In the early morning hours of January 4th, 1974, Ted Bundy brutally assaulted college student Karen Sparks at 4325 8th Avenue NE in the University District of Seattle; she was his first known victim. Miraculously, he didn’t kill her, but he did leave her with numerous long-term injuries that she still struggles with to this day. The house she used to reside in no longer exists as it was torn down sometime in 1985 to make way for a new four-story apartment block called ‘Westwood Apartments.’
On July 14th, 1974, Ted Bundy abducted two women from Lake Sammamish state park in Issaquah, Washington. That bright and cheerful afternoon, Bundy approached Janice Ann Ott and Denise Marie Naslund in broad daylight and asked them to assist him unload a sailboat at his parent’s house. Bundy donned a fake sling and explained that his arm was injured and that he was unable to unload it by himself. He also claimed that his parent’s house was ‘just up the hill.’
The abductions of Ott and Naslund occurred separately, just four hours apart. On both of these occasions, he convinced his victim to get into his Volkswagen Bug and accompany him to his sailboat, which in reality did not exist. Once his victims got into his car, it is likely that he immediately drove them to a secluded dump site in Issaquah known as Tiger Mountain and murdered them. This is the same site where Ott and Naslund’s skeletal remains were discovered roughly two months later.
Janice Ann Ott was abducted at around 12.30 PM; three and a half hours after her abduction Bundy returned to look for a second victim, Denise Naslund. At roughly 4:30 PM, he approached Denise Naslund by the restrooms and, using the same technique he used with Ott, was able to convince her to help him as well.
During the investigation into the disappearance of Ott and Naslund, it emerged that a man calling himself “Ted” had approached multiple women at Lake Sammamish that afternoon in 1974. Bundy’s decision to kidnap two women within four hours of each other was a brazen deviation from the norm. Because of this, many Bundy Scholars have speculated that he was attempting to “increase his high” by attacking two women at the same time. In other words, it is speculated that he may have incapacitated Janice Ott, gagged her (not killing her) and then returned to the park to search for a second victim. Although Bundy did insinuate that one had to watch the other die, this “confessin” was during one of his third-person pseudo-confessions to Stephen Michaud. We also know that Ted was a narcissist and a habitual liar who loved to paint himself as a bold and highly-intelligent serial killer. Therefore, we need to be extremely careful about taking his word as fact.
It has been hypothesized that Bundy tied Ott to a tree and then left her there. The area in question was pretty secluded and it is fairly unlikely that someone would have stumbled upon her, especially if she was gagged. Another plausible theory is that Bundy murdered Ott before he returned to Lake Sammamish with his second victim. There is a noticeable gap between the abduction of Ott at 12.30 PM and Bundy’s return to the park at around 4 PM and if we take into account the length of the journey between the park and the dump site, then it means that he was with Ott for 2-3 hours. That seems like a lot of time if the original plan was to kidnap two women and then attack them at the same time. His decision to hunt for a second victim may have also been driven by other factors. For example, an event may have occurred during the murder of Janice Ott which prevented Bundy from achieving sexual gratification. At this point in time we’ll most likely never really know.
Lynda Ann Healy’s House, 1974 vs 2022.
This is the residence where Ted Bundy attacked and abducted his first known murder victim, Lynda Ann Healy in February of 1974. Healy was born in 1952 to James and Joyce Healy and resided in an upper middle class Newport Hills neighborhood in Bellevue, Washington (a suburb of Seattle). The Healy’s had three children: Lynda was the oldest, then Laura, then youngest brother Robert. Lynda was a slender 115 pounds, with long brown hair, blue eyes, and a strong personality to compliment her kind nature. According to the book “The Only Living Witness,” by Hugh Aynesworth and Stephen Michaud, Lynda was 21 years old at the time of her murder and was a student at the University of Washington, majoring in Psychology. She also loved volunteering and working with children with disabilities. Lynda was an above average student who loved learning; she was also a talented musician and photographer, and was rarely seen without her camera.
On Thursday, January 31st, 1974, Lynda borrowed her roommates car to go shopping for a family dinner she was preparing the next night and returned with her groceries at roughly 8:30 PM. Shortly after, Lynda and her roommates went drinking at a popular bar called Dante’s Tavern located at 5300 Roosevelt Way NE in Seattle. The bar was a five minute walk from Lynda’s apartment, and the friends ordered two pitchers of beer between the four of them; however they didn’t stay out too late because Lynda needed to be up at 5:30 AM to be at her job giving the ski report for a local radio station. A number of sources report that Bundy used to go to the bar often and it is hypothesized that he first saw Lynda there then followed her home. In the early morning hours of February 1, 1974, Bundy broke into Healy’s basement room. He beat her, took off her bloody nightgown (making sure to neatly hang it up in her closet), dressed her in blue jeans, a white blouse, and boots, then carried her off into the night, never to be seen again. It is theorized that Bundy only took clothes to make it appear as if Lynda left on her own, and we’ll most likely never know the truth.
