Christine ‘Christy’ Marie Eastin.

Christine ‘Christy/Christie’ Marie Eastin was born to Barney and Dorothy (nee Martin) on January 4, 1952. Mrs. Eastin was born on August 15, 1918 in Whitman, Washington and Barney was born in Bowling Green, Missouri on July 26, 1920; after getting married the family briefly lived in Seattle before settling down in Hayward, California. It appears that Christine’s Dad died when she was only ten years old at the age of 42 on September 23, 1962. I couldn’t find much else about her background other than she had an older sister named Victoria that was born in 1946. The blonde haired, blue eyed homecoming queen graduated from Sunset High School in 1970. She was 5’7″ and at the time of her disappearance weighed 130 pounds. Christine had a ⅜ inch long scar in the center of her forehead and a surgical scar on her abdomen from an intestinal operation.

Christy was popular and very well liked among her peers; her friends and loved ones said she was a very sweet, beautiful young woman with a gentle spirit that was kind to everyone. In high school she participated in the drama club, was a ‘song girl’ (which was Sunset HS’s version of a cheerleading squad), and a member of Orchesis (which looks like some sort of chorus group). Judy Ruiz-Verhoek, a childhood friend of Eastin’s, said she was ‘just very sweet. Just a gentle spirit, very kind.’ Six months out of high school, in early 1971 Christy was taking classes at Chabot College and was supposed to start a new job at a bank the morning after she disappeared. The nineteen-year old had finally saved up enough money to buy a pair of black boots she had her eye on, so early in the evening on January 18, 1971 she went shopping with her friend Sandy Lemmon-McBride at Mervyn’s in nearby San Lorenzo. In a KTVU interview, Sandy said of the trip: ‘we went to Mervyn’s, we got the boots, she dropped me off at 9:30, and before she left added, ‘’I’m going to go wash the car,’ which she promised she’d do before returning it.’ After the friends were done shopping Eastin dropped Sandy off then went home, which was in a middle-class neighborhood in Hayward, California. After showering she told her family she was going to have her loaner car (a blue 1969 Maverick) washed before she picked up its owner (her ex-bf George Sponsel) from work at a Jack in the Box restaurant located at Mission & Pinedale Court. Despite their relationship technically being over, Christy reportedly still had feelings for her ex-bf and according to reports she desperately wanted to get back together with him. Her friend Sandy said: ‘I know they dated for a while, and she really, really liked him.’ … ‘It sounded like he was ready to move on, and she wasn’t.’ She left her house roughly around 10 PM and was expected to arrive at the Jack in the Box around 11 PM (giving her a little less than an hour to get the car washed when you take drive time into consideration). Christine was last seen wearing a black/brown leather coat, blue pants, her new knee-high black boots, a red/white/blue pinstripe tunic, and a bluish gold scarf.

But Eastin never showed up to pick up George. At around midnight, he called her house asking where she was, and her mother woke up the household then drove straight to the car wash. The Maverick was there, but Chris wasn’t. The car was locked and her purse and scarf were found on the front seat. Immediately after arriving on the scene LE noted several strange details: some papers were found scattered on the ground on the passenger’s side of the vehicle, almost as if there had been a struggle (I did read in two different places that the papers were found next to the drivers side versus the passengers). Despite these alarming signs, investigators initially treated her case as if she were a runaway and her disappearance was barely reported by the media: a local newspaper printed a short blurb on her but nothing more (I was unable to find it despite hours of searching). The first time her story made the TV news was over 30 years after she vanished. I mean, let’s think about her disappearance logically: Eastin was a nineteen year old woman that lived at home her entire life and completely vanished off the face of the earth. All of her worldly possessions were left behind and she had no money; her bank accounts went untouched and her social security number hasn’t had any activity associated with it as well. She had no vehicle and nowhere to go. Obviously she disappeared before the days of the internet and cell phones, so she didn’t meet some guy online then leave to go be with him. Why didn’t the police take situations like this more seriously from the beginning? There’s no reason to hold off investigating and they obviously lose valuable time when they wait like that.

Before leaving home that fateful night Christine didn’t tell any of her loved ones that she was going anywhere other than the car wash then the Jack in the Box. Her family immediately knew something was wrong: she had left everything behind and had a lot of plans for the future. She would never just up and run away. Her sister said: ‘The car was parked by the vacuum cleaners, and her purse and scarf were on the front seat, and the car was locked.’ Eastin was unaccounted for for less than 2 hours, and it’s as if she vanished off the face of the earth. After speaking to Sponsel, investigators allowed him to take his car home a few days later and it was never processed for evidence.

The weekend before she disappeared, Chris spent some time with a group of girlfriends at Charlene Cox’s home on Alice Street in Haywood. The friends gossiped, shared secrets, and even worked on a 1,200 piece puzzle (which was put away unfinished and never touched again). After she vanished Cox and the other friends searched the hills surrounding Hayward looking for Eastin but came up with nothing. Ruiz-Verhoek has made it a priority in her life to solve the mystery of what happened to her friend. Christine’s childhood classmate has looked into reports of dead bodies, looked for clues on the streets of her hometown, and even took the ‘advice’ of psychics who told her where they thought her remains might be located. Judy even dug up a skeleton that later was determined to be animal in nature.

Eastin’s loved ones feverishly searched Hayward and its surrounding areas, showing strangers her picture while pleading with them for any information they may have had on the missing young woman. Charlene Cox said that: ‘If you knew Chris Eastin, I bet you remember exactly what you were doing when you heard she’d disappeared. Her mother’s frantic call woke me up that night, something I’ll never forget, even though I reassured her Chris must be on her way home. I never imagined she’d leave us in such an abrupt and brutal fashion. Chris, Holly Pekkonen and I used to play together at Highland Elementary School in the Hayward hills. They moved, we lost touch, until years later when high school varsity games reconnected Christy and me, both song girls, she for the Sunset High Falcons, and I for the Hayward High Farmers. Later, it was great to further refresh our long-ago friendship at Chabot College, but Christy would only know the exhilaration of being a teen in college for one full session. If you sent her a card that Christmas, it still exists. She’d kept them, treasuring her friendships. So many of you were much closer friends of hers than I, who shared all those ‘growing-up’ years.’ … ‘‘She was one of those sweet people everyone seemed to like. There was never any gossip about her. She didn’t cut school, didn’t do drugs… she was very much into being rah-rah for class spirit.’

In a KTVU interview from March 7, 2019, Christine’s sister Victoria Eastin-Cordova commented about the carefree time of the 70’s and that ‘everyone was kind of footloose and fancy-free and kind of taking off in their what, Volkswagen buses.’ Because of this, the Hayward Police Department most likely suspected that she may have just taken off and didn’t take her disappearance very seriously in the beginning. Chris wasn’t involved in ‘hippie culture’ and didn’t use drugs in any capacity. She had a good group of friends and didn’t hang out with the wrong crowd. Ruiz-Verhoek speculates that on the night she disappeared Eastin may have been in a vulnerable situation to someone with sinister intentions, being alone at night, and: ‘I just always felt that she would be a sitting duck, you know? She was so pretty and striking.’ About the ex-boyfriend as being a suspect in her disappearance, former Hayward PD Captain Jason Martinez said ‘We’ve pretty much eliminated him as a suspect.’ According to Christine’s NAMUS page, George Sponsel was killed in an industrial accident about a month after she disappeared (I did see in a few articles that he died in a car accident).

Sunset High School’s 1970 Homecoming King was Simon Flores, who has always felt that it was possible someone could have seen Chris as an attractive target: ‘Christine was a beautiful young lady. She was like a Barbie doll.’ … ‘I think somebody sort of stumbled upon her, somehow.’ According to loved ones, she was a reliable young woman that would never make her family worry needlessly. She wasn’t depressed or suicidal, and was excited about her new job as a bank teller and the future in general. Victoria said that ‘the police didn’t touch it for 72 hours or take it seriously.’ Most missing persons cases are opened and closed within a week, said retired Concord Police Detective Kurt Messick. He also said that suspicious disappearances are rare but that Eastin’s case would most likely trigger an intense investigation if it happened today. Former Hayward police Captain Manuel Silva went to Sunset High School with Eastin and seemed to be on the same page as Messick: that investigators handle missing persons cases completely differently now and that when Chris disappeared it was customary to wait 72 hours to take a report (which could only be a paragraph in length). In today’s times, LE is required by the state Department of Justice to take a report immediately and policing agencies must give ‘priority to handling of the report.’

Dave Legro was the Hayward police officer that took the report at the self-operated car wash back in 1971. He saw the Ford Maverick in the parking lot, and: ‘to me, it looked like it was staged,’ and that it looked like that the scene may have tried to make it look like Christy was kidnapped, and that: ‘the papers on the ground looked like it was for dramatic appeal.’ According to Legro, he ‘learned that she might have been pregnant and wondered if that somehow played a part in her disappearance.’ To this, her sister commented: ‘very possibly, she could have maybe said, you know, ‘I’m pregnant or something, you’ve got to be with me’ or maybe things got out of hand that way.’ Legro said that the case has bothered him his entire life.

Strangely enough, another young woman I talked about in a previous article named Cindy Lee Mellin disappeared two days after Christine was last seen (I mentioned her in my article on Robin Graham, who is coincidentally also from California). The 19 year old college student was last seen in Ventura, CA at 9:40 PM on January 20, 1970 at the Buenaventura Shopping Center. She was standing by her car and was in the company of a man who appeared to be between 30 and 40 years old and was driving a light colored vehicle. He appeared to be helping Mellin change the left rear tire in her car. Her dad found her vehicle at the mall the next day with a bumper, jack, and flat tire left behind; a sharp object had perforated the side of the tire and the spare was found nearby. Cindy Mellin was never seen or heard from again, and no trace of her has ever been recovered.

At the time Eastin was murdered in January 1971, Bundy was living in Seattle at the Rogers Rooming house on 12th Avenue and was in a long term relationship with Elizabeth Kloepfer. He was also an undergraduate psychology student at the University of Washington, and something interesting I learned while researching this article is that the school follows a quarter system instead of semesters. Under normal circumstances he would have either been on winter break or in the first week or two of classes, but this may not have been the case since they were on quarters (as Bundy may have been in the middle of a semester at the time). At the time he was employed as a delivery driver for Pedline Supply Company, which was a family-owned medical supply company (he was there from June 5, 1970 to December 31, 1971). There’s been a few unconfirmed victims from 1971 I’ve written about, Joyce LePage and Rita Curran are the first two that come to mind. LePage was a 21-year-old junior taking summer classes at Washington State University and was last seen alive on the evening of July 22, 1971 when friends dropped her off at her apartment. Her remains were found nine months later on April 16, 1972 in a gully about 10-15 miles south of Pullman in remote Wawawai Canyon. Rita Curran was a schoolteacher taking summer classes in Burlington, VT that was murdered in her bed in the early morning hours of July 20, 1971. The Burlington Medical Examiner determined that she had been beaten, sexually assaulted, and asphyxiated. They also found evidence that the young woman had fiercely resisted her attacker and put up a ‘vicious struggle.’ In February 2023 it was determined that William DeRoos killed Curran.

The ‘TB Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992’ doesn’t give much information for Bundy’s whereabouts for 1971… just that he was in school at the University of Washington and that he left his job at Pedline at the end of the year. I also referenced my copy of Dr. Robert Dielenberg’s text, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline,’ and on page 86 it says: ‘January 1971: Ted back again at the Univ. Wash; takes up studies in psychology.’ (page 86.) Did he make the 10+ hour drive to Hayward from Seattle to abduct then kill Eastin in January 1971? During Bundy’s death row confessions he told Dr. Robert Keppell that he committed his first murder in 1972. But I mean, it’s no secret he was a compulsive liar so obviously nothing he says can really be taken as 100% truth. In a separate event, when asked when he committed his first murder the serial killer refused to answer. He did admit to killing one woman in California but they have not been identified.

Another serial killer whose name frequently comes up in relation to the disappearance of Christine Eastin is Richard Allen Davis. Davis is a serial murderer whose actions began efforts for the passage of California’s ‘three-strikes law’ for repeat offenders and the involuntary civil commitment act for sex offenders and predators; it was signed into law on March 8, 1994. By the time he was 12, Davis was placed on probation for burglary and forgery. He dropped out of school his sophomore year of high school and told a psychiatrist that stealing relieved any ‘tensions’ that were building up inside him. When Davis was in court for a motorcycle theft at 17 a judge gave him the choice of  joining the US Army or going to the California Youth Authority. He chose the Army and received a dishonorable discharge after 13 months of service. On October 12, 1973 he went to a party at the home of Marlene Voris, who was found dead of a gunshot wound later that same night. There were several notes found at the scene, and LE concluded that the 18-year-old committed suicide (although friends believe it was Davis that killed her). A few weeks after Voris’ death, he was arrested for attempting to pawn property he had stolen. He confessed to a string of burglaries in La Honda and served six months in the county jail. Five weeks after his release on May 13, 1974 he was arrested for another burglary. He was sentenced to 6 months to 15 years in prison and was released on parole after serving only a year of his sentence.

On October 1, 1993 12-year-old Polly Klaas and two friends were having a slumber party at her home in Petaluma, California. Around 10:30 PM, an intoxicated Richard Davis entered her bedroom carrying a knife he stole from the Klaases’ kitchen. He told them that he was only there for money and wouldn’t hurt them. He tied Polly’s friends up, put pillowcases over their heads, told them to count to 1,000, then left with Klaas. On the evening of December 4, 1993, Davis confessed to kidnapping and murdering Polly Klaas and told investigators they would find her remains in a shallow grave about a mile south of the city limits of Cloverdale, CA. He was diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and schizoid personality disorder. In 1977, he told a psychiatrist that Voris’ death had deeply affected him and he heard her voice in his head. In 1996, he was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances: burglary, robbery, kidnapping, and an attempted lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. As of December 2023, he remains on death row in the Adjustment Center at San Quentin State Prison in California. But just to be clear, I found nothing tying Richard Allen Davis to Christine Eastin’s disappearance other than a comment made by a WordPress blogger ‘whereaboutsstillunknown,’ saying that he was ‘said to have kidnapped and raped a teenage girl in Hayward in 1971.’ However when I started looking into his timeline I could verify no such fact. The only thing I could find about his whereabouts and actions in the early 1970’s is that he was arrested on September 15, 1970 for participating in a motorcycle theft and he entered the Army in July 1971.

