’s murderer convicted.”

Three days later, Stanley Tribble was arrested at his place of work and charged with first-degree murder. He was now facing a life sentence.

In January of 2007, Stanley pleaded guilty to the domestic violence charge against him and was given the maximum allowed sentence of thirty days in jail. It would be another five months before his murder trial began.

When it did, the jury listened to hours of testimony centered on Stanley Tribble’s history of domestic abuse. Several of Stanley’s ex-girlfriends had reported incidents of violence, and he had been arrested on multiple occasions. Tracy herself had documented Stanley’s abuse, and their friends and family members often witnessed their fights.

Mary Gostomski told the jury that Tracy had once called her from a gas station after Stanley had kicked her out of the car in the middle of a fight. Stranded without her cell phone, Tracy had hitchhiked to a nearby town and called her mother for help. Mary also recounted other instances of abuse that Tracy had relayed to her, including a time when Stanley had held her down and spit food into her face. Mary tried to get her daughter to leave, but Tracy believed she could make the relationship work.

The jury also heard recordings of 911 calls made by Tracy during their fights, and an expert in domestic violence testified about the cycle of abuse, explaining the various techniques used by abusers to control and break their victims.

One of Stanley’s friends testified about a recent event in which she had reached out to Stanley for advice on her own relationship. Through tears, the woman told the jury, “He said I better get out of the relationship before I end up like Tracy.”

Two inmates who had met Stanley in the county jail testified that he had confessed to killing Tracy. The first inmate said that Stanley blamed Tracy for everything, saying that he just wanted to shut her up, but after striking the first blow, there was no turning back.

The second inmate’s testimony was very similar. He said that Stanley had described delivering the blows to Tracy’s head and face. When the inmate asked how the fight had ended, Stanley said, “I took care of it. You know what I did. I took care of it.”

Stanley’s defense team claimed that Tracy had been suicidal, telling the jury that she had been hospitalized in 2005 after attempting to take her own life. But the medical examiner testified that Tracy’s wounds were not at all consistent with suicide, nor were they consistent with a fall down the stairs as Stanley had originally told police. The defense rested without calling any witnesses.

After eight hours of deliberation, the jury found Stanley Tribble guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At the sentencing, Tracy’s family spoke about how much she meant to them and how deeply her death had impacted them. Her aunt Betty said, “We will never get to see Tracy again. There will never be any more Tracy stories. We will never get to see her extraordinary beauty, never get to hear her bubble laughter, never hear her enthusiasm over just about everything, never see her live her life, never know what her future held, never see her grow old.”

Tracy’s mother Mary gave a brief statement, invoking her daughter’s own words. “My statement is limited to simply saying what my daughter said Saturday night prior to his murdering her. Yes, Stan Tribble, you are the worst mistake Tracy ever made.”

After the trial, Tracy’s family rented billboard space in Council Bluffs, displaying a message of gratitude to all who helped in the search for justice. Tracy’s beautiful face smiled down on her community one last time.

Tracy Gostomski-Tribble was caught in a tragic cycle of abuse she could not fix or escape. She deserved better. If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Help is free and confidential. You don’t have to suffer alone.