A few hours later, Lynda’s alarm clock went off at 5:30 AM and continued to buzz for another half hour until her roommate Karen Skavlem woke up. Upon inspection, Karen could see that the room was completely normal and nothing looked out of place, so she turned off Lynda’s alarm clock and left.
Later that day, Lynda’s boss called the house asking where she was: his model employee didn’t show up to the station that morning for work. It was at that point that the roommates started to become concerned that something could be wrong. When Lynda’s parents showed up for dinner that evening and were informed about their missing daughter Mrs. Healy immediately called the police.
During a search of the room, police noted that everything was extremely neat and tidy, including her bed being perfectly made, hospital corners and all. Lynda’s roommates found this incredibly strange, as she usually didn’t make her bed when she had to leave early for work. It wasn’t until after police lifted up the bedspread that they spotted blood on the pillow and parts of the bed sheets. The location of the blood on the upper part of Lynda’s bed and nightgown suggests that Bundy incapacitated her by hitting her over the head with a blunt object, most likely while she was sleeping. It is not known if Lynda was dead or alive when her attacker took her from the house. At this point in the investigation, it was very clear that something terrible had happened to Lynda Ann Healy.
For the next 13 months, Lynda’s case remained unsolved. Then, in March of 1975, two forestry students from the Green River Community College discovered her skull and mandible on Taylor Mountain, where Bundy frequently went hiking. During a search of the site, police discovered the partial remains of four women, including the mandible of Lynda Ann Healy. The police were able to confirm her identity by comparing the lower jaw bone to her dental records.
By now, the police were well aware that there was a sadistic killer targeting women in the Seattle area. It wasn’t until Theodore Robert Bundy was arrested in November of 1975 for the attempted kidnapping of Utah resident Carol DaRonch outside of a bookstore in a shopping mall that the pieces of the puzzle all came together and he became the chief suspect in Healy’s murder.
This (short) article is mostly going to be about the memorial garden that Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington dedicated to Susan Rancourt in October of 2012; I will focus on her life and murder in a separate article at a different point in time.
The life of Ted Bundy victim Susan Rancourt was memorialized on Friday, October 12, 2012 during the grand opening of the newly renovated Barto Hall at Central Washington University. Rancourt attended the university in 1973 and 1974 before she was abducted on campus and later killed; a beautiful garden was planted near the newly renovated dormitory and dedicated to her memory. While attending CWU as a Biology major, Sue lived at Barto Hall, a dormitory named after the schools’ former registrar, Harold Peter “Pete” Barto. In addition to serving as registrar, Barto also taught history PT and eventually left the role to teach full time (and served as chair of the Division of Social Work for roughly a year). He retired from teaching in 1961 and sadly passed away just a few years later. After his death, CWU built a three-story dormitory and named it after him; it fit 174 beds and opened in 1962.
In attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony was Susan’s mother Vivian and her husband Bob Winters from Ephrata, WA (unfortunately Susan’s father Theodore “Dale” Rancourt passed away in August, 1990); her sister Judy and (her husband) Tom Zimmerman from La Conner, WA; her brother Dennis Rancourt from Orcas Island, WA; two of Judy’s daughters and Rancourt’s niece, Elena Carter. Mrs. Winters proudly cut the bright red ribbon outside the newly updated Barto Hall, where the beautiful, horseshoe-shaped garden was built in memory of her beautiful Susan. Judy said a few words on behalf of the family during the ribbon cutting ceremony:
“In the late ’60s my brother, Dennis, played football for the Wildcats and graduated with a teaching degree. Four years later my sister, Susan, told my parents she was attending Central.” … “My folks lived in Alaska at that time, my husband and I lived in La Conner.” … “We brought her to Ellensburg and moved her into Barto Hall.”
Zimmerman said that it was a “day of celebration,” and that her little sister really loved life while attending CWU. “On April 18, 1974, Sue’s roommate at Barto Hall phoned me to tell me Susan had not come home from a dorm-leaders meeting the previous evening.” … “My brothers and sisters, my mom and dad, Tom and I immediately came to Ellensburg from all points” … “We were supported in every way by this campus family in the following days” … “We would not find Susan’s body until the following year.” She said that during this incredibly hard time for them, the staff at Central Washington University took very good care of them, putting the family up in dorms and giving them food vouchers for the dining hall on campus. This must have been especially convenient for Dale and Vivian, as they were living in Alaska at the time of their daughters abduction.
“Eighteen years later our son, Tyler, announced to us that he wanted to become a CWU student. My heart froze,” Judy said. But while attending a parent session, any anxiety or fear she felt quickly dissipated, and both of her sons went on to attend the school. It was the right environment, both boys said, and it “felt like home.” Coincidentally, the day of the garden dedication ceremony would have been Susan’s 56th birthday: “It’s just dumb coincidence that this is the day,” Judy said. She went on to thank her niece for helping organize the event: at the time Elena Carter was a senior at CWU and played soccer for the school. “My family is thrilled that you are honoring Susan today. We really are. We humbly thank you for helping us remember our beautiful young Susan, happy and healthy and in her element on this great campus,” Judy said.