Another name that is thrown around in Eastin’s case is The Zodiac Killer, and if I can be truthful he was the first suspect I thought of when I started my research. I mean, the timing sort of makes sense, and so does the location: as far as his confirmed victims go, he was active in California in 1968 and 1969 (well, obviously this is a bit before January 1971). If I can be honest, I’m no Zodiac expert. I probably know more than the average person but at the same time there is a LOT that I don’t know about the case. However, according to Ruiz-Verhoek, a retired San Francisco detective named Armond Pelisetti said that the MO didn’t fit, and the Zodiac left his victims in the open waiting to be found, where Eastin just vanished off the face of the earth.

Another name thrown out there regarding the disappearance of Eastin is Joseph James DeAngelo. Also dubbed ‘the Golden State Killer,’ DeAngelo is a former mechanic, former cop, burglar, rapist, and serial killer that committed at least 13 murders, 51 rapes, and 120 burglaries throughout California between 1974 and 1986. He is responsible for three separate crime sprees throughout the state, each one generating a new nickname in the press before it became obvious that the atrocities were committed by the same individual (the other two are the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker). I do think we can rule out DeAngelo in Eastin’s disappearance, as the timing doesn’t quite match up.

Phillip Garrido has also been suggested as possibly being responsible for Eastin’s disappearance. I’ve never heard of this guy before, but looking into him his first crime was reported over a year after she disappeared: in 1972, he was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, although the case never went to trial because she declined to testify. In 1977, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for kidnapping a woman then taking her to a storage unit in Reno to sexually assault her. Despite the long sentence, under 1970’s-era sentencing laws he was eligible for federal parole after just 10 years; he was released in 1988. In 1991, he kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard and held her captive for 18 years until his arrest in August 2009. During this time, he fathered two children with her. In my opinion, he never should have been released in 1988.

Oddly enough, one of the last things I found during my research on Eastin was a TikTok video, and in the comments section someone suggested that maybe the Toolbox Killers may have been responsible for her disappearance. Looking into them, Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker and Roy Lewis Norris were rapists and serial killers that committed the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of five teenage girls across the southern part of California over a five-month period in 1979. FBI Special Agent John Edward Douglas described Bittaker as the most disturbing individual for whom he has ever created a criminal profile. Despite receiving the death penalty on March 24, 1981, he died of natural causes while on death row at San Quentin State Prison in December 2019. On May 7, 1980 Norris accepted a plea deal where he agreed to testify against Bittaker in return for a life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving thirty years. He died of natural causes at the all-male California Medical Facility in Vacaville in February 2020. They became known as the ‘Tool Box Killers’ because most of instruments they used to inflict torture upon their victims were items typically found inside a household toolbox; these items included sledgehammers, ice picks, and pliers. Strangely enough, according to my research Bittaker was out of prison and unaccounted for when Eastin disappeared in January 1971: a month after he was paroled in July 1967 he was again arrested for leaving the scene of an accident and theft. He was released in April 1970 and again wasn’t out for long: less than a year later in March 1971 he was again arrested for burglary. I mean, he didn’t have any reported murders before 1979, so again I think we can count him out in Eastin’s case.

Christine’s case quickly went cold. No new information related to her case was released to the public until 1999, when LE released a photo of what she may look like at 47 years old hoping it could lead to possible answers. In early 2005, the (former) Governator of California Arnold  Schwarzenegger offered a $50,000 reward for any information that led to the recovery of Christine Eastin. After the reward was announced, a billboard was constructed in late February of 2005 near the car wash that she disappeared from. At this time, former Hayward Police Chief Lloyd Lowe said that he believed there were still people out there that had first-hand knowledge of the crime that needed an incentive to contact law enforcement, and asked that a state reward be offered to encourage these people to come forward.

Things settled down again until 2019 when an unidentified female came forward and shared with investigators that she saw two men abduct Christine from the car wash before driving off in a white van. The witness said she didn’t report it at the time because she wasn’t sure what exactly she was seeing. They were only able to get a good look at the driver, as the accomplice was out of view putting Eastin in the back of the vehicle. The witness described the van as having a very particular style of rectangular side mirrors known as ‘west coast mirrors.’ In September of 2019 a composite sketch of the suspect was released to the public. If I can be honest… I don’t know if I completely buy her story. What made her come forward after all of this time? Was it a personal decision that she made with herself in 1971 to not get involved? Perhaps she possibly thought it might have been a domestic dispute between lovers (even though this sounds like a stretch)? Or maybe she genuinely had no clue what was going on until she saw a story on the news about the case (there’s been a lot on her in recent years) and it made her realize that she saw something more than she originally thought? I don’t know, in my opinion it’s just an odd detail to remember after almost fifty years.

The latest update in Eastin’s disappearance occurred in January of 2020, when LE went to the public asking them to share any information they may have regarding the case: ‘it has been 49 years since she disappeared.  But this will remain an open investigation until we can bring long sought answers to Christine’s family. To achieve this goal, we have a dedicated detective assigned to this investigation. There is a suspicion of foul play in Christine’s disappearance.’

At the 25th Sunset High School Reunion on August 23, 1996, a classmate of Eastin’s named Tannis Krist-Janson handed out fliers that (now retired) Detective Frank Daley from the Hayward Police Department had designed that contained Christine’s picture as well as a summary of the case. When the two girls were freshman they sang in the chorus together in the school’s prodution of ‘Oliver.’ Of her friend, Krist-Janson said: ‘A lot of people remembered her and thought it was really sad. There were clusters of conversations all around and you could tell they were talking about her.’ About 90 people attended the reunion, which was for the graduating classes of 1969 through 1972.

There is a homemade, almost crude website for the 25th reunion for the Sunset High School classes of 1969 through 1972, and a good portion of it is dedicated to the memory of Christine Eastin. Posted on the page is a letter from Detective Daley to the Alumni of Sunset High School dated December 23, 1998. A portion of that correspondence states: ’I have been searching for anyone that would be willing to provide us with any facts about Chris and her activities on that day.  During the past five years I have interviewed numerous friends of Chris concerning  their thoughts on what could have happened to her.  I have interviewed her ex-boyfriend George Sponsel. He was unable to provide any information on what might have occurred to Chris. I have spoken to her friends, Rebecca Harris, Tannis Kristjanson and several other people that knew her.  All of the persons contacted said Christine would have never left the area unless she was forced to.  No one has heard from her since the day she was reported missing. I would like to talk to anyone that can tell me about other friends that Christine had that might be able to help me put this puzzle together.  If you have any knowledge of places that Christine would frequent or people that she knew I would appreciate a telephone call or a letter.’

In another portion of the website ‘25th Reunion Rekindles Death Probe,’ a letter written by Glenn Chapman dated September 2, 1996 says: ‘I knew Chris, went to Sunset with her. I wonder what the ties are to Richard Allen Davis to make people think that he may have abducted her? Was he living in Hayward at the time? Wouldn’t he have talked about it by now? Chris was intelligent but also very kind. Now if someone came up to me at a car wash, and looked like Richard Allen Davis (rough looking, tattoos, etc.) I’d lock my doors and get out. However, if someone came up to me and asked for help and looked like Phillip Garrido did back in 1971, I might be inclined to help out. (yes, shades of Ted Bundy here) Maybe Phillip Garrido did exactly what he did to Katie Calloway to Chris, asked for some help with something and then bam. Maybe that’s why the car was locked, but her purse left inside, because she went to help someone else. That would be Chris, she was a kind, giving person. Did they ever find the keys? Were they in the car or not? If not, did anyone look for them at Garrido’s place, he WAS a hoarder, you know. This sounds more like a PG scenario than a Richard Davis crime scene. She was also his ‘type’, blond with blue eyes. Where was Phillip Garrido in 1971? Can’t seem to find much on him from back then. In her police report, Katie Calloway said PG told her he had done ‘this’ (raped a woman) twice before, in the Bay Area and in Las Vegas. Where are those women now? If they are alive, why aren’t they coming forward? It is a horrible tragedy that Chris’ mom is now gone and had to go to her grave not ever knowing what happened to her beautiful daughter. None of us who knew her, will ever forget her!’

In the over 50 years since Eastin disappeared law enforcement have chased countless dead ends, leads, and rumors that have all led to nothing. Her mother died at the age of 66 in February 1985 in Boise, Idaho. Victoria shared that her sisters disappearance aged her mother 20 years, and ‘she could have looked 86 instead of 66.’ When asked in an interview what she thanks happened to her sister, Victoria sighed and said, ‘I don’t know. I have gone over, I bet you, a trillion scenarios in the last 47 years.’ … ‘Please, come forward. We just need to put this to rest. It’s been such a burden for so many years.’ … ‘When you don’t know what happened, you think of a hundred thousand scenarios of what could have happened that drive you up the wall.’ … ‘The persistent efforts by Detective Daley gives me the confidence that there will be a resolution to Christy’s disappearance.  If anyone has a tidbit of memory about someone/something please express it, as it may be the one piece that proves very important.’

Eastin-Cordova has set up a ‘gofundme’ page for donations to help in the recovery of her little sister. On it, Victoria says: ‘Chris, a Sunset High School graduate and Chabot College student, was happy and about to start a new job the next day. She had plans for her future and certainly was not a runaway. She was my only sibling. Donations will fund  a new, comprehensive effort by Tracy Olson [phone redacted]. Any funds beyond the cost of the investigation will go toward flyers and other expenses, and possibly to enhance the existing reward established by the State of California in 2005. Where previous efforts have failed, we hope this private investigation will dig deep and finally shed light on Christine’s demise. Not knowing what really happened to her; not being able to bring resolution to her life story has been and still is distressing to her family and friends, all who loved her.’

If Christine Marie Eastin was alive in December 2023 she would be 71 years old; her disappearance is currently Hayward PD’s oldest missing-persons case. Former Captain Martinez said: ‘we would love to get closure on this case.’ … ‘There are a variety of different theories behind the case, however nothing substantial that we can absolutely pinpoint and say, ‘this is what I think happened.’’ Retired Detective Daley said that maybe ‘an old friend or someone from the class might know something and decide it is time the police know about it.’ Not that I have any training in criminology or police work, but my gut tells me Eastin was abducted by an opportunistic stranger that took advantage of the beautiful, kind-hearted young woman that was by herself at night. I think her abductor was driving by the car wash and noticed her alone and in a vulnerable situation then took advantage of her. He probably pulled up next to her, maybe he asked her for directions… lulled her into a false sense of security then pounced. And unless someone comes forward, we will never know.

A close up of Christine Eastin in first grade at Hayward Elementary School in 1959. Photo courtesy of Judy Ruiz-Verhoek.
The entire group shot of Eastin in first grade at Hayward Elementary School in 1959. Photo courtesy of Judy Ruiz-Verhoek.
Christine Eastin’s freshman picture from the 1967 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Eastin’s sophomore picture from the 1968 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Eastin’s song girls photo from the 1968 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Eastin in a group picture for Orchesis club from the 1968 Sunset High School yearbook. She is in the top row at the far right (I cut off the picture right after her).
Christine Eastin in a song girls picture from the 1968 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Eastin’s junior picture from the 1969 Sunset High School yearbook.
A shot of Eastin at an event for the song girls taken for the 1969 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Eastin in a group picture for drama club from the 1969 Sunset High School yearbook. She is on the far right.
Christine Eastin in a group picture for french club from the 1969 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Eastin’s senior picture from the 1970 Sunset High School yearbook.
A picture of Eastin’s as Homecoming Queen from the 1970 Sunset High School yearbook.
A picture of Eastin with the Homecoming King Simon Flores from the 1970 Sunset High School yearbook.
A shot of Eastin in a group picture for the song girls taken for the 1970 Sunset High School yearbook.
A picture of Eastin with some members of the song girls from the 1970 Sunset High School yearbook.
Christine Marie Eastin.
Christine Marie Eastin.
Beautiful Christine, getting ready for homecoming.
Christine and Flores with friends before the homecoming dance.
Simon pinning Christine’s corsage onto her dress.
Christine and the Homecoming King, Simon Flores.
The 1970 Sunset High School Homecoming King and Queen, Simon Flores and Christine Eastin.
Christine at her 1970 Sunset High School graduation.
A candid shot of Christine talking to a friend.
I apologize for the blurry image, it was the best screen shot I could get. Christine is on the far right.
A b&w shot of Eastin.
A candid shot of Eastin in her song girls uniform.
Another candid b&w shot of Eastin.
A colored picture of Eastin in her song girls uniform.
Another colored picture of Eastin in her song girls uniform.
What Eastin might look like at the age of 47 using age-progression technology (photo released in 1999).
A screen grab of Eastin’s missing persons poster.
FBI.govs missing persons poster for Eastin.
A plea to the public from the Hayward PD for any information related to the disappearance of Christine Eastin.
A sketch of the potential suspect.
A screen grab at a memorial table for Christine Marie Eastin.
The outside of Eastin’s alma mater, Sunset High School in Hayward, CA.
The trophy case at Sunset High School in Hayward, CA.
Christine Eastin’s high school diploma.
An aerial picture of the Chabot College Campus taken in 1970. Photo courtesy of the Hayward Area Historical Society.
Vicky Eastin’s senior picture from the 1963 Sunset High School yearbook.
A second picture of Vicky Eastin from the 1963 Sunset High School yearbook.
Vicki Eastin got voted ‘best figure’ her senior year of high school in 1963.
Victoria Eastin-Cordova, Christine’s sister.
Another shot of Victoria Eastin-Cordova, Christine’s sister.
George Sponsel in the 1967 Hayward Hayward High School yearbook.
Sandy Lemmon.
Christine’s friend Judy Ruiz-Verhoek.
Christine’s friend, Simon Flores.
The Jack in the Box restaurant where Eastin’s ex-bf worked.
The Mervyn’s store in San Lorenzo that Eastin and her friend shopped at the night she disappeared in January 1971.
Another shot of Mervyn’s in San Lorenzo.
Christine’s childhood home located at 25096 Joyce Street in Hayward, CA.
A blue 1969 Ford Maverick like the one Eastin borrowed from her ex-boyfriend.
In September 2019, KTVU ran a story about an unidentified woman that had only recently come forward claiming that she believes she saw Eastin’s abduction but didn’t realize what was happening at the time. The witness recalled two men in a white van (like the ones seen above), with distinctive rectangular ‘west coast style’ side mirrors.
A up close shot of west coast style mirrors.
Charlie’s car wash.
What the site of the site of the car wash looks like today.
According to the ‘Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992,’ Bundy was active in California.
Bundy’s whereabouts in 1971 according to the ‘Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992.’
Part of a conversation between Ted Bundy and Robert Keppel about Joyce LePage and when he may have started killing. Courtesy of Tiffany Jean.
A possible route that Bundy may have taken from his rooming house on 12th Avenue in Seattle to Charlie’s Car Wash at 25400 Mission Boulevard in Haywood, CA.
Richard Allen Davis.
A People magazine featuring Richard Allen Davis victim, Polly Klass.
Phillip Garrido.
Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker on trial in 1981.
Roy Lewis Norris shortly before his arrest in 1979.
Cindy Lee Mellin.
A WebSleuths comment on Christine’s article from an old schoolmate of her’s.
A comment on a YouTube video on Eastin by a friend that knew her.
Dorothy Eastin’s birth certificate.
The Eastin’s in the 1950 census.
A picture from Victoria Eastin-Cordova’s wedding announcement published in The Daily Review on November 17, 1963.
The article from Victoria Eastin-Cordova’s wedding announcement published in The Daily Review on November 17, 1963.
Christine’s name mentioned in the list of graduates from the Hayward High School class of 1970, published in The Daily Review on June 21, 1970.
An article about Eastin published in The Oakland Tribune on May 31, 1994.
Eastin mentioned in an article published in The Oakland Tribune on February 25, 2005.

