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Missing Person — Perpetrators Convicted

The Disappearance of Sunny Sramek

● Convicted — Body Not Recovered Adult Female Nebraska
Name
Sunny Jone Sramek
Age at Disappearance
18
Last Seen
April 20, 2019
From
Trenton, Nebraska
Body Recovered
No
Primary Suspect
Floyd Clifford Coates Jr.
Convicted
November 25, 2025
Case Status
Perpetrators Convicted — Sentencing Pending
Sunny Jone Sramek | 2001–2019
Full NameSunny Jone Sramek
BornFebruary 23, 2001
Age18
Height5'7"
EyesBlue
HairBrown
TattoosLeft shoulder: feather "FLY" / Right ankle: red tribal sun
Last WearingDenim shorts, black tank top
About Sunny

Sunny Jone Sramek

Sunny Jone Sramek was born on February 23, 2001 in McCook, Nebraska, to parents Paula Johnson and Jody Sramek. She grew up in Trenton, a small town in southwest Nebraska, and was described by her family as kind, funny, artistic, and a lover of animals and the outdoors. She helped her father on his ranch and hunted wild turkeys. She loved to draw and took dance classes as a young girl. Her mother Paula was her closest friend.

In her teenage years Sunny experienced bullying at school and eventually transferred from Hitchcock County High School in Trenton to McCook Senior High School, 20 miles east, hoping for a fresh start. At the time of her disappearance she was living with her mother in Trenton and working toward her GED. She had married at 17 but was separated from her husband, who was not considered a suspect in her disappearance.

Sunny's family described her disappearance as all-consuming. Her mother Paula said she barely left her bedroom in the years that followed. Her cousin Reni Blome, who has a law enforcement background, created the Find Sunny Sramek Facebook page within days of Sunny going missing and never stopped searching. Her father Jody said he would give everything he had just to have his daughter home.

01
Background

What We Know

On the morning of April 20, 2019, the Saturday before Easter, Sunny Sramek left her mother's home in Trenton, Nebraska with a man named Floyd Clifford Coates Jr., 42. Coates had told Sunny and her mother that he was driving to Omaha, approximately 300 miles away, to pick up his niece, and invited Sunny to come along for company. Her mother Paula had met Coates before and Sunny seemed excited about the trip. Paula asked Sunny to check in regularly and gave Coates her phone number since Sunny did not have her own phone. Sunny left dressed in denim shorts and a black tank top, with jeans and a hoodie for the road.

At approximately 12:45 p.m., Sunny called her mother from a borrowed phone to say she was in Holdrege, Nebraska. Everything seemed fine. That was the last contact anyone had with her. She never came home. When she could not be reached that evening, Paula reported her missing to the Hitchcock County Sheriff's Office on April 21, 2019.

Coates gave two different accounts of what happened. In the first, he said they went to the Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, where Sunny waited in the truck because she was underage. He said when he returned to the vehicle around midnight she was gone. In a second version, he said she disappeared while he went inside an Omaha gas station to pay for fuel. In both accounts he said he left without notifying anyone that she was missing. Prosecutors later established a very different sequence of events. Forensic analysis found Sunny's DNA and a substantial amount of blood inside Coates' white 2004 Ford Explorer.

Case Timeline

How It Unfolded

April 20, 2019 — Morning
Sunny Leaves Trenton with Floyd Coates
Sunny leaves her mother's home in Trenton with Floyd Clifford Coates Jr., 42, in his 2004 white Ford Explorer (Iowa plate HGJ341). She believes they are making a day trip to Omaha to pick up Coates' niece. At 12:45 p.m. she calls her mother from a borrowed phone to say she has reached Holdrege, Nebraska. Everything seems fine. It is the last contact anyone has with her.
April 20, 2019 — Blair, Nebraska
Sunny Overdoses — Body Concealed
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Coates was operating a methamphetamine trafficking network and had arranged a drug run to Kansas City, unbeknownst to Sunny. The pair traveled to Blair, Nebraska, where Sunny overdosed on methamphetamine Coates had provided. A driver who was supposed to transport Coates to Kansas City witnessed Sunny's motionless body. Coates canceled the drug run and directed the driver to take him to the home of Dennis Lawson in Whiting, Iowa, on the Missouri River. Coates and Lawson disappeared for a time. When they returned, Sunny's body was gone. Lawson threatened the driver, saying if she told anyone it would be her funeral.
April 21, 2019
Reported Missing — FBI Joins Investigation
Paula Johnson reports Sunny missing to the Hitchcock County Sheriff's Office. The FBI's Omaha field office joins the investigation. Coates is immediately a focus. Federal agents execute search warrants at his home in May 2019 and begin building a case, finding firearms and ammunition. Coates gives investigators conflicting stories about Sunny's disappearance.
August 2023
FBI Offers $10,000 Reward
The FBI Omaha Field Office announces a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Sunny Sramek or the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance. Sunny's family speaks publicly about four years of grief and uncertainty.
May 2024
Coates and Lawson Indicted
Floyd Coates and Dennis Lawson are indicted on federal charges including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, obstruction of justice, and witness intimidation. The indictment covers Coates' broader criminal operation as well as actions taken to conceal evidence connected to Sunny's disappearance.
November 25, 2025
Both Men Convicted — Sentencing Pending
Following an 11-day trial in Sioux City, Iowa, a federal jury convicts Floyd Coates and Dennis Lawson on multiple counts of drug trafficking and obstruction of justice. The jury deliberates approximately two hours. Coates faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Lawson faces up to 20 years. Both remain in federal custody pending sentencing before Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Sunny's body has not been recovered. The FBI's page for Sunny Sramek remains active.
02
Investigation

