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Janet Lynn Karin-Shanahan.

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Janet Lynn Shanahan was born on August 19, 1946 to Stanley Paul and Jean Lois (nee Wyse) Karin in Spokane, WA. Janet’s father Stanley was born on September 30, 1916 and her mother Jean was born on November 2, 1924 in Illinois. The couple had two daughters together (Janet and her younger sister Jane) but eventually divorced, and it looks like Stanley was involved in some lower-level criminal activity and even served some jail time. Jean got remarried to a man named Jared Thomas, and it looks like he adopted Janet and Jane; the couple had two sons together, Jared and Timothy. Blonde haired, blue eyed Janet was an honor student, and attended Willamette High School in Eugene, Oregon. She was very active during her time there and was involved in multiple after school groups and activities, including drama club, the art guild, and the newspaper. During her senior year she was crowned prom queen and was voted ‘Girl of the Year, and according to those that knew her, Shanahan was incredibly outgoing, well-liked, and she had a lot of friends. After graduating high school in 1964 she got a part time job at a credit card company and attended the University of Oregon with the goal of one day becoming a junior high school teacher; according to her mother: ‘she was a leader, queen of this and that, and in the National Honor Society. She was very likable, very easy to get along with, and an excellent student.’

Janet married fellow OU student Christopher John Shanahan on May 24, 1968. He was born on February 19, 1946 in Washington DC and after his family relocated to Oregon he graduated from South Eugene High School in 1963. On the Shanahans marriage certificate Chris’ occupation is listed as student, and in April 1969 the couple had been married for about eleven months. In between classes and her PT job Janet was also student teaching at Cal Young Junior High School, and at the time of her murder she was in the spring semester of her sophomore year (Chris was in his junior). According to an article published in The Eugene Register Guard on January 5, 1997, Janet’s mother said that she didn’t know her new SIL very well, as they haven’t been married very long, but did say he was ‘kind of a loner’  but that as far as she could tell he seemed to be treating Janet right.’

On the evening of Monday, April 21, 1969 Janet attended a night class then briefly stopped home before leaving around 9:30 PM to attend her younger brother’s fifteenth birthday party at her parents house, about two miles away on Rutledge Street. Christopher Shanahan was reportedly sick at the time and stayed at home in bed. An article published in 1997 says that after the party at around 11:00 Janet went out for around 30-minutes with Jane (who had just recently moved home to their parents house in Eugene) to get some food at the nearby Lynwood Cafe. After the girls ate they went to a local convenience store and picked up a car magazine for her husband, then Janet dropped her sister off at their parents house when they were done. The night she was last seen alive she was wearing a rust and cold colored brocade suit.

The timeline of when Janet was reported missing is a bit unclear: an article published in April 1969 states that she was reported missing later that same evening, but according to The Statesman Journal in 1997, Chris Shanahan woke at 8 AM the following morning, ‘and discovered his wife hadn’t returned home. After she failed to report for work at 1 PM at a credit company, Shanahan reported her as missing.’ 

I’ve seen some sources list the day Janet was discovered as April 22 and others that say it was April 23, but if she wasn’t reported as missing until one o’clock in the afternoon after she dropped Jane off at her parents house then it’s safe to say she was recovered two days after she was last seen, roughly thirty-four hours later. On the morning of April 23, 1969, Christopher contacted his SIL asking her to accompany him in an attempt to retrace Janet’s steps from the evening she disappeared in hopes of finding her 1951 Plymouth coupe. At roughly 9:40 AM after only ten minutes of looking they noticed the sedan in a ditch in an industrial area near a lumber mill, less than two miles away from her parents house on Cross Street, at the intersection of Roosevelt Boulevard and Maple Street. Employees from the nearby lumber mill report the vehicle being there since somewhere between 1 AM and 6 AM the previous morning. The keys were missing, but Chris was still able to get the trunk open, and that’s when they found Janet’s body; she had been strangled to death.

After finding Janet’s body Chris called police using a nearby pay phone, then dropped Jane off at home, and immediately went to his attorney’s office. A passing motorist saw Chris and Janes reactions and thought there was a car accident and contacted police as well. Where he did initially cooperate with police, after the discovery Shanahan told investigating detectives that he’d been on a ‘desperate search’ for his wife, but in reality he did everyday, mundane tasks like reading for class and getting new tires on his car. The night before she was found, he had been seen out, drinking beer and shooting pool. After April 25, 1969 he never contacted police for news again on his wife’s death, and didn’t stick around for long after either, and shortly after moved across the country to Connecticut, where he still resides as of January 2025. 