Johanna Tabitha Virginia Strong Leatherbury.

Johanna Tabitha Virginia Strong Leatherbury was born on May 17, 1953 to Jack and Gayle (nee Strong) in Cedar City, UT. Mr. Leatherbury was born on September 16, 1916 in Eureka, UT and her mother was born on July 21, 1920. The couple were wed on May 22, 1939 in Heber City and eventually settled down in Holladay outside of Salt Lake City. Jack was a graduate of Brigham Young University and worked for the Union Pacific railroad for 43 years. The couple had ten children: six boys (Jack, Charles, Paul, Christopher, Marshall, and Greg) and four girls (Roxanne, Johanna, Suzanne and Jacquine, who died the same day she was born on February 22, 1940).

Johanna stood at 5’3″ tall and weighed 135 pounds at the time of her murder. In 1971, she graduated from Olympus High School and was employed at Ballast Hall, a dormitory at the University of Utah. She was also a member of the Holladay Sixth Ward Chapel, a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The evening of August 20, 1971 was no different than any other: before she left her family home to go hang out with her friends the 17 year-old said goodbye to her parents and siblings. It would be the last time the Leatherbury’s would see her alive. The night turned into morning, and she never came home. This wasn’t like Johanna at all and her family knew right away that something was wrong. Immediately they began to search the area in hopes of finding her.

Described by one of her brothers as ‘thoughtful and kind,’ Johanna was very well liked by her peers and was deeply loved by family and friends. She always made time to visit her grandfather at the VA, who was an injured World War II veteran and loved spending time with her nieces, who said their aunt would often take them out for coffee with her friends and never treated them like children. Like most teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, Leatherbury liked going out with friends and ‘hanging out:’ on the evening of Friday August 20th, she met up with friends at a popular hangout referred to as ‘The Complex,’ which is best described as a vacant field where kids from the areas high schools went to hang out. Leatherbury had just graduated and was moving on to college (most likely the University of Utah where she worked), and it’s important to keep in mind it was the end of August, which is right before school starts up again. Of the spot, Jack Leatherbury said that it was just a normal teenage haunt, and that the areas two schools (Skyline and Olympus High) were just a five minute, 1.7 mile drive apart so many of the students knew each other from growing up in the same area: ‘the kids from Skyline and Olympus High School all hung out at this area. They played games and did what teenagers do.’

I have two different reports as to where Johanna was last seen: in an article published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 24, 1971, it stated that ‘Miss Leatherbury was last seen Friday night when she drove a friend home.’ However the more frequently given account is that she was last seen getting into a car with two unidentified gentlemen containing an unknown number of people by friends near The Complex (which was located at the intersection of State Street and 2100 South Street) at roughly 11:00 PM on August 20, 1971 (I read one source that said it was as late as 11:25 PM and listed the location at 2500 South State Street and West Temple). No one caught the type of car that Johanna got into, however the public was given a description of two different makes and models that were said to be in the area where she was last seen: on August 26th just days after Leatherbury was murdered LE issued an all points bulletin on two cars and their drivers that were reported to be near The Complex. One of them was a 1959/60 black (or dark green) Chevrolet Impala with an engine that ‘sounded like a washing machine’ that was driven by an approximately 24 year-old male with ‘hair down to his ears.’ The second vehicle in question was a 1970/71 Dodge Charger with white racing stripes painted on the sides and a black stripe on the rear that was driven by a person described as ‘young and blonde.’ Unfortunately, it seems that police were unsuccessful in their search efforts.

The day after Johanna was last seen her older brother Jack heard a report on the radio that immediately alarmed him: ‘it was a bulletin on the radio that said there had been a body discovered in the surplus canal out by the Great Salt Lake.’ … ‘Good Lord, I could tell you where we were about every hour from the day to the time they discovered her.’ Per KSL, her younger sister, Roxanne said that ‘when she didn’t show up, we all began to panic.’ The Leatherbury family’s search attempts didn’t yield any answers; however her body was quickly discovered the next day.

On August 21, sometime between 4 – 4:45 PM the naked remains of Johanna Leatherbury were discovered in a marshy area near the Great Salt Lake by David Russell and Neal Draper. The men happened to be fishing in the canal, which was located about a half mile west of the west stock bridge on the Goggin’s Drain by the Great Saltaire, an abandoned entertainment complex that had been destroyed in a fire in November 1970. Goggins Drain is a bypass canal that drains water from a surplus canal and helps transport water from 21st South to the Great Salt Lake. At first the two fishermen thought they found an old department store mannequin, however after they brought it to shore and further inspected it they quickly realized that wasn’t the case at all: it was the corpse of a young woman.

Because it was 1971 and not 2023 the men had no cell phones, so they drove to the closest town of Magna, UT to inform law enforcement about their discovery. Once detectives arrived on the scene and pulled the body out of the water it was obvious to them what happened to the young woman: she had been shot in the chest and head nine times and stabbed in the chest and stomach four times (I did see it reported she was stabbed five times and another that said was shot only three times). She had also been raped and pistol whipped. In the very beginning, responding officers thought the body may have belonged to 17-year-old Sheri Martin, who disappeared from her POE of Winchells Donut House on August 12, 1971. Martin’s body was eventually found by two hikers 15 miles south of Wendover on September 6; she also died from gunshot wounds.

Captain Pete ‘ND’ Haywood of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department told the public that they’re ‘looking into many leads in the killing of Leatherbury, but we have no suspects at this time.’ Strangely enough, a 20 year-old woman named Leeora Looney disappeared the same evening in August 1971 that Johanna was murdered after she was reported missing from her POE at a doughnut shop in Lakewood. According to court documents, her car and purse were also both left behind, completely untouched. Several witnesses reported seeing two men in the shop just before she disappeared that were later identified as serial killers Sherman Ramon McCrary and Carl Taylor. Three days after Looney disappeared her naked remains were found in a remote field; she had been strangled, raped, and shot in the head. It was later determined McCrary and Taylor were responsible for her death as well as Shari Martins. The McCrary family is suspected of at least 24-26 additional murders (I’ve read varying amounts) and all involved young women that were last seen alive at doughnut shops throughout Colorado, Texas, Florida, Kansas City and Utah between 1970 and 1971. In 1988, 62-year-old Sherman Ramon McCrary hung himself in his cell while serving time in prison; he would have been eligible for parole in 1997.

It wasn’t long before police identified the woman as Johanna Leatherberry. After she was found, SLC deputies thoroughly combed the marshes that bordered the Great Salt Lake for clues. Additionally, on August 22-23 two Utah National Guard helicopters helped in the search and they combed through the area where her remains were found; unfortunately, this failed to find anything of value. Detectives speculated that she was killed early in the morning after she disappeared then was transported to Goggins Drain. After arriving, her assailants dragged her body into the water, where it floated for roughly eight hours before it was discovered. Investigators found multiple tire tracks and footprints near where the remains were recovered as well. On August 26, 1971 detectives executed a search warrant to enter an undisclosed Salt Lake residence, where they confiscated a .22 caliber gun as well as a switchblade, which may have been connected with the crime. Ballistics tests were done on the weapon and comparisons were made with slugs taken from the girls remains. A total of three .22 caliber pistols as well as the knife were sent into the FBI crime lab in Washington DC; also sent in were the victim’s fingernail clippings, hair samples, her Chrysler car, and her purse as well as its contents. Captain Haywood told the media that all possible leads were being investigated and any pistol which deputies came across in their routine duties were being run through ballistics.

At first, the investigation was on a fast track and LE were certain an arrest would quickly be made, however all leads were deemed to be a ‘dead ends’ and fizzled out; the case quickly went cold. Weeks turned into months, which turned into years, then decades. Hopes for a quick arrest vanished after multiple persons of interest were questioned and cleared. In an article published on August 27, 1971, it’s reported that at one point five full time detectives were assigned to the Leatherbury case. They conducted interviews with hundreds of Johanna’s family members, friends, school/church mates, acquaintances, and coworkers, but no one could provide them with anything of value. One of Captain Haywood’s ‘hottest leads’ was a phone call from a man that wished to remain anonymous that claimed he had seen a girl abducted near the County Complex the same night Johanna was last seen. Officers asked the man to call them back and Haywood even offered to protect his identity.

Captain Haywood said that one of LE’s biggest handicaps regarding the investigation was that no one that was with the victim at The Complex the night she disappeared ever came forward to offer information. Because of this, investigators had to keep going back to find individuals to check out certain pieces of information, which took up a lot of valuable time and made their job much harder. Haywood speculated there were at least a dozen kids at The Complex the night Leatherbury disappeared (if not more), but nobody wanted to come forward and volunteer anything helpful. It also made him wonder if maybe there was some form of illegal activity going on that night that nobody wanted to get in trouble for.

According to KTSU, today the vacant lot where Leatherbury was last seen is now occupied by The Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office and an assisted living development. One odd fact about this case is that her wallet and checkbook were found on the roof of the World Motor Motel which was located at 1900 South and State Street in SLC. Eventually, two juveniles (one of them was an industrial school escapee) came forward that had items in their possession that belonged to Johanna; they were questioned, cleared, and released. The boys admitted to rifling through her Chrystler early on Saturday, August 21st and stealing her purse, which she left behind on the backseat. The two then went through the bag, throwing its contents on the roof of the motel; they threw the purse itself in some nearby bushes. LE found the belongings thanks to a breeze that blew several of Leatherbury’s papers off the roof of the motel, which alerted them to the location of the items as they combed the area for evidence. Detective Haywood said that Leatherbury’s vehicle was found a couple blocks away from The Complex parked on Westminster Avenue between State Street and 200 East near the Salt Lake County Complex in the early morning just hours after she disappeared.

A night watchman from the Morton Salt Company told LE that he saw a brown International Harvester Scout driving in the area where Johanna’s remains were recovered at around 5 AM on August 21; this is the same time that investigators suspect her remains were dumped. When detectives located the vehicle’s owner and spoke to him, he was cleared as well. Captain Haywood said of the killer, ‘there’s no doubt in the world that this is a crime committed by a local person.’ The SLC Chief of Detectives seemed to back him on his claim, saying that Leatherbury’s body was found in ‘practically an unknown spot’ and that the individual would have had to had to have known the area ‘intimately’ to find his way in and out on the three trails leading to the area. One of those three paths was useless and led directly to a muddy mess.

On September 5, 1971, Haywood announced that he saw links between Johanna’s case and the brutal murders of William Rulon Shaw and a young delivery driver named Mike Bown. Shaw was a 65 year old florist that was killed three days after Johanna on August 24, 1971 after he was shot during a robbery of his shop. Michael Preston ‘Mike’ Bown was a 23 year-old deliveryman in Provo and was shot in the back of the head on September 2, 1971 while dropping off bread at Natter’s Market on South 700 East Street. The bullet struck him in his left cheek and exited through his right eye, killing him instantly. Another employee, 33 year-old Carolyn Kingston was also shot in the head through her right temple but survived. The suspect got away with less than a hundred dollars. There was a second delivery man on the scene and I read conflicting reports that either the suspect’s gun jammed or that he ran out of ammo, but regardless as to what happened that person’s life was spared that day. According to him, the robber was between 18 to 20 years of age, had curly hair, was short and well groomed. Left behind at the crime scene was a gold Timex watch with a dark blue face and a blue and gray striped nylon band. The timepiece used Roman numerals rather than numbers and is strongly believed to have belonged to the suspect. Additionally, there were reports of a 1959 Black Chevrolet Impala four-door sedan at the scene with its engine running, much like the one seen the night Johanna disappeared. Haywood said that he saw similarities in the deaths of Bown, Leatherbury, and Shaw: they all involved a .22 caliber pistol and that the ‘mode of operation’ in the Bowe and Shaw homicides were similar.

At the time Johanna was murdered Bundy was living in Seattle at the Rogers Rooming house on 12th Avenue and was in a long term relationship with Elizabeth Kloepfer. He was also an undergraduate psychology student at the University of Washington (although he was in between semesters at the time, as it was the middle of August). At the time he was a delivery driver for Pedline Supply Company, which was a family-owned medical supply company (he was there from June 5, 1970 to December 31, 1971). One of the first things that jumped out at me regarding Johanna being a possible Bundy victim is the fact that she was shot multiple times. None of Ted’s victims were ever shot, and aside from Carol DaRonch’s claim that he pulled out a gun during her attempted kidnapping I never heard of him using such a weapon in any capacity. The only other unconfirmed victim I wrote about that suffered from gunshot wounds is Susan Wickersham. On July 11th, 1973 at 11:30 PM, the 17-year-old dropped the family car off at the restaurant her mother was working at in Bend, Oregon then left to wait across the street for some friends to pick her up. When they never showed up, she decided to walk home instead and was never seen alive again. Wickersham’s skeletal remains were found in the woods by a man collecting firewood on January 20, 1976. Examination of her skull by the state medical examiner’s office determined she had suffered from a gunshot wound to the head. Personally, I don’t think Bundy killed Susan and it seems like her family doesn’t either (I briefly spoke with one of her SIL’s on FB and she agrees with me).