The Investigation

Investigators focused on Floyd Coates from the earliest days of the investigation. Within weeks of Sunny's disappearance, FBI agents and Plymouth County authorities executed search warrants at Coates' home in Struble, Iowa, recovering firearms and ammunition. Coates had an extensive criminal record across Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, including prior convictions for drug distribution, false imprisonment, possession of a deadly weapon, assault, and theft. He was prohibited from possessing firearms at the time of Sunny's disappearance.

The most significant physical evidence came from forensic analysis of Coates' white 2004 Ford Explorer. Investigators found Sunny's DNA and a substantial amount of blood inside the vehicle, providing direct physical evidence of what happened to her. Coates later told multiple confidants that he had thrown Sunny's body into the Missouri River after she died. He told at least one person "no body, no case," apparently believing her disappearance would shield him from prosecution.

Dennis Lawson's involvement was established through witness testimony. A driver who transported Coates to Lawson's property on the Missouri River told prosecutors she witnessed Sunny's motionless body and was later threatened by Lawson, who told her that speaking to law enforcement would be her funeral. Lawson had already been in state custody since 2021 for an unrelated robbery conviction when federal charges were filed against both men in 2024.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel described the convictions as the result of years of tireless effort by a team of FBI personnel who never stopped looking for Sunny. The investigation involved multiple agencies across Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. Sunny's body has not been recovered. Prosecutors, family, and investigators continue to seek information about where her remains may be.

03
The Convicted

Floyd Coates & Dennis Lawson

Floyd Clifford Coates Jr.
Floyd Clifford Coates Jr.
Age 44 — St. Francis, Kansas — Acquaintance of Sunny
Charges: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, obstruction of justice, possession of firearm and ammunition as a felon and drug user, armed career criminal enhancement
Convicted: November 25, 2025 — Federal jury, Sioux City, Iowa
Maximum Sentence: Life in prison
Status: In federal custody — sentencing pending before Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand
Key Evidence: Sunny's DNA and blood in his Ford Explorer, statements to confidants about disposing of body in Missouri River, conflicting stories to law enforcement
Dennis Lawson
Dennis Lawson
Age 65 — Whiting, Iowa
Charges: Obstruction of justice, witness intimidation
Convicted: November 25, 2025 — Federal jury, Sioux City, Iowa
Maximum Sentence: 20 years
Status: In federal custody — sentencing pending. Was already serving a 10-year Iowa state sentence for unrelated robbery when federal charges were filed.
In Memoriam

She Is Not Forgotten

Sunny Sramek was 18 years old. She loved to draw. She helped her dad on his ranch and hunted turkeys. She called her mother her best friend. She had a tattoo on her shoulder that said FLY. She left home that April morning for what she thought was a day trip, told her mother she was in Holdrege and everything was fine, and never came home.

Her mother spent years barely leaving her bedroom. Her father said he would give everything he had to have her home. Her cousin Reni built a search operation before law enforcement took the case seriously, and kept it alive for six years. Her family never stopped looking and never stopped asking the public to remember her.

Two men have now been convicted in connection with her disappearance. Sunny's body has not been found. The people who loved her are still waiting to bring her home.

"Sunny Sramek went missing more than six years ago. But the investigators' dedication kept her case from going cold. Thanks to them, these two criminals now face judgment for Sunny's disappearance."
United States Attorney Leif Olson — December 2025
Sources
FBI Omaha Field Office | U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa | KNOP News (multiple reports, 2019–2025) | 1011 Now | Star Herald | KSNB Local 4 | Heavy.com | The Charley Project | Disappeared Blog | Bite-Sized Crime Podcast
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