An employee at nearby Eugene Stud & Veneer, Inc named Earl Albert said he saw the couple walking towards the car, and after the young man ‘glanced’ in the front part of the vehicle he then opened the trunk and repeatedly screamed, ‘oh no, oh no, no’ over and over again. Police reported that the inside of her sedan was ‘neat and orderly,’ and there were no signs of a struggle. Janet’s body was fully clothed except for her shoes, which were found lying next to her, and despite there being no outward signs of sexual assault it was later determined that she was indeed violated. Upon searching the scene for clues investigators didn’t find much useful information, and Sergeant DW Carley said that to kill Shanahan her assailant most likely ‘used something flexible, such as a length of garden hose.’

Over the years detectives have interviewed hundreds of Shanahan’s friends, family members, school mates, and acquaintances, with little to no luck. Because genetic evidence was not properly stored in the 1960’s, there is no DNA sample related to Janets murder, therefore detectives are largely relying on tips from the general public to solve her case. According to cold case detective Drew Tracey, ‘we have already done a pretty thorough investigation, and we have our thoughts, but thoughts do not convict people.’

In a January 1997 article published in The Statesman Journal, Eugene Police Detective Les Rainey said investigators were looking for an unidentified man and woman that may have been with Shanahan at a cafe on the evening she disappeared sometime after she left with her sister, which alludes to Janet possibly returning after she dropped her sister off. Rainey also said that he hopes to get in contact with two friends of the Shanahans, Robbie and Marcia Robertson as well as an acquaintance of Chris’ named Freida Jessey (this is her maiden name, which is all that was released). Detective Rainey made it clear that the three individuals were not suspects and could possibly help shed some new light on what Chris’s frame of mind was like after his wife was killed.

In 1996 while on the east coast for a separate investigation a detective working the investigation tracked Chris Shanahan down in New Milford, Connecticut and tried to talk to him about his wife’s murder, and this time his demeanor had completely changed: he became angry, and combative, and refused to answer any questions, directing the detective to his attorney. About Shanahan, Rainey said ‘we have some concerns and some suspicions, but if there’s information that would clear him, we’re interested in that too.’ In a 1997 (attempted) interview with The Register-Guard, Chris Shanahan said ‘no comment, that’s my comment. Please don’t contact me again. If you do, I’ll be real upset.’ Jean Thomas said of her son in law, ‘I don’t think he could ever do that, and I told the detective that.’  According to Les Rainey, ‘my instincts, based on my experience and training, indicate it was done by someone who was close to her.’

A week after Janet’s murder a waitress that was working at a cafe along Highway 99 in Eugene came forward to LE and told them that the young newlywed had come into the restaurant sometime after 11:30 PM the night that she was killed. She was with two other women and were eventually joined by a young man, and it was never made clear if the other woman she was with was her sister. The waitress was shown a picture of Christopher Shanahan, but was unsure if it was him. A second woman came forward and told LE that she saw a woman that strongly resembled Janet Shanahan on the evening she was last seen alive. Both reports were investigated, but nothing ever came of it.

In the beginning of the investigation authorities tried to link Janet’s murder to the strangulation deaths of two other Eugene women: twenty-two year old Linda Salee on April 23, 1969 and eighteen year old Karen Sprinker on March 27, 1969, who were eventually determined to be the victims of serial killer Jerry Brudos.

Despite there being no serious suspects in relation to Janet’s murder two serial killers that were known to be active in the Oregon area around the time were investigated: Ted Bundy and Jerry Brudos. In April 1969 when the homicide took place it looks like Bundy was attending Temple University in Philadelphia, and was living with his Aunt Julia in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, so that pretty much rules him out as a suspect. Jerry Brudos operated mostly out of Salem, Oregon and is responsible for four deaths that took place between January 1968 and June 3, 1969, about a month and a half after Shanahan was killed. Also known as ‘The Lust Killer’ and the ‘Shoe Fetish Slayer,’ Brudos is also known to have attempted to abduct two other young women.