Officials in charge of Leatherbury’s murder said that most of the files related to the case were damaged by flooding at the police station years ago. Despite going cold, her case is still considered ‘active’ and officials exhumed her body in 2017; the results of this examination have not been shared with the public or even her family, which deeply upsets them. Johanna’s niece Sandy said that they ‘weren’t privy to hardly anything. We appealed for the file, and we were denied.’ … ‘She deserved more. She deserved to have whoever did this to be caught.’ … ‘We just didn’t have any follow-through. There was no follow-through. It was just put up on the shelf and left.’ … ‘I am so angry and frustrated because there was a door being slammed in our face all of the time.’ However, a spokeswoman for the Unified Police Department named Melody Gray disagreed with that statement, explaining that the case is still active and that they ‘have a full-time cold case investigator and he has actively been working this case including right now.’

A newsletter for the police society VIDOCQ dated December 15, 2015 mentions a presentation the organization put on regarding the case of Johanna Leatherbury (looking through their website I couldn’t find any additional information on her). In the article, Deputy Police Commissioner Bill Gill reported that Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Todd Grey was able to secure a sample of Leatherbury’s DNA as well as her mandible for further testing. The same article mentioned that the group was going to speak with a serial killer named ‘Robert Lee Sales,’ who was serving time at the Utah State Prison for murders similar in nature to Leatherbury’s. Incarcerated since 1973, Sells raped and murdered multiple young woman around Johanna’s age in the early 1970’s. He was convicted of the murder of JoAnn Poulsen from Corinne, UT, who was recovered from the PineView Reservoir on September 26, 1971. Oddly enough she disappeared on August 21, 1971, which is the same day that the remains of Leatherbury’s were recovered.

About her sister, Roxanne Leatherby-Brough said that Johanna ‘was a good kid. She tried hard to please other people, help us all. I don’t know. I miss her a lot.’ The remaining members of the Leatherbury family haven’t gotten much information related to Johanna’s case over the years, and unfortunately both of her parents died before seeing their daughter’s killer brought to justice: Gayle passed away at the age of 64 on November 6, 1984 and Mr. Leatherbuty died at the age of 73 on May 6, 1990. Their son Jack said he watched as the gruesome details and gnawing unknown tore his parents apart, and because of the death of their daughter they both went to their graves completely changed people. A few of Johanna’s siblings have passed away as well: her brother Paul died at the age of 55 on November 23, 1997 in Murray, UT (which is coincidentally where the Fashion Place Mall is located, which is where Carol DaRonch’s attempted abduction took place). According to his obituary, he was a past President of the Utah Arabian Horse Association and he loved his horses, fishing, and traveling. He had a great zest for life and was known to those who loved him as ‘the world’s greatest salesman.’ On July 5, 2012 Greg Leatherbury died of complications from diabetes at the age of 61. He was known to loved ones as ‘the great organizer’ because he excelled at planning events and activities, including an annual Father’s Day Open Golf Tournament. Charles Leatherbury died at the age of 73 on December 27, 2018; he was in the US Army and fought in the Vietnam War.

Because of their extreme dissatisfaction with the way law enforcement handled the investigation, the Leatherbury family recently joined forces with the Utah Cold Case Coalition to help get answers in Johanna’s case. The coalition is a Utah based organization that helps to bridge the gap between police and the families of cold case murder victims. Two of Johanna’s nieces, sisters Sandy and Cindy, said they were told that information related to their aunt’s case could not be shared because it is still an open and active investigation. Cindy Leatherbury-Grange commented that: ‘we really have felt the case was solvable, but now it’s so many years past.’… ‘We’re wondering if these people are dead, what has happened. Thirty years ago, we might have had a chance.’ The coalition’s co-founder Jason Jensen is certain Johanna’s killer is local to Salt Lake City. In a post on their FB page about the Leatherbury case, the ‘Cold Case Coalition’ commented that: ‘it’s been exactly 48 years since Johanna Leatherbury was found dead in a drainage ditch near Saltair in Salt Lake County. She had been raped, shot, and stabbed. 48 YEARS.  Yet Unified P.D. won’t release any records because it’s ‘still an open case’s This is the same response we get from Unified in every case. If you haven’t solved the case in nearly half a century, can someone else have a try?’

In an article published by ABC4, Johanna’s family got an email from a Salt Lake detective in mid-February 2022 with news they’ve been waiting many, many years to receive: ‘They have identified new DNA from the crime scene and he was securing funds to send it to their lab for testing and hopefully he’ll be able to use genetic genealogy.’ Jensen commented that this new evidence could be a variety of things: ‘if it was an article of clothing or something that was handled by an investigator 30 or 40 years ago chances are great that it’s an incidental from an investigator. But if it’s something concrete like semen, then it’s going to be the bad guy.’ This technique is quickly becoming very common with law enforcement and helps to identify familial DNA, and from there authorities are able to narrow down the search in hopes of finding a possible suspect. The article said it would be months before LE got the results of the DNA analysis and considering it’s now the end of 2023, I’m leaning towards them not finding anything of value from the sample. As a side note, in early 2023 Rita Curran’s killer was found in the same manner, and it was determined that her neighbor William DeRoos killed the pretty young teacher in her bed on July 19, 1971 in Burlington, VT.

Johanna Leatherbury.
Johanna Leatherbury.
Leatherbury’s sophomore year picture from the 1969 Olympus High School yearbook.
Leatherbury in a group picture for chorus from the 1969 Olympus High School yearbook.
Johanna Leatherbury’s senior picture from the 1971 Olympus High School yearbook.
Investigators standing at the site where Leatherbury’s remains were discovered.
A screen grab of crime scene photo’s related to Johanna Leatherbury’s murder.
Another screen grab of crime scene photo’s related to Leatherbury’s murder.
Where the Leatherbury family lived, located at 2919 Ward Way in Holladay, Utah.
Where Johanna attended church, the Holladay Sixth LDS Ward Chapel (located at 3070 Nila Way in Holladay, Utah).
Johanna’s birth announcement.
An article I found on WebSleuths about Leatherbury that had no publication information..
An article about the murder of Johanna Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on August 23, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 23, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Herald-Journal on August 23, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on August 23, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 24, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Herald-Journal on August 24, 1971.
An newspaper blurb mentioning a service for Leatherbury published by The Daily Herald on August 24, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on August 24, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on August 24, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Daily Herald on August 25, 1971.
A short listing of Utah deaths featuring Johanna Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 25, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The American Fork Citizen on August 26, 1971.
An article about Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 26, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Daily Herald on August 27, 1971.
An article about the murder of Johanna Leatherbury published by The Herald-Journal on August 27, 1971.
An article about Johanna Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on August 27, 1971.
Her belongings were discovere after a breeze blew several papers off the roof of the World motel as they combed the area nearby for eidence.
An article about the murder of Johanna Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on August 27, 1971.
An article about the investigation on the murder of Johanna Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 28, 1971.
An article about the investigation on the murder of Johanna Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on August 31, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on September 2, 1971.
About two weeks after Leatherbury's murder two more people were murdered over a robbery gone wrong. The assailant ot away with less than $100 and  two peopkle lost their lives: Michael P. Bone and
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on September 4, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on September 4, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on September 5, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Herald-Journal on September 6, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on September 8, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on September 8, 1971.
Leatherbury mentioned in an article published in The Salt Lake Tribune on November 22, 1971.
An advertisement for ‘secret witnesses’ that mentions Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on December 2, 1971.
An opinion piece about secret witnesses that mentions Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on December 6, 1971.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on December 30, 1971.
An newspaper blurb about secret witnesses mentioning Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on January 15, 1972.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on August 1, 1972.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on September 10, 1972.
An article about unsolved crimes mentioning Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on January 1, 1973.
An article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on January 1, 1974.
The second page of an article mentioning Leatherbury published by The Deseret News on September 16, 1985.
An article after Bundy was executed that mentions his possible link to Leatherbury’s death published by The Salt Lake Tribune on January 24, 1989.
An article after Bundy was executed that mentions his possible link to Leatherbury’s death published by The Salt Lake Tribune on January 25, 1989.
A picture mentioning Leatherbury possibly being a victim of Bundy published by The Salt Lake Tribune on January 25, 1989.
An article about a website featuring true crime sites mentioning Leatherbury published by The Daily Herald on October 30, 2000.
An article about a website featuring unsolved crimes mentioning Leatherbury published by The Toole Transcript-Bulletin on November 9, 2000.
Jack Leatherbury in his senior year of high school.
Jack Leatherbury’s World War II draft card.
Jack Leatherbury’s freshman picture from the 1937 Brigham Young University yearbook.
Jack Leatherbury’s senior picture from the 1941 Brigham Young University yearbook.
Jack and Gayle’s marriage announcement published in The Pleasant Grove Review on June 16, 1939.
Jack and Gayle in the 1940 census.
The birth announcement for Johanna’s oldest brother Jack, who was born on Valentine’s Day in 1941.
A newspaper blurb mentioning the Leatherbury’s visiting Gayle’s parents. There’s a lot of weird little things like this in newspapers I’ve noticed. This was published in The American Fork Citizen on October 1, 1943.
It looks like at one point the Leatherbury’s thought about divorcing. This was published in The Salt Lake Tribune on February 12, 1947.
Gayle Kathryn Strong Leatherbury.
Jack Leatherbury’s photo from the 1957 Olympus High School yearbook.
Paul Leatherbury’s photo from the 1958 Olympus High School yearbook.
Charles Leatherbury’s photo from the 1964 Olympus High School yearbook.
Paul Leatherbury’s photo from the 1965 Olympus High School yearbook.
Greg Leatherbury’s photo from the 1965 Olympus High School yearbook.
Marshall S. Leatherbury’s photo from the 1965 Olympus High School yearbook.
Roxanne (l) and Suzanne (r) Leatherbury’s junior year pictures from the 1971 Olympus High School yearbook.
Greg Leatherbury’s wedding announcement published in The Salt Lake Tribune on February 3, 1974.
A photo from Greg Leatherbury’s 2012 Obituary.
Johanna’s brother Jack in a screen grab from a news clip about his sisters death that aired on August 22, 2022.
Johanna’s nieces.
An obituary for Johanna published by The Salt Lake Tribune on August 24, 1971.
An announcement for funeral services for Johanna published by The Salt Lake Tribune on August 24, 1971.
An obituary for Gayle Leatherbury published by The Daily Herald on November 9, 1984.
An obituary for Gayle Leatherbury published by The Pleasant Grove Review on November 14, 1984.
An obituary for Johanna’s father Jack Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on May 8, 1990.
An obituary for Paul Leatherbury published by The Salt Lake Tribune on November 25, 1997.
Johanna’s grave site; she is buried next to her little sister, who sadly died the same day she was born in 1940.
Gayle and Jack Leatherbury’s grave stone.
Paul Leatherbury’s grave stone.
Charles Leatherbury’s grave stone.
Jack Leatherbury’s pedigree. I know it’s cut off on the right side, I was unable to find the rest of it.
The Leatherbury’s are mentioned in a document I found on Ancestry titled: ‘Remington’s of Utah: with their ancestors and descendants from ‘Section IV. Descendants of Jerome N. and Lydia RB Remington.’
Bundy’s whereabouts in 1971 when Leatherbury was murdered according to the ‘TB Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992.’
A Google maps route from the Rogers Rooming house in Seattle where Bundy was living at the time to where Johanna was last seen in Utah.
A picture of a car similar to Johanna’s white Chrysler.
Where the ‘Complex’ once was located, which was where Leatherbury was last seen before she was murdered on August 20, 1971.
The intersection where the ‘Complex’ once was located, which was where Leatherbury was last seen before she was murdered on August 20, 1971.
The intersection where the ‘Complex’ once was located, which was where Leatherbury was last seen before she was murdered on August 20, 1971.
The town of Magna, which is where the two fishermen that discovered Johanna’s body had to travel to in order to report their discovery to police.
An aerial view of the Goggins Drain outside of SLC in Utah where Johanna’s remains were found.
The World Motor Hotel.
The former site of ‘The Complex.’
The Great Saltair.
 A brown International Harvester scout.
A 1960 black Chevrolet Impala like the one that was reportedly seen the night Johanna was killed.
A Timex watch much like the one found left behind at Michael Bowe’s murder.
In a letter dated December 15, 2015 Deputy commissioner Bill Gill said that Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Todd Grey said they were able to secure a sample of Leatherbury's DNA  as well as er jaw for further testing. He also said they had an interview with Robert Sales, who is serving time at the Utah State Prison for a murder similar in nature to Leatherbury's.
A brief mentioning of Johanna Leatherbury VIDOCQ Society newsletter. According to their website, ‘for more than 25 years, the VIDOCQ Society has provided pro bono expert assistance to law enforcement agencies across the United States as they work to solve their cold case homicides.  The Society does not conduct independent investigations; we act as a catalyst and assist law enforcement agencies only at their invitation.’
William Rulon Shaw.
Michael Preston Bown.
Acccordingg to
A picture of Robert Lee Sales published in The Ogden Standard-Examiner on January 18, 1974.
Robert Sales victim, Joann Poulsen.
Roylene ‘Roydie’ Alexander, who was murdered by Robert Sales at the age of 17 on June 15, 1972.
An article about Robert Sales being charged for the murder of Roylene Alexander that was published by The Salt Lake Tribune on February 22, 2003.
An obituary for Sheri Martin published by The Deseret News on September 11, 1971.
Leeora Looney.
Raymond Carl Taylor (l) and Sherman McCrary (r). Carolyn Elizabeth McCrary is being escorted in background. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Pictures of the McCrary family and Raymond Taylor after they were arrested.
An article about the McCrary family published by Deseret News on December 6, 1973.
Norman Daniel ‘Pete’ Hayward, who served as the Salt Lake County Sheriff for 12 years and was employed with the Sheriff’s Office for over 44 years. 
A distant cousin of Johanna’s left a comment on her ‘findagrave’ page.

The Autopsy of Caryn Campbell.

