Alpine Haus: From Military Haven to Crime Scene

By Roberto Garcia | 14 September 2025

Forgotten Histories Along Route 66

On the edge of Old Route 66 in St. Robert, Missouri, the Alpine Haus stands in ruin. Its faded facade and boarded windows barely hint at the layers of life — and decay — within its walls. Once, this was more than just a building. For military families at nearby Fort Leonard Wood, it was a first stop for housing, a temporary shelter during a season of transition. For others, it was a last resort.

From Haven to Headline

Over the years, Alpine Haus shifted from apartments to extended-stay motel, and with that change came a darker chapter. Locals recall calls to police: drugs, fights, and a long history of disturbance reports. Court filings confirm a trail of disputes and evictions through the 1990s and 2000s【Missouri Case.net】.

But in 2013, Alpine Haus was thrust into the spotlight for something far worse: a homicide inside the motel.

The 2013 Homicide

By 2013, Alpine Haus already had a reputation for trouble. But on an August night, its notoriety deepened. According to police reports, officers with the St. Robert Police Department responded to calls of a violent disturbance. Inside one of the rooms, they discovered a man fatally wounded【Pulaski County Daily News, 2013】.

The probable cause statement filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court described Alpine Haus as both a location of narcotics activity and the site of the killing【Pulaski County Circuit Court, 2013 Case Files】.

Detectives quickly identified a suspect, and prosecutors charged them with homicide. Coverage at the time in the Pulaski County Weekly captured community sentiment: Alpine Haus was “a magnet for trouble” — a place where violent crime felt inevitable【Pulaski County Weekly, 2013】.

The 2013 killing crystallized what many already feared — that Alpine Haus was no longer housing, but a hazard.

Declared a Nuisance

A decade later, city officials acted. In March 2024, City Attorney Tyce Smith reported at a council meeting that the nuisance case was complete and demolition could proceed【Pulaski County Daily News, March 12, 2024】.

By May, the council approved a $25,000 bond to appoint Michael Dunbar as receiver【Pulaski County Weekly, May 28, 2024】. In June, the Pulaski County Weekly reported Alpine Haus was officially declared a nuisance property, paving the way for demolition【Pulaski County Weekly, June 4, 2024】.

Court filings confirm this sequence. In case number 23PU-CV05055, City of St. Robert v. The Real Estate Investment, LLC, judges approved motions, bonded Dunbar as receiver, and ordered the property into statutory receivership【Missouri Case.net】.

What Remains

I walked the perimeter earlier this year, camera in hand. The silence was heavy. A “For Sale” sign leaned against the cracked pavement. Behind it, a collapsed “treehouse” structure clung to weeds, the last remnant left standing.

What had once been housing for service members had become a hollow shell — remembered more for crime reports than for families who once lived there.

This project isn’t just about documenting an abandoned property. It’s about accountability, memory, and what communities choose to erase or preserve. Every photograph I take, every record I pull, is part of tracing how a single property became a symbol — of transition, decline, violence, and the cost of being overlooked.

References

• Missouri Case.net: City of St. Robert v. The Real Estate Investment, LLC (23PU-CV05055) – Pulaski County Circuit Court filings.

• Pulaski County Circuit Court (2013 criminal filings) – probable cause statements and case records tied to the Alpine Haus homicide.

• Pulaski County Weekly (June 4, 2024) – “Legal action next step as Alpine Haus deemed ‘nuisance’ property.”

• Pulaski County Weekly (May 28, 2024) – Council notes on $25,000 bond for Michael Dunbar.

• Pulaski County Weekly (2013 coverage) – community reaction to homicide at Alpine Haus.

• Pulaski County Daily News (March 12, 2024, Facebook) – City Attorney Tyce Smith on demolition and nuisance filing.

• Pulaski County Daily News (2013 coverage) – reporting on homicide investigation at Alpine Haus.