There are only a few commonalities that might make one think Brudo’s could be responsible for Shanahan’s death, and they’re weak and largely circumstantial: he was active at the time and he had a shoe fetish, and she was found without her footwear on… but that’s really where it ends. The serial killer was known to dismember his victims and was known to have saved certain body parts (usually their breasts or feet ), so the fact that Janet was found in one piece leads me to believe he isn’t the one responsible for her death. Also, YouTuber ‘Steve the Amateur Historian’ pointed out that he mainly operated in the Salem area, and not Eugene. Another reason I think Brudos wasn’t responsible for Shanahan’s death is the fact that all of his murders took place either in his vehicle or in his basement/garage workshop of one of the two homes that he lived in at the time, where he wouldn’t have had enough time to kidnap Janet, drive to his residence, kill her, bask in it, then drive back to Eugene to dispose of her remains in only thirty-fours hours time. 

On June 27, 1969, Brudos entered a plea of guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole served at Oregon State Penitentiary. He (unsuccessfully) appealed his conviction on multiple occasions, and died of liver cancer in 2006.

 In June 2022 some family and friends of Janet that wished to remain anonymous approached investigators offering  a $45,000 reward for the identification, arrest and conviction of her killer. They feel that because of how many years had passed, time is fleeting and this may be the last realistic effort to solve the case. According to Eugene Cold Case Detective Rick Gilliam, ‘the importance is, the fact this is 53 years old, and individuals out there are getting older, and the suspect may not have many more years to live. And the friends and family members would just like to resolve this case once and for all, so that’s why that reward’s out there.’

Janet’s biological father Stanley Karen died shortly after her murder at the age of 52 on June 10, 1969. Her mother Jean died on December 4, 1979 in Cook, IL, and her stepfather Jared Thomas died on May 5, 2009. Christopher Shanahan is now 78 and currently lives in New Milford, Connecticut. He never remarried and was never cleared in his wife’s murder.

Works Cited:
Bull, Brian. ‘$45,000 reward offered in Eugene murder case from 1969.’ Taken January 24, 2025 from klcc.org
Cascadia Crime & Cryptids: Episode 50: The Unsolved Murder of Janet Lynn Shanahan. Taken January 26, 2025 from cascadiacrimepod.libsyn.com/episode-50-the-unsolved-murder-of-janet-lynn-shanahan
‘Reward offered in 1969 Murder of Janet Shanahan.’ June 9, 2022. Taken January 23, 2025 from eugene.or.govo