This is the complete autopsy of Caryn Campbell. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.

Page one of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page two of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page three of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page four of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page five of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page six of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page seven of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page eight of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
Page ten of Caryn Campbell’s autopsy.
A shot of the remains of Caryn Campbell in the snow. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
The skull of Caryn Campbell. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.Thank you to my friend Samantha Shore for letting me know the identity of this victim.
Vince Lahey holding a crowbar over Campbells autopsy photo. Photo courtesy of Erin Banks.

William Earl Cosden Jr.: Part Two, Victims.

Written by Teri Phillips-Offield.

Intro: Jessica told you about the monster behind these heinous crimes, and now, I am going to tell you about the victims. I think it is important to know about their lives and not the fact that they died, but that they lived. The victims are the ones who should be remembered.
I feel that his sisters were among his first victims along with Helen Pilkerton. They suffered abuse at his hand and also were used to lure unsuspecting victims. To my utter disbelief, there were not much information for the beautiful lost souls, and none for the hitchhikers they fell victim to him. I want them to know that I, a complete stranger, do not know who you are or where you are, did not forget you.
I also feel that if his parents would have not covered for him and turned him in, many lives would have been saved. This is my opinion but after hearing the whole story from his sisters, my opinion is that they didn’t protect them and then did not protect the poor innocent girls from this monster.
Ted Bundy was suspected of Kathy’s death, but DNA proved to be William Cosden Jr. He was in prison for attacking Beverly Pearson already hiding right under their nose. It took 28 years and DNA evidence to find the truth. Here is the havoc this man created and the grief he inflicted on the families of his victims. I will start with his earliest victims, his sisters, and then go on to victims he raped, and killed, and finally Kathy Devine, his final known victim. A story full of senseless killings that never should have happened if he would have stayed in jail where he belonged.

Early Victim, Helen Pilkerton: Cosden was sent to a mental hospital in Maryland for killing a woman in 1967 and was serving a three to four-year term at the McNeil Island Corrections Center near Tacoma for a 1976 rape and murder conviction.  Her name was Helen Patricia Pilkerton.  She was an employee of the Lexington Park Motel and was just 20 years old.  Helen Patricia Pilkerton was born on May 24th, 1945, in St. Mary’s, Maryland, her father, John was 22 and her mother Helen was 21.  She had one brother and four sisters.  She died on April 16, 1967, at the age of 21, and was buried in Hollywood, Maryland.  

Helen was found in a stream by two teenage girls and her body was badly beaten.  Cosden had just returned from active duty in Vietnam where he was discharged due to violent behavior. The family of the victim had to sue the Military because of the outrageous leniency of the sentence. To my utter disbelief, Cosden was free after 6 years to rape and kill again. Deputy Prosecutor Philip Harju said, “He is an obvious danger to society.”  Yet, he was released to rape and kill again.  The story should have ended here, better yet not allowed at all.

His sisters, Karen and Susan: They were told their brother was away at a hospital and so his sisters thought he was all better when he came home. There was no warning from their parents whatsoever. They never told them why he was away and never took steps to protect them. He would get in constant trouble at home and in school almost like he invited the punishment. He always had to be in control. His sisters wished their parents were more aware. He loved to torment his sisters and animals. He got pleasure in making his sisters cry. When Karen was 4, he started sexually abusing her. He warned her he would hurt the whole family if she told. The same thing happened to Susan in a few years. He took steps to encourage them to not be close.
When Susan was 8, her brother can downstairs all dressed up to go out. The next morning, she woke to find the sheriff at the kitchen table. They came for her brother. He had confessed to his father that he had killed a woman the night before. The sisters were beginning to see just how evil he was. He did four years in a mental hospital. Four years. His parents told the girls he had went to get well and he was well. That very night he came home, he sexually assaulted his sister.
He was also a firebug and burned down the family home. His mother suspected it was him but did nothing. Again. The cause of the fire was listed as electrical. A house down the block burned too. He seemed to get away with everything. He would also burn his truck to cover evidence.
Then one day the paper was showing about a body found. He got more and more agitated as the paper was read and screamed at them to stop reading. This turned out to be Kathy. He would go to “help” people on snow days when in fact he was looking for prey. One day after a snow day he was arrested for rape.
In 1986, Susan came across his file that showed he was going to be released, she freaked out. She went to the police department to talk about her abuse. The detective she talked to said he believed her brother killed Kathy and would not retire until he found out. Susan told her story and wanted to make sure he didn’t get out. DNA tests were done, and he was convicted. She even flipped him the bird as they were sentencing him. Her family was actually mad at her for doing this. Susan, you are a hero to me.
In 2015, he died alone of a heart attack. They had to deal with the effects of their traumatic past as adults, with one of the sisters even nearing death. Despite the difficulties, the sisters band together to discuss the harm done to them and make an effort to make things right. About a week after filming, Sisters in Silence, Karen Harris passed away following a battle with lung cancer. RIP Karen.

Hitchhikers: Restover Truck Stop in Tumwater, just off Interstate 5, focal point for hitchhikers where he worked there, and his father owned. As I pointed out, Susan says her brother Williams Cosden Jr. would use her as bait to pick up women hitchhikers. The women would feel safe getting into his truck with a little girl there. He would tell his mom he was taking Susan to get ice cream and then take her to pick up hitchhikers. Once the girls were in the truck, he would lock Susan in the back. Many hitchhikers would disappear during this time. We may never know all his victims and which ones were Bundy’s. I apologize for not finding any names of the hitchhiker victims, it makes me wonder how many girls are in unmarked graves all over because of men like Cosden. I wonder if these families ever knew what happened to their daughters. My heart goes out to these families. I hope they found some kind of closure.

Beverly Pearson: On November 30th, 1975, 24-year-old Beverly Pearson stopped to get gas. As she was filling up, she encountered Willian Cosden Jr. She recognized him, but finished getting gas and drove away. On her way home, she lost control of her truck and pulled over. She noticed that Cosden pulled over right behind her. She told him she was fine, but when she went to get back in her truck, he hit her with a rubber mallet. He then forced her into his truck and kept threatening her and she kept saying to not hit her again.
He pulled over at a wooded area and sexually assaulted her. She remembers thinking to try to get him to talk. Her step father was a police commissioner and taught her to try and get anyone who attacks you to talk. She asked him personal questions and told him if he let her go, he could come visit her at home. It worked and he took her back to her truck. She immediately called the police and Cosden was picked up Cosden was found guilty and was sentence to serve a 49-year sentence. Because of her bravery, he was off the streets.

Kathy Devine: I got most of Kathy’s story from Jessica because she wrote it better than any article I read. According to Jessica, Katherine Devine was born to Sally and William L. Devine in Seattle in King County, Washington, on December 25, 1958. She was a Christmas baby. Her family remembered how the kind-hearted teen thought she was destined to become a Minister after being born on Christmas Day. Kathy regularly brought home stray animals and homeless children living on the streets to take care of them. She had a big heart and always sought to help the less fortunate and helpless individuals.
Witnesses last saw the 14-year-old teen hitchhiking in Seattle near North 91st Street and Aurora Avenue North. Her mother stared Kathy had just broken up with her boyfriend and was headed south to visit relatives in Rockaway, Oregon. Her family had reported her to the authorities as a runaway. Little did they know that was the last time their daughter would be seen alive. On December 6, 1973, a young couple stumbled across the remains of the 14-year-old girl in Margaret McKenny Campground in Thurston County.
The victim’s throat had been slashed, and she was lying face down. An examination further revealed she had been brutally sodomized and strangled to death. According to police reports, the officers found the victim’s pants were deliberately torn. Authorities figured that since the place was deserted and it would take a local to know their way around the campground, the killer must be local. The decomposed remains were not immediately identified until Kathy’s sister Sherrie Devine, then 16, saw a television news program in Seattle of the discovery and recognized an embroidered patch on the pair of jeans the victim was reported wearing.
Witnesses saw Cosden come in the night of the murder with stains on his clothing. The witnesses called police. After leaving the truck stop, Cosden’s truck caught fire and was destroyed three miles from the truck stop. During initial interviews with police, Cosden denied ever seeing Kathy Devine.”
Kathy was first thought to be a victim of Ted Bundy. When Ms. Devine disappeared in 1973 Ted was attending the University of Puget Sound Law School and lived within two miles from where she was last seen. Everyone knows he drove the yellow, cream-colored Beetle for years before his arrest, but supposedly his brother owned a white pickup truck. During his death row confessions before his execution in 1989, Bundy told law enforcement that he picked up a hitchhiker in 1973, killed her then left her body close to where Kathy’s remains were found in Olympia, however he couldn’t remember the exact location. He denied having any involvement with Devine’s murder. But this makes me wonder if he did indeed kill Kathy. Cosden was surprised to be convicted and Bundy admitted to killing a hitchhiker and they only found Kathy at that site.
Kathy’s ex-boyfriend was a suspect but passed the polygraph. Another man said he saw the whole thing but was very uncooperative with police. While searching his house, a lot of newspaper articles about Kathy were found along with a blood-stained knife. When they brought him in, he denied all charges and said he could explain. He said the knife was for hunting and after testing, the knife did indeed have animal blood on it. He was cleared of the charges.
An anonymous man called detectives and suggested they investigate Cosden. The man said he looked in the back of Cosden’s truck and found a blood-soaked sleeping bag along with a single shoe. He was looking in Cosden’s truck because he claimed he was a co-worker and Cosden was stealing from him. Before the police had a chance to investigate Cosden’s truck “mysteriously” caught in fire. Remember, Kathy was found missing a shoe. The shoe found on Kathy matched what the man described but they never got the evidence since it burned.
The police went to the jail to confront Cosden and he denied it even though they have DNA proof found on Kathy. Luckily, they had enough to convince a jury and his sister, Susan helped, and he was convicted.
He lived in the area at the time of Kathy’s disappearance and murder. According to witnesses, William was seen wearing bloodstained clothes at the Truck Stop on November 26, 1973. He worked at the truck shop owned by his father and was reportedly working an early morning shift. After leaving the truck stop, Cosden’s truck caught fire and was destroyed three miles from the truck stop.
Additionally, witnesses claimed to find what appeared to be bloodstains inside William’s truck late on November 25, the very day Kathy was last seen alive.

William Cosden was already in prison for sexually assaulting Beverly Pearson when he was convicted of Kathy’s death. it was be the oldest open murder case in the state to have been solved by DNA “fingerprinting,” authorities said.
After Cosden was finally convicted of his daughter’s murder, Mr. Devine said: ‘It’s finished. There’s a justice system, and it works.″ ‘It doesn’t bring Kathy back, but it sure does help. “It was very creepy,” Sherrie Devine, the victim’s older sister, said of the court appearance. Devine’s mother, Sally, said she was nervous about seeing Cosden for the first time. “It would have been worse if we would have had to look directly at him,” I cannot help thinking that if the justice system kept this monster behind bars after his first murder and rape in 1967, Kathy would still be alive. And why weren’t his sisters protected from this monster? They were just little girls.

Conclusion: It took many years to finally catch her killer, but finally the family has answers and hopefully a little bit of peace. Such an unnecessary waste of her and of  the beautiful souls who left this world too soon. My heart goes out to everyone whose life was touched by William Cosden Jr. I want to thank Jessica for not letting these girls be forgotten and reminding us they did live and not only die. And Charlene and Sherrie, you should have never had to endure this kind of horror in your family. My heart goes out to you and much respect for coming out the other side of this tragedy. A long as Jessica and I are here, we will not let her be forgotten.

McNeil Prison.
William E. Cosden Jr.
Cosden.
Kathy Devine.
Kathy Devine.
Devine.
Kathy and one of her sisters.
The remains of Kathy Devine.
The bell-bottom blue jeans with a dragon patch on the pocket that Kathy was wearing when her remains were recovered.
The mock-suede coat with fur trim that Kathy Devine was wearing when her remains were recovered.
The ‘waffle-stomper” boots Kathy was wearing when her remains were recovered.
Beverly Pearson.

Cites:

Katherine Devine Murder: Where is William Cosden Jr Today? Update (thecinemaholic.com)
Life term for man whom DNA linked to murder (seattlepi.com)
Closing ceremony, tour of McNeil Island prison (seattlepi.com)
Evil Lives Here, Sisters in Silence. Season 13, Episode 10.
Katherine Devine Murder: Where is William Cosden Jr Today? Update (thecinemaholic.com)
Katherine Merry “Kathy” Devine. | Another Bundy Blog. (wordpress.com)
Most pictures were taken from Another Bundy Blog: Kathy Devine
Facebook page Cowards ad Killers
Man sentenced to life in prison for 1973 murder | The Seattle Times
Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s – Newspapers.com
On the case with Paul Zahn, Season 12, Ep 4, Waving Goodbye.
Other info, Another Bundy Blog. (wordpress.com)
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/rapist-charged-in-1973-killing/

William Earl Cosden Jr.: Part One, Background.

Written by Jessica J. Jurewicz-Woods.

William Earl Cosden Jr. was born on December 19, 1946 to William Earl Sr. and Janet (nee Bakke) in Baltimore, Maryland. The couple were married on June 6, 1945 and eventually settled down near Seattle in Washington and had two girls and two boys: Karen (Harris), Susan (Keller), William Jr. and Timothy. Mr. Cosden worked as a mechanic and owned a truck stop near Olympia, WA. After high school (I’m not sure if he graduated and I couldn’t find the name of the institution he attended), ‘Billy’ joined the Marines and fought in the Vietnam War. Not long after arriving back in the US, he was charged with the murder of Helen Patricia Pilkerton. The 22 year-old disappeared on April 16, 1967 and her body was eventually found by two teenage girls in a stream by Flat Iron Road in the Great Mills area of Baltimore. Two court appointed psychiatrists testified in court that the war vet ‘lacked the substantial capacity to appreciate the consequences of the crime. Circuit Court Judges Perry Brown and J. Dudley Diggs determined that the then twenty-year-old Cosden was ‘insane at the time of the murder,’ which saved him from ‘hard time.’ He was sentenced to reside at  the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital in Jessup, MD until ‘he no longer constitutes a danger to others or himself under the dictates of the law.’ Regarding the verdict, Judge Diggs said that ‘the facts substantiated by the State prove that the defendant (Cosden) is really but not responsible for his actions because of mental illness.’ Just as a side note, this really passes me off. If the judges realized who exactly they had in their custody and sentenced him to prison it may have prevented the death of Katherine Devine and the brutal rape and assault of Beverly Pearson.

