Terra Kunz

Last year, the manager of a Cody liquor store was discovered to have stolen more than $193,000 from the business. Now, her replacement at Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor and Lounge is alleged to have stolen over $26,000 from the store.

Terra Kunz, 37, had been managing Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor and Lounge since early 2024. She took over after the termination of longtime manager Julia “Julie” Harvey, who was recently convicted of felony theft and placed on probation for stealing $193,267 from the store over a period of several years.

Kunz is now facing her own felony theft charge. Park County prosecutors allege that Kunz stole $26,833.68 from Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor between late April and early May.

After being confronted by the store’s owner about some missing deposits, charging documents say Kunz disappeared for three weeks before being arrested Thursday evening in Cody. Kunz remained in jail on Monday, with her bail set at $26,000.

Prior to last week’s arrest, one of the store’s owners received a lengthy, apologetic text that appeared to have come from Kunz.

“I got caught up with some people and got myself in a situation I felt I couldn’t get out of thinking I was helping someone,” said a portion of the text. “What I did was wrong and I am beyond embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I know I deserve everything that I have coming my way.”

The text added that the store’s owner “didn’t deserve any of this.”

Missing money, missing person

According to an affidavit composed by Cody Police Det. Scott Burlingame, the trouble at Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor started when several deposits for the week of April 21-27 were made late or not at all.

One of the store’s owners noticed the discrepancy and called Kunz on May 6, telling her the deposits needed to be made immediately. Kunz agreed, but then stopped showing up for work, the affidavit says, last being seen on May 7.

When Kunz still hadn’t turned up by Monday, May 12, the store owner called Cody police and asked them to check on her welfare. Officers didn’t find Kunz, but her mother called dispatch to report that Kunz was fine and on vacation.

However, when Burlingame contacted the mother a few days later, she said that Kunz “had in fact been missing” and that she had no idea where Kunz was, the affidavit says. The woman said Kunz’s three children “had essentially been abandoned to her care,” Burlingame wrote.

While the officer was repeatedly unable to get ahold of Kunz, he was told that Kunz had called one of her children and said she was trying to earn enough gas money to come back home; a debit card transaction indicated she might have been in Riverton on May 13.

In the meantime, Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor reviewed its records and concluded that 11 different deposits were missing, the affidavit says. A surveillance camera captured Kunz leaving the store with an apparent bank bag on the morning of May 7.

Then on May 20, one of Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor’s owners got the text that appeared to have come from Kunz. It said she would be turning herself in to Cody authorities the following week.

“You were nothing but amazing to me and that will always be my biggest regret out of all of this,” Kunz reportedly wrote to the owner. “I will pay you back every penny that I owe you. No matter how long it takes me.”

Arrested and held

Kunz didn’t turn herself in last week, but on Thursday evening, Cody officers responded to a report of a damaged, abandoned vehicle on A Street. They determined that the vehicle belonged to Kunz and ultimately found her at her mother’s home, said Cody Police Lt. Juston Wead. Being familiar with the pending theft case and the difficulty that Burlingame had in locating Kunz, they took her into custody.

At a Friday morning hearing in Park County Circuit Court, Deputy County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele recommended that Kunz’s bail be set at $26,000.

“Unfortunately for Ms. Kunz, this one is going to be commensurate with what she stole,” Eichele said of his recommendation.

For her part, Kunz asked for “something attainable for my family.”

“I have three kids. I’m also in the process of losing my place, and I can’t do anything about it if I’m in here,” she said, adding that she’d never been in trouble before.

However, Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah opted to stick with Eichele’s recommendation.

“I put a lot of weight in what he [recommends]. He knows a lot more of the information about the case than I do,” Darrah said, adding that Eichele is “typically pretty fair.”

Not the first theft

In what appears to be a complete coincidence, the first time that Kunz is alleged to have missed a deposit was the same day that her predecessor, Julie Harvey, was sentenced for stealing $193,267 from Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor and Lounge.

Court records show Harvey stole most of the proceeds from the establishment’s skill gaming machines between early 2021 and early 2024. While Harvey was ordered to repay that money to the store — plus the cost of a subsequent audit — District Court Judge Bill Simpson said they’ll be lucky if half of the losses are recouped; Harvey is retired, has limited assets outside of her home and suffers from health problems, according to statements made in court.

At an April 21 sentencing hearing, Simpson and the store’s owners expressed some reluctance about the plea deal that prosecutors offered to Harvey. It resulted in three years of probation and the immediate repayment of $26,500. She agreed to pay $75 a month toward the remaining $176,767 debt.

Although Harvey stole seven times as much as Kunz is alleged to have taken, Harvey received a smaller $250 cash bond while her case was pending (Eichele had unsuccessfully requested a $10,000 cash or surety bond). Harvey also only served just a few hours in jail, while Kunz had already spent parts of five days in custody as of press time Monday.

A preliminary hearing in Kunz’s case is tentatively set for Friday.