Janets freshman year photo from the 1961 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janets sophomore year photo from the 1962 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet’s junior year picture from the 1963 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a photo from drama club from the 1963 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a picture from homecoming taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in another picture from homecoming taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a photo from drama club from the 1963 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a picture for prom taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in another picture from prom taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in another picture from prom taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet being crowned prom queen taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet was voted taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a picture taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a picture taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a picture from her schools newspaper taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in another picture for her schools newspaper taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet in a picture for the art guild taken from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet’s senior year picture from the 1964 Willamette High School yearbook.
Janet Shanahan.
Janet.
Shanahan.
Shanahan.
Janet Shanahan.
Shanahan.
Shanahan.
Janet Lynn Shanahan, on her wedding day, May 24, 1968.
A picture of Janet and her husband from their wedding day published in The Statesman Journal on April 25, 1969.
Janet’s birth announcement published in The Spokane Chronicle on September 21, 1946.
Christopher and Janet’s marriage certificate.
Christopher and Janet’s marriage announcement published in The Eugene Register-Guard on June 9, 1968.
Janet’s death certificate.
Janet’s gravestone in the West Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Eugene, OR; she is laid to rest in the Garden of Memory plot.
Murder victim Janet Lynn Shanahan (inset), and authorities investigating the crime scene where she was found in the trunk of her 1951 Plymouth sedan (dark vehicle, left side of photo.)
The victim’s 1951 Plymouth at the 1969 crime scene. Photo courtesy of the Eugene Police Department.
Janet’s 1961 Plymouth sedan. Photo courtesy of the Eugene Police Department.
What the industrial park where Janet’s remains were found looks like today.
Janet listed in Oregon’s death index.
Lynwood Cafe.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Corvallis Gazette-Times on April 24, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Statesman Journal on April 24, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Oregon Daily Journal on April 24, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Capital Journal on April 24, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Statesman Journal on April 25, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Oregonian on April 25, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Capital Journal on April 25, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Corvallis Gazette-Times on April 25, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Eugene Register-Guard May 6, 1969.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Capital Journal on May 20, 1969.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Greater Oregon on May 23, 1969.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The World on May 22, 1969.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Eugene Register-Guard on May 24, 1969.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Statesman Journal on June 3, 1969.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Albany Democrat-Herald on June 28, 1969.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Eugene Register-Guard on April 26, 1970.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Corvallis Gazette-Times on October 1, 1970.
An article about Jerry Brudos that mentions the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Corvallis Gazette-Times on June 22, 1995.
Part one of an article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Eugene Register-Guard on January 5, 1997.
Part two of an article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Eugene Register-Guard on January 5, 1997.
An article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Statesman Journal on January 6, 1997.
Part one of an article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Statesman Journal on June 13, 2022.
Part one of an article about the murder of Janet Shanahan published in The Statesman Journal on June 13, 2022.
Bundy’s activities in 1969 according to the ‘1992 Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report..’
A picture of Jerry Brudo’s taken after his arrest published in The Albany Democrat-Herald on June 28, 1969.
A picture of Janet’s stepfather Thomas Jared Hill from the 1945 Oregon State College yearbook.
A birth announcement for Janet’s younger sister published in The Spokesman-Review on November 25, 1947.
A newspaper blurb mentioning the divorce of Janet’s parents published in The Spokane Chronicle on June 11, 1948.
Information related to a 1949 arrest of Janet’s biological father, Stanley Karin.
A newspaper clipping about some criminal activity Janet’s father was involved in published in The Oregonian on January 25, 1957. 
The marriage certificate for Janet’s mother and stepfather.
Jane Thomas’ picture from the 1962 Willamette High School yearbook.
Chris Shanahan’s junior year picture from the 1962 South Eugene High School yearbook.
Chris Shanahan’s senior year picture from the 1963 South Eugene High School yearbook.
Janet’s stepfather.
Janet’s stepfather’s obituary published in The Register-Guard.
Chris and Janet’s apartment building located at 746 East 19th Avenue in Eugene, OR 97401.
A picture of where the birthday party took place on April 21, 1969 at 1328 Rutledge Street in Eugene, OR.

Camille Karen Covert-Foss.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ 2 Comments

Camille Karen Covet was born on September 25, 1950 to Wilfred and Delores (nee Essley) in Portland, OR. Mr. Covert was born on March 12, 1927 in Medford and her mother was born on July 3, 1931 in Portland. The couple had three children together (Camille, William, and Adele) but divorced on July 20, 1972, and Doris got remarried to a man named Herman Crane on May 10, 1974. Camille attended Centennial High School in Gresham, and after graduating in 1968 she went on to briefly attend the University of Oregon and got a job at a nearby Sears. A tall young woman with the looks and figure of a runway model, she stood at 6’1″ and had deep chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length brunette hair.

Camille’s husband, Myron Charles Foss (who went by Chuck) was born on July 24, 1949 in Hazen, North Dakota. At some time in Chuck’s adolescence the Foss family relocated to Portland, and after graduating from Franklin High School in 1967 he went on to join the US Air Force, and was stationed in Okinawa. After Chuck returned home from Japan the couple were married on July 10, 1971 in Portland.

On October 17th, 1975, Ms. Covet-Foss was last seen alive leaving her job at Sears-Roebuck in Washington Square at 5 PM to drop off a check at the bank. The twenty-five-year-old had been employed with the department store for seven years, and had only come to that location from the main branch in Portland about three months prior to her murder (she was the stores head cashier).

Roughly an hour after Camille was last seen at 6:00 PM the bank called Sears to make sure the deposit was on its way, as they were getting ready to close. Later that same day at 9:30 PM a security guard for the Southwest Portland-area shopping center named Claudia Shaw found her body in the front seat of her light olive green 1969 Chevrolet Impala, which was parked between the main Sears store and the Sears Automotive Center, south of the shopping center’s buildings. According to an article published in The Capital Journal on October 18, 1975, despite the incident taking place in the middle of the day on a Friday Multnomah County Sheriff’s said that no shots were reported. According to Sergeant Michael O’Connell with the Washington County Sheriff, law enforcement received numerous leads and tips from the public, but no one reported anything helpful.