Four years later Cosden was released from the psychiatric hospital and moved to Washington state to be with his family. He began working at his father’s business, the Restover Truck Stop in Tumwater, which happened to be a popular hangout for hitchhikers. On November 25, 1973, Katherine Merry Devine vanished without a trace while attempting to hitchhike about 200 miles away to her cousin’s house in Rockaway, Oregon. The next day, a coworker noticed bloodstains in Cosden’s truck, which coincidentally caught fire immediately after. Although LE had their suspicions about Cosden being involved in the 14 year old’s death, they had no proof tying him to the crime.

William managed to fly under the radar until 1975, when he was arrested for the brutal assault and rape of Beverly Pearson (in some older newspaper articles she has the last name Frederick). Early in the morning on November 30, 1975, thirty year-old Cosden brutally raped and assaulted the 24-year-old, who was a customer at his truck stop. The weather that night was snowy and driving conditions were treacherous, and he asked the pretty young pharmacy technician if she’d like him to follow her home to make sure she got there safely. She politely declined his offer however he insisted. At some point during their drive, Billy purposely drove his truck into a ditch then pretended to need help getting it out. After Beverly got out of her car to check on him, Cosden subdued her by hitting her on the head from behind and threatening her with a rubber mallet. Pearson told him that she would ‘do anything if he wouldn’t hurt her’ and at one point during the assault Billy grabbed her by the throat and asked how she was going to explain her ‘new bruises.’ After raping her twice, he took her to his property in Maytown. During the drive, Beverly tried to jerk the wheel in an attempt to make him lose control, and even tried to escape by trying to open the door and crawling out. She was unsuccessful.

The attack took place in a secluded wooded area near Maytown Road. Miraculously, Beverly was able to convince her attacker to let her go and he was arrested a few days later, just hours after she made the report to police. Pearson told the sheriff’s department that she was assaulted by a man ‘named Bill at the Lathrop Road Truck Stop.’ FBI Agent Myron Scholberg said the victim’s hair was found on Cosdens overalls and in his truck, which helped officially link him to the crime. A second federal agent named Allison Semmes positively identified stains that were left behind on Beverly’s underwear and panty hose as Cosdens sperm; the same substance was found on the overalls he was wearing that night. Strangely enough, when law enforcement examined his truck they were unable to find any identifiable fingerprints.

At Cosdens’ trial, a nurse that treated Pearson the night she was assaulted testified that she had ‘bruises and reddened areas around her head and shoulders’ and a Doctor said her injuries were consistent with the results of wounds caused by a blunt object. Dr. Torre Nielson (a Psychiatrist for the defense) said that ‘the performance of two sexual acts in succession in cold weather was highly unlikely.’ He also said that it’s common for a man to experience impotence when thinking of his wife and child. A Seattle based pathologist told the jury that based on lab tests done at around 9 AM later the same day the attack took place, no intercourse had occurred in the previous 12 hours.

While testifying in his own defense, Cosden said when Beverly first saw him early that morning she waved to him, flirting as if they knew each other and happily accepted his offer to follow her home because of the weather. The defendant said that Pearson deserted her pickup in the middle of the intersection at 101st Ave and Case Road, backing it up into the wrong lane then leaving it to get in his vehicle ‘to talk.’ He went on to say that she sat in the middle of his seat, wrapped her arms around him, and asked him to drive them to a place where they could ‘be alone.’ William testified that she talked about her divorce and that he never threatened her or hit her in any capacity. He took her to some property he owned in Mayfield and at no point during their time together did Pearson try to get away from him or leave his company; he also said that at any point if she changed her mind about being with him he would have stopped everything and taken her back to her pickup. He shared with the jury that he never threatened her with a gun ‘hidden under the seat, as she had testified’ and didn’t even keep a weapon in his truck. The married man also claimed that he completely turned down her advances, and that he couldn’t partake in sex with Beverly because all he could think about was his wife and child. When asked how he felt about what happened, Cosden said that he ‘felt like a damned fool.’

Cosden also testified that Beverly drove to his house on January 5, 1976 looking for him. After she pulled away, he immediately called his Attorney Don Taylor and told him about the incident.

On February 18, 1976 William Earl Cosden Jr. was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the rape and brutal assault of Beverly Pearson. He was up for parole in 1990 however the board denied his release, saying he was not safe to be released into the community. Apparently Cosden had quite a temper and on two separate occasions he was brought back to prison after being thrown out of pre-release housing units. In 1999 he was up for parole again but was denied.

In 1986, Thurston County Detective Mark Curtis got a court order for Cosdens blood, but because the technology wasn’t available at the time the sample sat in evidence for so long that he forgot it was even taken. Because of some grant money available through the WA state Attorney General’s HITS program, Curtis was able to take part of the DNA sample to compare to Devines. In 2001, a comparison was done and the test came back a match: William Cosden Jr. killed Katherine Merry Devine. After the successful identification, Detectives Joe Vukich and Brian Schoening went to the prison Cosden was being housed at on McNeil Island and questioned him about his involvement with the murder of Devine. He claimed to know nothing about it.

In 2002 the rest of the DNA sample Cosden provided in 1986 was used in a second analysis, and there was no doubt about it: he was the man that killed Kathy Devine. Detectives David Haller and Tim Rudolf went to talk to Cosden about the positive identification; this time he said he may have had sex with her but didn’t kill her. He was furious when detectives arrested him for the 1973 murder, despite already being in prison. Thankfully, prosecutors were able to argue that Kathy’s DNA was a match to the blood found in his truck and on his clothes. William Cosden Jr. was 55 when he was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole in June 2002. Former Deputy Prosecutor Philip Harju said that he was ‘an obvious danger to society,’ and former Thurston County Superior Court Judge Daniel Berschauer agreed with his assessment before passing on the life sentence.

William Earl Cosden Jr. died at the age of 69 in 2015 while incarcerated outside of Seattle, Washington. William Cosden Sr. passed away on December 8, 1983, and Mrs. Cosden died on May 3, 2014 at the age of 88. Susan Cosden-Keller began her career as a teacher but went back to school for her nursing degree. Karen Cosden-Harris worked as a reading specialist at Evergreen Elementary School in Washington. Timothy Cosden was a massage therapist until recently, when on October 5, 2022 his license was suspended after he was accused of sexual assault (Bilbao, The Olympian).*

On Easter Sunday 2023, an episode of the Discovery Plus show ‘Evil Lies Here’ premiered that featured William Cosden Jr.’s two younger sisters. Karen and Susan also fell prey to their older brother, who made them keep his secrets to themselves. The two women lost touch over the years, each one becoming busy with their own careers and lives all while trying to heal and move on from their painful childhoods. But after Karen received a terminal diagnosis of stage four lung cancer, they reunited on the show to talk through their shared trauma in hopes of healing and coming to terms with what happened to them in their younger years. Karen Cosden-Harris sadly passed away on November 4, 2022.

* Bilbao, Martin. ‘Thurston County Massage therapist, 68, suspended for alleged sexual assault.’ October 12, 2022. https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article267212417.html

The Cosden family; it appears ‘Billy’ is incorrectly listed twice. Photo courtesy of Ancestry.
Beverly told the six man, six woman jury that she was on her way home from a dinner date when she stopped for gas as the Cosden family truck stop at around 1:30 AM. She also told them that she remembers seeing him once before the assault. He asked her how the road conditions were on the freeway and how her pickup truck handled in the snow. He offered to follow her home in his truck and she accepted his offer but intended to just 'leave it at that.' At some point on the drive Cosdens truck slid into a ditch
William Cosden Senior’s background. Photo courtesy of MyHeritage.
Janet Cosden. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
William Cosden Sr. and his wife, Janet. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
William and Janet Cosden. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
‘Billy’ as a child. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Janet Cosden holding one of her children. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
The Cosden family. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
An early picture of the Cosden family. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
A B&W of some of the Cosden family. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Janet Cosden holding Karen. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Some members of the Cosden family. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
William Cosden’s two sisters, Karen and Susan. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
The Cosden family around the dinner table. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
The Cosden family; William is standing in the back. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Some of the Cosden family. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
William Sr. and Janet. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
William Sr. and Janet. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
William Cosden Sr. and Janet. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Janet in her later years. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Janet Cosden. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Timothy Cosden in the 1972 Olympia High School yearbook
Karen Cosden in the 1975 Olympia High School yearbook.
Karen Cosden in the 1976 Olympia High School yearbook.
Susan Cosden in the 1980 Olympia High School yearbook.
Susan Cosden’s senior picture in the 1983 Olympia High School yearbook.
Susan in a group picture in the 1983 Olympia High School yearbook.
A still of Susan Cosden from the TV show ‘Evil Lives Here.’ Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
Susan Cosden. Photo courtesy of Facebook.
Karen and Janet on her wedding day. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Karen with her husband. Photo courtesy of the Cosden family archives.
Karen Harris.
A still of Karen Harris from the TV show ‘Evil Lives Here.’ Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
A still of both Cosden sisters from the TV show ‘Evil Lives Here.’ Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
The Cosden’s first home.
A newspaper clipping announcing William Sr. and Janet’s nuptials.
An article mentioning William Sr. and Janet vacationing in Hawaii published in The Honolulu Star-Bulletin on June 26, 1978.
An article mentioning Susan Cosden published in The Olympian on April 16, 1983.
An article about William Cosden Jr.’s sister Susan getting married published in The Olympian on June 15, 1986.
An article about William Cosden Jr.’s sister Karen published in The Olympian on September 11, 1994.
An article about Karen Cosden’s son published in The Olympian on May 3, 2009.
William E. Cosden Sr.’s military registration card.
Williams brother Timothy’s marriage applications from 1972.
A newspaper clipping about Timothy Cosden getting charged with rape published by The Olympian on July 11, 1974.
A newspaper clipping about Timothy Cosden’s wife Margaret having a baby, published by The Olympian on August 25, 1975.
An announcement for William Cosden Jr’s. application for a marriage license published in The Olympian on October 10, 1971.
William Cosden Jr’s. application for a marriage license.
Cosdens marriage certificate to Rita Kirkpatrick.
The annulment certificate for William and Rita Cosden. Photo courtesy of Ancestry.
Rita Susan Kirkpatrick-Cosden’s 1964 Rochester High School yearbook picture.
Rita Susan Kirkpatrick-Cosden’s 1965 Rochester High School yearbook picture.
Rita in a 1965 photo; she worked for her schools yearbook.
Rita in a 1966 photo, she was as typist for her schools yearbook.
Rita in another photo from the 1966 from her schools yearbook.
Cosdens marriage record to Nancy Patton from 1978.
One of Cosden’s earlier mugshots.
One of Cosden’s earlier mugshots.
Some of Cosden’s earlier mugshots.
A 2002 mugshot of William Cosden Jr. after he was arrested for the 1973 murder of Katherine Devine.
A mugshot of Cosden in his later years.
Another mugshot of Cosden in his later years.
William Cosden’s burnt truck. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
The back of William Cosden Jr’s. burnt truck. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
The inside of Cosdens burnt truck. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
An evidence photo of a footprint found at the crime scene where Cosdens truck was set on fire. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
An evidence photo related to the murder of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
An evidence photo related to the murder of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
An evidence photo related to the murder of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
An evidence photo related to the murder of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of Discovery+.
One of the waffle stomper boots Kathy was wearing when she was murdered.
Some police sketches related to the murder of Kathy Devine.
A picture of law enforcement with evidence from Kathy Devine’s case.
Detective David Haller, who worked Devine’s case. Photo courtesy of ‘On the Case with Paula Zahn.’
Detective David Haller at Margaret McKenny Park, where Kathy Devine’s remains were found. Photo courtesy of ‘On the Case with Paula Zahn.’
Philip Harju, who was Thurston County’s Chief Criminal Prosecutor at the time of Cosden’s arrest for the murder of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of ‘On the Case with Paula Zahn.’
A still from an original broadcast about the murder of Kathy Devine.
A still from an original broadcast about the murder of Kathy Devine.
A map of where Kathy Devine was last seen and where her body was found.
An article about Cosden getting arrested for the murder of a woman named Helen Pilkerton published in The Evening Sun on April 17, 1967.
An article about Cosden getting arrested for the murder of a woman named Helen Pilkerton published in The Morning Herald on April 17, 1967.
An article about Cosden getting arrested for the murder of a woman named Helen Pilkerton published in The Baltimore Sun on April 17, 1967.
An article about Cosden published in The Evening Sun on December 9, 1968.
An article about Cosden being found insane published in a Maryland based newspaper on October 19, 1967.
An article about Cosden being hit by a car published by The Olympian on March 25, 1972.
An article about Cosden being hit by a car published by The Olympian on June 7, 1972.
An article about the birth of Cosdens child published by The Olympian on July 23, 1973.
An article mentioning Cosden receiving threatening phone calls published by The Daily Chronicle on February 18, 1975.
An article about Cosden’s rape case going to the jury published by The Olympian on February 10, 1976.
An article about Cosden’s rape case published by The Olympian on February 11, 1976.
An article about Cosden’s rape case published by The Olympian on February 12, 1976.
An Olympia Doctor named Terrance A. chulte testified that he foundn sperm 'almsot iedately' when he examned a sample of clothing the woman was wearing.
Part one of an article about Cosden’s rape case published by The Olympian on February 13, 1976.
Part two of an article about Cosden’s rape case published by The Olympian on February 13, 1976.
He said he drove to some property he owns near Maytown and stopped the truck and they talked. As they were talking she started unbuttoning her blouse and told him that 'this is just like playing strip poker.' He claims he responded to her that he "just can't.'
An article about Cosden’s rape case published by The Olympian on February 15, 1976.
An article about Cosden’s rape case published by The Olympian on February 17, 1976.
An article about Cosden’s rape case going to the jury published by The Olympian on February 18, 1976.
An article about Cosden’s rape case going to the jury published by The Olympian on February 19, 1976.
In an article published by The Olympian on February 27, 1976, Cosden experienced back pain after falling in his jail cell from his bunk.
An article about Cosden falling in his jail cell published by The Olympian on February 27, 1976.
An article about Cosden’s rape case going to the jury published by The Olympian on March 16, 1976.
An article about Cosden published by The Olympian on March 20, 1976.
An article about Cosden published by The Olympian on March 21, 1976.
An article about Cosden published by The Olympian on July 25, 1977.
An article about Cosden appealing his conviction published by The Olympian on May 5, 1978.
Part one of an article about William Cosden’s 2002 trial published by The Olympian on March 14, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden’s 2002 trial published by The Olympian on March 14, 2002.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Daniel Berschauer
Part one of an article on Cosden published in The Olympian on July 31, 2002.
Part two of an article on Cosden published in The Olympian on July 31, 2002.
Part one of an article on Cosden published in The Olympian on March 12, 2002.
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Part two of an article on Cosden published in The Olympian on March 12, 2002.
Part one of an article on Cosden published in The Olympian on July 30, 2002.
Part two of an article on Cosden published in The Olympian on July 30, 2002.
An article on Cosden published in The County Times newspaper on August 15, 2013.
A screenshot of an article on Cosden murdering Pilkerton; I apologize for the poor quality, the fact that I was even able to find this is a miracle. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Helen Pilkerton’s grave site. At the time of her murder Helen was employed at the A & E Motel in Lexington Park, MD.
Beverly Pearson.
Beverly Pearson.
A still of Pearson. Photo courtesy of ‘On the Case with Paula Zahn.’
Another still of Beverly Pearson on ‘On the Case with Paula Zahn.’ I love pink, it’s definitely her color.
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Where Cosdens truck slid into a ditch early in the morning on November 30, 1975. Case Road at 101st Avenue in Olympia, WA.
William Cosden Jr. at his arraignment for the murder of Katherine Merry Devine.
A photo from an article discussing the trial of William Cosden Jr. for the murder of Kathy Devine, photo courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales.
Kathy Devine’s other and sisters at Cosden’s murder trial.
Mrs. Devine at Cosden’s trial.
Margaret McKenny Park where Cosden left Kathy Devine’s remains.
A sign for the Cosden family truck stop.
A photo of the Cosden family’s truck stop.
A photo of the Cosden family’s truck stop.
William E. Cosden Sr.’s death certificate.
Cosden seemed to settle into life at the Washington state Penitentiary where he was housed. In early 2002 he was arrested in connection to the murder of Katherine Devine. The case went to trial in May 2002 and
William E. Cosden Sr.’s obituary published in The Olympian on December 8, 1983.
Janet Cosden’s obituary published in The Olympian on May 8, 2013.
Janet Cosden’s obituary published in The Olympian on May 14, 2013.
Mr. and Mrs. Cosdens joint gravesite.