The associate dean of students for Student Living Richard DeShields said he hoped that many of Rancourt’s traits would be emulated in today’s students, such as her love for CWU, her passion for learning, and her helpful and kind nature. Sue was premed, majoring in Biology with plans to attend medical school after undergrad. Not only did Sue do very well academically but she also was very active in extracurricular activities around campus: she would sew patches on the uniforms of campus police officers and even went running with them after class. She was also an avid baker and tutored struggling students in German and Biology. About Rancourt, university President James Gaudino said, “she was taken from us too soon.” … “We are honored today to celebrate her life in this memorial.”
On March 2nd, 1975, two forestry students discovered the skull of Brenda Ball while doing field work over 90 miles away from CWU on Taylor Mountain (or as the locals call it, Tiger Mountain)… a day later, King County detective Robert Keppel was combing the area when he fell over a branch and stumbled across the skull of Susan Rancourt. After this gruesome discovery, it immediately became clear to law enforcement that they were dealing with another one of “Ted’s” dump sites: six months prior (and only 12 miles away), two grouse hunters discovered Ted’s Issaquah dump site.
On January 24, 1989 Theodore Robert Bundy was put to death for his heinous crimes against humanity, including the murder of Susan Elaine Rancourt. That morning, Seattle based news station KOMO-TV invited Susan Rancourt’s mom, Mrs. Vivian Winters to appear on TV through satellite from her home to share memories of her daughter as well as her feelings regarding Ted Bundy’s impending death. Just two days earlier, Bundy confessed to her daughters murder and I can only imagine the raw emotion she must have been feeling that morning of his execution. On top of Mrs. Rancourt being live on air, KOMO-TV reporter Dana Middleton Silberstein went to the Bundy family home in Tacoma and asked the emotionally fragile Mrs. Bundy if she would like to talk to one of the mothers of the victims (live, while on air of course). The reporter said that “John Bundy” was surprisingly easy to locate in the Tacoma phone book (despite the family having to change their number multiple times over the years due to threats and obscene calls). Surprisingly, Louise said yes and agreed to talk to Vivian live on air later that morning. On air, Mrs. Rancourt said to the timid Mrs. Bundy: “First of all, we send hugs to her, too” … “It has to be terrible for her. Our suffering is over, our answers are all there, and I think hers are probably just beginning.” When asked if she would like to say anything in response to Vivian, Louise hesitated then says, “I’m glad to be able to say it directly to one of the moms” … “We don’t know why this happened, we feel so desperately sorry for you. We didn’t want our son to do these things. We have two beautiful daughters of our own, and we know how we would feel. I am sorry.” In that moment, they were just two mothers who lost a child.
Despite this being slightly off topic I’m including it anyways (just because this only helps show what a monster Ted actually was, not the handsome, clean cut law student Bundyphiles drool over): When Dana Middleton-Silberstein went to visit Mrs. Bundy the morning of her son’s execution, she made a comment that he was “popular.” Middleton-Silberstein thought to herself that this “popular” man bit one of his victims nipples off during an attack, had sex with their dead corpses, and eventually dismembered them. One of his own lawyers described him as “the very definition of heartless evil.”
I would like to finish this short piece with a quote from Susans Mom: she pointed out that many of the women that became Bundy’s victims attempted to help assist him in some way (he was known to have frequently worn an arm sling or leg cast when hunting for victims). “They did not invite him into their lives.” … “The worst thing most of them did was to try and do a good thing. They offered him help. And it turned out to be the worst mistake they made in their lives.”
“Leaves and soil stuck to his tires helped send Ted Bundy to the electric chair.
The monster kidnapped, raped and murdered at least 30 women across the US from 1974 to 1978.
His last victim was Kimberly Leach, who was 12 when she was snatched from her Florida high school.
Weeks later, traffic cops pulled him over for loitering and erratic driving. His tires had leaves and soil on them that was later linked to the wooded area where he dumped Kimberly’s body.
Bundy, who kept the severed head of some of his victims, was executed in 1989, aged 42.”
– Nigel Bunyan & Rachel Howarth, July 16, 2022.
I was looking up information on Denise Naslund when I stumbled upon this picture of her Mother, Eleanore Mary (Deeb) Naslund when she was younger, before the tragic loss of her daughter.
I don’t think it’s possible to measure grief. No one can say, ‘that family’ had a harder time dealing with the loss of their daughter; they mourned longer and on a deeper level than the others.’ We don’t know what’s going on inside someone’s head or how they act behind closed doors.
However, I can say for ABSOLUTE certain that Ted Bundy destroyed Eleanore’s life. Look at that beautiful smile and those bright, sparkling eyes. One of the kindest compliments I ever recieved was, ‘your smile goes up to your eyes.’ That is the first thing I thought of when I saw this picture. Every single time I see this poor woman in a photograph or documentary it breaks my heart a little more. Her sadness is palpable. I don’t even want to do a side by side with her in later years, I don’t want to take away from the beauty of this picture.
Whenever you want to glamorize or sexualize a monster like Ted Bundy, think of this woman and what he put her through.
Another Bundy Blog. 