Oregon state ME Dr. William Brady said Covert-Foss was shot twice: a bullet grazed one of her thumbs before penetrating her neck, and the other hit her chest. The wounds were inflicted by a large-caliber handgun that was fired at close range (either a .38 or 357-magnum revolver) and Dr. Brady said she had also been beaten in the face. When the investigation was reopened in 2005, Sergeant O’Connell said ‘it’s bizarre that somebody could get away with this in a parking lot. It was busy and not completely dark. There’s a large-caliber gun that makes a lot of noise.’ Detectives said nothing appeared to be missing from the scene, including the bank deposit.

Law enforcement cleared Camille’s husband almost immediately and said that she showed no signs of being sexually assaulted. Two weeks before her murder Adele told investigators that her sister shared with her that while she was escorting an older woman to her car she chased a flasher down the stairs of the Lloyd Center parking garage, yelling and waving her umbrella at him in a successful attempt to scare him away. She told her ‘Camille, you shouldn’t do that. You don’t know what could happen,’ but she was too busy worrying about how scared the woman was to care about much else.

In August 1976 it was reported that Camille’s husband Chuck filed a wrongful death suit against Sears Roebuck and Company for $1.5 million dollars: $500,000 in general damages and one million in punitive damages, plus an additional $1,239 in burial and memorial costs to lay his wife to rest. Foss alleged that the company was negligent and exposed his wife to ‘armed and dangerous persons’ in making her take money to the bank without any form of security. I was unable to find any information about the outcome of the lawsuit.

In an article about reopening the case published by The Oregonian on October 18, 2005, Adele said of her sister: ‘in her honor, I just have to give this one last try. I’m just asking for help because her life was worth so much.’ Fifteen years later, in a November 2020 interview with KATU reporter Katherine Kisiel, Bostwick said ‘I think this person didn’t just kill my sister, it did kill my father and my mother. My father took his own life just as he turned 60, and a few years later my mother died of pancreatic cancer, which is the only cancer proven to be related to depression. I do feel like I should have been there. Nobody was there with her, and I just need to do everything I can to make sure how she died isn’t forgotten.’

Most of the women I write about from Oregon were most likely not victims of Ted Bundy, and that includes Ms. Covet-Foss… but, because this is a blog about him I do feel the need to mention that we know he wasn’t responsible for her death, as he was just beginning his legal troubles in Utah and was tied up at the time.

William Covert died on March 15, 1988 at the age of 61, and Camille’s mother died at the age of sixty on September 13, 1991. Chuck Foss died at the age of sixty on December 14, 2009 in Salem, OR. He worked for Stark Vacuum in Portland and Business Machines in Gresham before going to work for his dad at the Portland Glove Company; he later purchased the business but in 1993 he sold it due to his declining health. Mr. Foss enjoyed playing pool and music, and especially loved The Beatles. According to his obituary, he was in a long term relationship with a woman named Beverly Ball and in an article published by The Albany Democrat-Herald on October 18, 2005, he didn’t stay in touch with Camille’s family in the years after her death.