Sharon Pulaski.

Sharon Pulaski was born at some time in 1963 to Andrew and Sophie (nee Urbanski) Pulaski in Alden, NY. The couple were married in Cheektowaga on November 7, 1959 and had three children: two boys (Andrew and Brian) and Sharon. Mr. Pulaski served in the US Army, and the family eventually settled down at 1369 Townline Road on the Lancaster/Alden border. Sharon graduated from Alden High School in 1980, but aside from that little is known about her background. I found some pictures of her on classmates.com, and going through her high school yearbook I was able to see that she participated in a number of different extracurricular activities, including poetry workshop, photography club, and science club. From what I’ve gathered (through comments on social media posts about her), the Pulaski’s were a very close-knit, loving Roman Catholic family that were private and mostly kept to themselves. They were very involved with their church and helping people in the local community.

Sharon had green eyes, brown hair, was 5’4″ tall, weighed 130 pounds and wore corrective lenses. She had a two inch long scar on her right shoulder, a tattoo of a heart on her right arm, and was last seen wearing white sneakers, blue jeans, and either a black or white shirt. On October 7, 1983 Sharon gave birth to a son named Steven, who she raised at her parent’s home up to her disappearance. Strangely enough, I went to high school with him and graduated the year before him. We were in different social circles and I didn’t hang out with him but I remember he was nice and very passionate about his faith.

Before she left, Sharon told her mother that she was running to the store but would be back in fifteen minutes. Mr. Pulaski reported to law enforcement that his twenty-four year daughter had left home on July 20, 1987 and never returned home; she has not been seen or heard from since. Sharon left the residence in her vehicle, a blue 1985 Plymouth Reliant with NY tags, license plate number 6679-BLZ. Just a few months later in August of 1987 Pulaski’s vehicle was pulled over in California, however she was not one of the four people inside. To be fair, she was reported missing in New York and it was the 1980’s. There was a good chance the officer had no idea the vehicle’s owner was missing. But wouldn’t it be suspicious regardless? A car with New York plates gets pulled over across the country and its owner isn’t one of the four occupants inside? Obviously it was eventually figured out (as we know about it), but I wonder if the cop that pulled the car over even bothered getting the names of the people inside? Was this situation ever revisited and were they questioned? For some reason a police report was never filed and the individuals were never taken in for questioning. In September 1987 Pulaski’s sedan was found abandoned in Seattle.

After I posted on a few Alden, NY Facebook groups asking for more information about Sharon, I had a few people reach out to me that knew her. Additionally, going through the comments, a few acquaintances of hers said that they had absolutely no idea where she went and didn’t even have so much as a working theory as to what happened to her. According to a post about Sharon on the Facebook group  ‘Jane Does and Missing 1970’s-1980’s,’ she did on occasion take off for short periods of time but always came back… until she didn’t. An individual by the name of Andrew Pulaski commented that ‘she’s my aunt, she disappeared the day of mother’s baby shower, according to my parents she said she wasn’t able to attend that day and when they came back home she was gone but all of her son’s documents (SSN, birth certificate, medical docs) were left neatly on the bed.’ I also got some information about Pulaski from a childhood friend of mine, Michael Mack. He said his mom Karen (who I also know, as they lived down the street from my family for many years) grew up with her. When I spoke to her a few days later she confirmed that they were best friends until she disappeared. Just like everyone else I spoke with, Karen had absolutely no idea what happened to Sharon or where she went. It’s as if the earth just swallowed her up.

This is just my own personal observation, but I find that investigating agencies are far less likely to take a missing persons case seriously if they feel the individual left in any way on their own accord. I even look at Bundy cases, like Brenda Ball and Donna Manson, who were both frequent hitchhikers and would often take off for brief periods of time before eventually turning up again. LE was extremely hesitant to even link Balls disappearance to the other Ted murders that were taking place all over the Seattle area at the time (although it was her skull that was the first one discovered at Taylor Mountain on March 1, 1975). I wonder if that’s why I couldn’t find any articles or news reports on Sharon, because they thought she was a runaway. Fourteen year old Brenda Joy Baker also comes to mind, as her disappearance didn’t make the news until her body was discovered (for my non-Bundy readers, she was a frequent hitchhiker that ran away from home on multiple occasions and was last seen getting into a pick-up truck in May 1974).

Looking into it there were quite a few possible routes to get to the golden state from Alden. One incredibly frustrating part of all this is the lack of information out there. California is a large state… Where exactly was her car pulled over? It’s at least a day and a half trip, and that’s driving straight through. I think there’s a few different possibilities that could have happened to Sharon… maybe she got tired of small town living and simply left? That theory reminds me of Nancy Perry-Baird out of Utah, who vanished without a trace from the gas station she worked at on the 4th of July in 1975. Like Pulaski, Nancy also had a young son, roughly the same age as Steven. But why would anyone willingly leave their child behind? And Perry-Baird was GONE gone (just like Sharon). Or was there maybe a more sinister aspect to her disappearance? Perhaps she picked up a hitchhiker that pulled a weapon on her, taking control and subduing the young mother? Or did she plan on taking off only for a few days but something happened along the way that prevented her from returning home. One possible suggestion I read on a FB post was maybe she fell in with the wrong crowd, which somehow resulted in her untimely demise? But where would she be after all this time? According to Karen Mack, NO ONE has any clue what happened to her. Her disappearance came completely out of left field to everybody and made absolutely no sense.

In a write-up for Pulaski on the Facebook page ‘Jane Does and Missing 1970’s-1980’s,’ someone commented that serial killer Tommy Lee Sells was in the general western NY area just before Pulaski disappeared in 1987, and sure as shit they were right. Also referred to as The Coast to Coast Killer, Sells killed twenty-eight year old Suzanne M. Korza on May 2, 1987 after getting in a fight with her fiance and leaving a Lockport bar. Eight years later her skeletal remains were found at the base of an escarpment near Niagara Falls. Susan was from Lancaser, NY and strangely enough went to the same high school as my Mom (St. Mary’s, but Suzanne was a couple of years younger than she was). Korza’s official date of death is listed as September 5, 1995, which was the date she was found. Her case went unsolved until 2004, when Sells confessed to her murder while he was waiting to be executed for the murder of a young girl in Texas.

On December 31, 1999 Sells entered a Del Rio residence and sexually assaulted 13-year old Kaylene Harris. He sexually assaulted then killed the teenager, stabbing her sixteen times and slashing her throat. He then cut the throat of her friend, 10 year old Krystal Surles, who luckily survived the brutal attack. Unfortunately, Sells was a lot like Henry Lee Lucas and liked to confess to murders and crimes he didn’t commit (he claimed to have killed over 70 people). Regardless of what the number really was, he was found guilty of killing Harris on September 18, 2000. Two days later he was sentenced to death. Because of his link to Lockport (which is about 45 to 55 minutes away from Alden), Pulaski and a second unidentified missing woman were deemed to be possibly linked to Sells. Interestingly enough, Facebook user Kelly Rosemellia commented that the serial killer being considered a potential suspect in Sharon’s disappearance was just a crackpot theory dreamt up by some lazy detectives that didn’t feel like investigating her disappearance properly. Additionally, most people from the general Alden area that knew Pulaski don’t buy the theory that Sells had something to do with her disappearance.

Just a few months after Sharon disappeared on October 15, 1987, Sells drugged Stefanie Stroh with LSD before he strangled her to death. Stroh was hitchhiking home to San Francisco after a year-long trek through Europe and Asia. The day the 20-year-old disappeared Stefanie was seen standing next a road with her thumb out in Winnemucca, Nevada. After accepting a ride from the serial killer, Sells killed her. He then encased her feet in concrete and dumped her remains in a desert hot spring. Her body has never been recovered. Sells was executed by lethal injection at the age of forty-nine at 6:14 PM on April 3, 2014.

According to one Facebook user whose parents lived across the street from the Pulaski family, ‘We weren’t close, but they seemed like a nice hard working family. I asked my parents if they recalled anything about the event. They do remember her leaving and never returning. And my Dad recalled that their family received a call saying they found her car down south. Our family just assumed that she ran away to start a new life. I don’t recall ever seeing any news reports or articles about her saying that she was missing.’

I had a new friend reach out to me about the fact that Sharon’s father was a member of the Knights of Columbus. Per his obituary, Andrew Pulaski specifically was a Fourth Degree member of the Father John Schaus Council of the K of C’s, 4652. The Fourth Degree is the highest degree of the order and members who reach this elite status are addressed as ‘Sir Knight.’ In 1985, Pulaski was given the title of man of the year by the Holy Name Society and was even named knight of the year by the Father Joseph Schaus Council in 1987. I mean this makes sense, as the Pulaski family was very active at their home parish of St. John the Baptist out of Alden. Looking into it, the Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization, with 1.7 million participants. It provides its members and their families with volunteer opportunities in service to the Catholic Church, their communities, families and young people. This new friend however suggested a more ominous, ritualistic aspect surrounding the society, and even suggested that they possibly had something to do with Sharon Pulaski’s disappearance. I mean, no secret society is going to admit to being a secret society. Of course they’re going to say they don’t have anything less than the very best of intentions. On a semi-related note, I had a friend from elementary school whose mother accidentally walked in on a Masons meeting one night and saw something… dark, and not exactly right (I don’t know if she had to use their bathroom or needed directions or what exactly). My GF said it was almost as if her mom walked in on a ritual of some sort… thankfully she realized that she shouldn’t have been there and quickly left.

After graduating from high school in 2002, Steven went on to attend ECC for a bit before eventually getting hired at FedEx. Unfortunately, while looking for information about his mom I learned he died sometime in 2020. I couldn’t find any sort of obituary for him. Sharon’s dad Andrew passed away on May 11, 1989 in Buffalo, and her mother died on February 15, 2013. Her brother Andrew lives in Alden and Brian resides in Lancaster. If Sharon was alive in November 2023 she would be sixty years old.

Sharon Pulaski. Photo courtesy of Daniel Patrick Hurley.
Sharon Pulaski from the 1978 Alden High School yearbook. Next to her is her brother, Andy.
Sharon Pulaski in a group photo for ‘science club’ from the 1979 Alden High School yearbook.
Sharon Pulaski from the 1979 Alden High School yearbook.
Sharon Pulaski in a group photo for ‘poetry workshop’ from the 1979 Alden High School yearbook.
Sharon Pulaski in a group photo for science club from the 1979 Alden High School yearbook.
Sharon Pulaski in a group photo for photography staff from the 1979 Alden High School yearbook.
Sharon’s senior picture from the 1980 Alden High School yearbook. Photo courtesy of Daniel Patrick Hurley.
Sharon Pulaski.
A photo of Pulaski from her drivers license.
An announcement that Sharon had a baby published by The Buffalo News on October 18, 1983.
Sharon’s fathers obituary. Photo courtesy of The Buffalo News.
Sharon’s mothers obituary. Photo courtesy of The Buffalo News.
Andrew Pulaski’s grave site.
A Facebook comment from the child of a former neighbor of Pulaski.
1369 Town Line Road, Alden NY. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
A blue 1985 Plymouth Reliant much like the one Pulaski drove.
Andrew Pulaski in a group picture for Harkness from the 1978 Alden High School yearbook.
Steven Pulaski.
Sharon’s son, Steve.
I pulled this from Steves’ Facebook.
Tommy Lynn Sells, AKA The Cross Country Killer and The Coast to Coast Killer. Sells was an American pedophile, family annihilator, necrophiliac serial killer, serial rapist, abductor, and robber that took credit for murdering over 70 people. He said, ‘I am hatred. When you look at me, you look at hate. I don’t know what love is. Two words I don’t like to use are ‘love’ and ‘sorry,’ because I’m about hate.’
Suzanne Korcz. Lockport Detective Lieutenant Rick Podgers said that Sells ‘told authorities he jumped onto a freight train, going north until he couldn’t go any farther. He said he got off somewhere near Niagara Falls and it ultimately led to a murder. . . . He said it happened in the mid-80’s and it was a white female. His story has some similarities to the death of Suzanne Korcz.’ Despite being a frequent and habitual liar, law enforcement said they feel he is telling the truth because he shared information about Suzanne Korcz that would be tough to know unless he was involved.
A few possible routes from Sharons house in Alden, NY to California.