Camille’s freshman year picture from the 1965 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille’s sophomore year picture from the 1966 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille in a group picture for the Chi-Ata Club taken from the 1966 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille’s junior year picture from the 1967 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille’s in a group picture for Chi-Ata picture from the 1967 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille in a group picture from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille’s senior year picture from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille (far left) in a group picture for Chi-Ata taken from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille in another group picture for Chi-Ata taken from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille in a group picture from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
A picture of Camille taken from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille (l) sitting in front of a Christmas tree, taken from the 1968 Centennial High School yearbook.
Camille.
Camille Covert-Foss.
Camille’s car.
A newspaper article about the union of Chuck and Camille published in The Oregon Daily Journal on May 5, 1971.
An article about the union of Chuck and Camille published by The Statesman Journal on July 12, 1971.
A newspaper article about the union of Chuck and Camille published in The Oregon Daily Journal on July 14, 1971.
A newspaper article about Chuck and Camille’s wedding published in The Oregonian on July 17, 1971.
Cold-Case-Camille-FossDownload
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published by The Capital Journal on October 18, 1975.
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published by The Sunday Oregonian on October 19, 1975.
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published by The Oregon Journal on October 20, 1975.
A newspaper article about the murder of Camille Foss published in The Oregon Journal on October 21, 1975.
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published by The Oregon Journal on October 23, 1975.
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published by The Oregon Journal on October 24, 1975.
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published by The Oregon Journal on October 23, 1975.
An article about Chuck Foss suing Sears published by The Oregonian on August 3, 1976.
An article about Chuck Foss suing Sears published by The Oregon Journal on August 3, 1976.
Part one of an article that mentions Camille published by The Oregon Journal on May 23, 1978.
Part two of an article that mentions Camille published by The Oregon Journal on May 23, 1978.
An article about the murder of Camille Foss published in The Albany Democrat-Herald on October 18, 2005.
Part one of an article about the murder of Camille Covert-Foss published in The Oregonian on October 18, 2005.
Part two of an article about the murder of Camille Covert-Foss published in The Oregonian on October 18, 2005.
Chuck and Camille listed in the Oregon Marriage Index 1971 – 1980.
Chuck and Camille’s marriage certificate.
Camille’s remains, located at The River View Cemetery in Portland; she is in the Hilltop Maus plot, Unit B Crypt 507.
Ms. Covet-Foss on the Oregon state death index.
A classified ad submitted by Chuck Foss published in The Oregon Daily Journal on June 11, 1960.
Camille’s husband Chuck’s senior year photo from the 1967 Franklin High School yearbook.
A newspaper clipping about Chuck’s time in the Air Force published in The Capital Journal on October 15, 1970.
Chuck Foss’ obituary published in The Statesman Journal on December 16, 2009.
Chuck Foss’ obituary.
Myron Charles Foss’ grave stone.
Camille’s Dad in a picture from the 1946 Oregon State College yearbook.
A picture of Adele Covert from the 1967 Centennial High School yearbook.
Bill Covert’s obituary published in The Oregonian on March 9, 1988.
Camille’s sister, Adele Bostwick. In an interview she said of Camille: ‘at 6-foot one inch tall she wasn’t somebody you see and say, ‘ok, lets go attack her. She wouldn’t have let someone she didn’t know so close to her and her car.’ 

Alma Jean ‘Jeannie’ Reynolds-Barra.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

Alma Jean ‘Jeannie’ was born on October 12, 1943 to Oren and Orphey ‘Pearl’ Reynolds in Peoria, IL. Mr. Reynolds was born in 1920 and her mother Pearl was born on December 30, 1926 in St. Louis, MO. She was divorced from Thomas Barra and the couple had two children together: at the time of her death their daughter was four and their son was nine. Mr. Barra was born on February 12, 1930 in Johnson, IL and was quite a bit younger than his wife. It appears that Alma spent most of her life in Illinois but after splitting with her husband she took her children and relocated to Portland, Oregon. She was a petite woman, and stood at 5’1” tall and at the time of her murder weighed a mere ninety pounds; she dyed her strawberry blonde hair black and wore it at her shoulders.

Alma was seen earlier in the day around her apartment building before eventually leaving her kids with a babysitter, telling her that she would return at 11:30 later that evening, but when she failed to return home her sitter reported her as missing to local law enforcement. The twenty-eight year old was last seen leaving the Copper Penny Tavern in the company of an unknown gentleman driving southbound on 92nd Avenue between 11 and 11:30 PM on March 23, 1972. There’s some discrepancy as to what she was last wearing: according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s website, she was dressed in a white sweater, turtleneck, maroon vest and pants, but according to an article published in The Oregon Daily Journal, she had been wearing a green pantsuit with a vest that was adorned with gold buttons on the side. Barra’s remains were discovered by two sixteen year olds out hiking, Joseph Venini and Lawrence Staub (one report said they were actually out riding their bikes) in an area that contained a heavy amount of brush near Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery, roughly forty feet off of Mount Scott Boulevard.