Theodore Robert Bundy, Crime Scene Photos.

Over the years I’ve only come across a few pictures from Bundy’s crime scenes, for the simple fact that there’s not many of them. This is because he usually left little to no trace of himself behind, and there were no bodies recovered until they were completely decomposed (well, until the end in 1978). I came across a website last night on TikTok (as silly as that sounds), and it contained a bunch of pictures I’ve never seen before, I was pretty amazed. So, here they are. I also went through my own collection and found some additional crime-scene related pictures and included those as well. Because, why not? If anyone has more, please feel free out reach out to me. I will give you credit.

Edit: I wanted to thank Tiffany Jean for all of the hard work she does on the Bundy case. Because of her we have information never before accessible, and she is a wonderful educator and TB resource. Thank you for all that you do.

TB’s kill kit.
Some more items from Bundy’s kill kit. Photo courtesy of Kevin Sullivan.
The outside of Bundy’s VW Beetle. It’s confirmed that at least eighteen of his victims were transported in this vehicle.
The inside of Ted’s VW Beetle. Bundy took out the cars passenger seat so that his victims could lie vertically without being seen by others.
Another shot of the inside of Bundy’s VW.
Bundy’s VW Beetle notes from the ‘Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992.’ He bought the infamous tan Bug in the spring of 1973 from a woman named Martha Helms.
First confirmed Bundy victim, Karen Sparks-Epley (formerly known as Joni Lenz).
Karen Sparks-Epley’s residence where was attacked by Ted Bundy on January 4, 1974. This is a police photograph of 4325 8th Avenue NE, Sparks’ bedroom is circled in white. The house was torn down at some time in 1985.
These days the site of the house is now home to the Westwood apartments, which were built in 1985.
The window at Karen Sparks apartment Bundy used to break in.
The bedroom of Karen Sparks after her assault. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The close-up of Sparks bed after her assault. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
The bedroom of Karen Sparks after her assault. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The doorway of Karen Sparks bedroom after her assault. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The floor of Karen Sparks bedroom after her assault. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The bedroom of Karen Sparks after her assault.
The bedroom of Karen Sparks after her assault.
The bedding of Sparks. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
A crime scene photo from the assault of Karen Sparks.
Lynda Ann Healy, TB’s first confirmed kill. Healy was born on July 3,1952 in Seattle and was abducted on January 31, 1974.
Healy’s house as it looked in the 1970’s.
Healy’s apartment in 2021.
A photo of the trail behind Lynda Ann Healy’s apartment; her house is circled in red. Photo courtesy of OddStops.
A King County Detective walking out of the side door of Healy’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
The entrance of Healy’s apartment, via the side door of the house. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The side door of Healy’s apartment. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Lynda’s roommates standing around her bed. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
The entrance of Healy’s bedroom and the stairs leading outside. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Another shot of the entrance of Lynda Healy’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
One side of Healy’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Another shot of Healy’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
A shot of Healy’s mattress. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
A close-up of the blood stain on Lynda Ann Healy’s mattress. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The blood stain on Lynda Ann Healy’s bedding. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
A close-up of the blood stain on Lynda Ann Healy’s bedding. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
The blood stain at the crime scene of Healy. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
A close-up of the blood stain at the crime scene of Lynda Healy. Photo courtesy of Amazon.
Susan Elaine Rancourt.
Roberta Kathleen Parks.
Brenda Ball’s drivers license. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The following is borrowed from Dr. Robert Keppel’s true crime classic ‘The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer:’ ‘The final tally of remains for Taylor Mountain paled in comparison to Issaquah: three crania, three mandibles, two small pieces of a skull, one tooth, and a small blond hair mass. Not one other remnant of a human skeleton was discovered. The remains of four women were identified from the sparse skeletal remains we had recovered: Susan Rancourt, who disappeared April 17, 1974, from the library at Central Washington State College; Kathy Parks, last seen May 5, 1974, at Oregon State University, over 260 miles from Taylor Mountain; Brenda Ball, who was last seen May 31, 1974, at the Flame Tavern in Seattle; and Lynda Healy, who was reported missing from her basement bedroom at the University of Washington on January 31, 1974.’
Powerline Road on Taylor Mountain. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Another shot of the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
An aerial shot of Taylor Mountain. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
The skull of Brenda Ball at the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Another shot of the skull of Brenda Ball at the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Another shot of the skull of Brenda Ball at the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
A close-up shot of the skull of Brenda Ball. Photo courtesy of the KIRO-7.
A shot of Lynda Ann Healy’s mandible with teeth taken from about 15 feet away. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives.
A shot of Lynda Ann Healy’s mandible taken from roughly four feet away. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Susan Rancourt’s beautiful blonde hair. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Susan Rancourt’s skull. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Kathy Parks’ skull. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
One of the skulls recovered from Taylor Mountain. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
LE pointing out something at the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
A member of law enforcement pointing something out at the Taylor Mountain dump site.
Members of law enforcement at the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
A green, military-style type coat, item #K-35. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Dense underbrush at the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
A shot from the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
A shot from the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of MSNBC.
A shot from the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of MSNBC.
A shot from the Taylor Mountain dump site. Photo courtesy of MSNBC.
The tattered remains of a sloppily made, lean-to shelter found at Taylor Mountain. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Clockwise from the top left: Parks mandible, Parks mandible, Parks skull, Healy mandible, Ball skull, Ball skull, Ball skull, Ball skull, Healy mandible center. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Clockwise from top left: Parks skull and mandible, Parks skull and mandible, Rancourt skull, Parks skull, Parks skull, Parks skull, Parks skull, Parks skull, Parks skull at center. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Another group of bones found at Taylor Mountain. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7. I believe these are all bones in Susan Rancourts skull.
Brenda Ball’s skull. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Susan Rancourt’s skull. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Kathy Parks’ skull. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Janice Ott.
Denise Naslund.
TB’s Issaquah dump site as it looks today.
The entryway to Ted’s Issaquah dump site as it looks today.
The Issaquah dirt road and grassy area in September 1974. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Denise Naslunds hair at the Issaquah dump site. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives.
Another shot of Denise Naslunds hair at the Issaquah dump site. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives.
A rib cage at the Issaquah dump site. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives.
Another shot of the rib cage at the Issaquah dump site. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives.
Denise Naslunds skull from the Issaquah dump site. It was found by two hunters on a hillside just east of Issaquah, less than ten miles from Lake Sammamish where she was abducted. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
A picture from the Issaquah dump site. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
A mapping of where the different bones were found at the Issaquah dump site.
Ted at the Issaquah dump site; he was there with Liz that day.
Georgann Hawkins.
A snapshot taken at the Issaquah dump site on February 15, 1989. Investigators were looking for the remains of Georgann Hawkins, after Bundy confessed to her murder during his death row confessions. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives.
Another picture taken at the Issaquah dump site on February 15, 1989.
A picture of the possible dump site of Georgann Hawkins taken in February 1989.
The ESAR map Keppel brought with him to the Florida State Prison for his final interview with Bundy. Photo courtesy of the King County Archives/Tiffany Jean.
Susan Curtis.
Joe Ruden from the Carbon County Search and Rescue team uses a metal detector to search for the burial site of Susan Curtis, who disappeared from the BYU campus in Utah in the summer of 1975. Bundy confessed to killing Curtis during his death row confessions and that he buried her about ten miles south east of Price, UT.
Jim Simone from the Carbon County Search and Rescue team sets out in search for the remains of Sue Curtis.
Debra Kent.
Deb Kent’s patella. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Jean. Right before he was put to death in January 1989, Bundy finally confessed to killing Deb Kent. He said that he brought her back to his apartment and after ‘keeping her for a while’ murdered her. He then put her body in his car and drove 105 miles away to Fairview Canyon, where he buried her remains about 3 feet deep, under some heavy rocks. After searching the Canyon, law enforcement found a patella (kneecap), and it is likely that her other bones were scavenged and spread around by wildlife over time. Although the ME’s office determined that the bone was human, they weren’t able to test it beyond that until 2015, when a cold-case detective stumbled across Kent’s DNA that had never been entered into the NamUs database. At that point, he reached out to Mrs. Kent, who held onto the only piece of her daughter she had left and asked if he could take the bone for genetic testing. Although she gave the detective the patella, Mrs. Kent told him that she didn’t want to know the results. In her mind, it belonged to Debra and didn’t want to be told otherwise. Thankfully her fears were put to rest five months later, when the results came back that the bone belonged to Debra.
Melissa Smith.
Where the remains of Melissa Smith were found, on Kilby Road in Park City, Utah.
Investigators at the scene where the remains of Laura Ann Aime were found.
Caryn Campbell. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
A shot of the remains of Caryn Campbell in the snow. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
The skull of Caryn Campbell. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.Thank you to my friend Samantha Shore for letting me know the identity of this victim.
Vince Lahey holding a crowbar over Campbells autopsy photo. Photo courtesy of Erin Banks.
Caryn Campbell, Bundy’s MO. Photo courtesy of Erin Banks.
An article about the discovery of Caryn Campbell’s remains, published by The Daily Sentinel on February 19, 1975.
A photo of Bundy’s shoe print in the snow after his second escape on December 30, 1977. Photo courtesy of The Coloradoan.
Margaret Bowman, a victim of Bundy’s 1978 Florida rampage.
Lisa Levy, a victim of Bundy’s 1978 Florida rampage.
Kathy Kleiner testifying at Bundy’s trial.
Kathy Kleiner, today.
Karen Ann Chandler testifying at Bundy’s trial.
Karen Chandler, today.
The crime scene of Chi Omega victim, Margaret Bowman. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Margaret Bowman, who was murdered while defenseless in her bed. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Chi Omega victim, Margaret Bowman. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Chi Omega victim, Margaret Bowman. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Chi Omega victim, Margaret Bowman. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Chi Omega victim, Margaret Bowman. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
A photo of Chi Omega victim, Lisa Levy. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
A bite mark on Chi Omega victim, Lisa Levy. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Another shot of Bundy’s bite mark on Lisa Levy’s buttock. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
The layout of the rooms at the Chi Omega sororiety house.
The Chi Omega House right after the murders took place in 1978. Twenty year old Lisa Levy and twenty-one year old Margaret Bowman were brutally murdered in their beds by Bundy. He also viciously attacked and left for dead Karen Ann Chandler and Kathy Kleiner, but thankfully both women survived. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another shot of the Chi Omega House right after the murders. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another shot of the Chi Omega House right after the murders. I love the old LE vehicle parked out front. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
The unlocked door of the Chi Omega House that Bundy snuck into. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
An area outside of the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
A shot of the logs outside of the Chi Omega house Bundy used to attack the four sleeping co-eds. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another shot of the logs outside the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
One of the beds in the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another one of the beds from the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another bed from the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another one of the beds from the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another bed at Chi Oh.
Another bed at Chi Oh.
A picture of one of the bedrooms in the Chi Omega house after Bundy’s murders.
A picture of a hallway at the Chi Omega house after Bundy’s murders.
A photo related to Bundy’s January 1978 Tallahassee crime scene. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Cheryl Thomas. Bundy used the same log to attack Thomas that he used in the Chi Omega assaults. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
A photo of the house on Dunwoody Street Cheryl Thomas shared with friends from FSU. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another shot of the house that Cheryl Thomas shared with friends from FSU. Photo courtesy of OddStops.
An aerial shot of where Cheryl Thomas lived and was attacked, located at 431 Dunwoody Street in Tallahassee; the house has since been torn down. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
What the area on Dunwoody Street looks like in 2023.
The door at the residence of Cheryl Thomas in Tallahassee. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
The open window in Cheryl Thomas’s kitchen that Bundy climbed into. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
The fly screen on Thomas’ window that Bundy knocked loose when he climbed into her kitchen the night of her assault. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg.
The flower pot that Bundy knocked over when he broke into Cheryl Thomas’ apartment. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg.
The window in Thomas’s kitchen that Bundy crawled through.
The back door at Cheryl Thomas’s apartment. Law enforcement took chunks out of the doors of both sides of the house; the perpetrator left his fingerprints behind on both. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
The crime scene of Cheryl Thomas. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Pantyhose found in Cheryl Thomas’ apartment. According to court documents, a knotted pair of pantyhose was found in her bedroom with holes cut into the nylon to create a mask. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
The lath that Thomas used to prop her bedroom window open. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg.
The pantyhose mask found in Cheryl Thomas’ apartment. 
An expert holding up the pantyhose mask found in Cheryl Thomas’ apartment at Bundy’s Chi Omega trial. 
Kimberly Dianne Leach.
The white van Bundy stole from FSU. It’s the vehicle he used to abduct Kim Leach with.
The inside of the van Bundy stole from FSU.
Another shot of the inside of the van Bundy stole from FSU.
Another shot of the inside of the van Bundy stole from FSU.
The hog shed Bundy used to dispose of Leach’s body.
A screen shot from Leach’s crime scene. This was all could find, I apologize for the poor quality.
The first three rows of butts were found discarded on the ground in Suwannee River State Park, and the single column on the right were the ones ground discarded in the FSU van. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg.
Bundy’s final mug shot from February 1978 after he was arrested in Jacksonville. The bruise on his face occurred after he got into a brief tussle with the arresting officer, who hit him in the cheek with his gun.
Former Leon County Sheriff Ken Katsaris looking at pictures related to the Bundy case.
A dentist taking a mold of Bundys teeth. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another shot of a dentist taking a old of Bundys teeth. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Molds of Bundy’s teeth. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Molds of Bundy’s teeth. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Bundy’s teeth. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
Bundy’s gross teeth.
Bundy’s bite mark. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West.
A photo of Ted arriving at the Medical Examiners office after his execution.
A B&W of Bundy after his execution.
Bundy after his execution.
A picture of Bundy, post-mortem. Photo courtesy of the Florida state Department of Corrections.
Bundy after his execution.
The top of Bundy’s head after his execution.