One-time Multnomah County Medical Examiner Dr. Larry V. Lewman said that Barra died of strangulation and had what appeared to be nylon stockings cinched around her neck; she was nude from the waist down but showed no sign of sexual assault. Lieutenant Vern White with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department said there were signs of a struggle at the scene, and the victim put up quite a fight before she was finally  subdued. There was a fifteen foot diameter around the remains that were ‘torn up,’ and investigators noted that moss, fern, hazel, and blackberry vines were all damaged during the attack. Some of her clothes were removed and were found scattered around the crime scene, and one of her shoes was found nearby on the side of the road; the other was found discarded in some nearby brush; missing from the area entirely was Barra’s black patent leather purse. After a positive identification was made her apartment was searched for clues, but investigators came up with nothing.

Alma Barra is one of over a dozen women that were either murdered or went missing in the state of Oregon in the early to mid 1970’s, and at the risk of being redundant (because I have written about them in all of my other pieces) I’m only going to gloss over all but one. I’ll only really dig into the new young woman that I recently learned about.

Thirty-four year old Barbara Katherine Pushman-Cunningham was discovered strangled to death in her Eugene apartment by her mother on May 25, 1971. On March 22, 1972 Fay Ellen Robinson was found dead in her bed in her downtown apartment in Portland, and later that same year on June 16 the badly decomposed remains of Geneva Joy Martin were found face down in a ‘woody, roadside ditch’ by a local farmer. Also in June 1972 the remains of sixteen year old Beverly May Jenkins were discovered just off the I-5 roughly ten miles outside of Cottage Grove; she had been strangled to death. On July 11th, 1973 Susan Ann Wickersham was abducted out of Bend, Oregon, and her remains were discovered on January 20th, 1976. On August 23, 1973 Gayle Elizabeth LeClair failed to come in for her scheduled shift at the Eugene Municipal Library, and when her supervisor went to her house to check on her she was found to be deceased as a result of multiple stab wounds.

In my opinion, there’s three cases that took place in mid to late 1973 that all fit very neatly into TB’s MO: Rita Lorraine Jolly, Vicki Lynn Hollar, and Suzanne Rae Seay-Justis. I know Ted only confessed to two additional Oregon murders aside from Roberta Kathleen Parks, but we all know he didn’t tell the truth very often… Seventeen year old Rita Lorraine Jolly left her family home in West Linn at around 7:15 PM on June 29, 1973 to go for a routine walk, and was seen for the last time a few hours later between 8:30 and 9:00 PM. Not even two months later on August 20, 1973 twenty-four-year-old seamstress Vicki Lynn Hollar was last seen getting into her black 1965 Volkswagen Beetle after leaving The Bon Marche in Eugene at 5:00 PM; neither her nor her vehicle have ever been recovered. Suzanne Rae Seay-Justis was last heard from on November 5, 1973 after she called her mother from outside the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Personally, I feel Bundy is most likely responsible for the murder of Rita Jolly and Sue Justis, and where Hollar looks exactly like most of his other victims I’ve never heard of him disposing of a vehicle before. We know he had a history of car theft, but did he really have the means to dispose of an entire vehicle? I do want to note that most of the major bodies of water surrounding Eugene were dredged in the years following Vicki’s disappearance, and her VW remains unaccounted for to this day.

While writing this piece I learned the identity of another young woman that was killed in the state of Oregon in the mid 1970’s: Camille Karen Covet-Foss. On October 17th, 1975, Ms. Covet-Foss was last seen alive leaving her job at Sears-Roebuck in Washington Square at 5 PM to drop off a check at the bank. The twenty-five year old was married but had no kids yet, and had been employed with Sears for seven years, and had only come to the store from the main branch in Portland about three months prior to her murder (she was the stores head cashier). Later that same day at roughly 9:30 PM a security guard for the Southwest Portland-area shopping center named Claudia Shaw found Camille‘s body inside her light olive 1969 Chevrolet Impala, which was parked outside of the building where she worked.

Oregon state ME Dr. William Brady said Camille was shot twice: a bullet grazed one of her thumbs before penetrating her neck, and the other hit her chest. The wounds were inflicted by a large-caliber handgun that was fired at close range (either a .38 or 357-magnum revolver); Dr. Brady also said she also had been beaten in the face. Detectives said nothing appeared to be missing from the car, including the bank deposit.

As I mentioned earlier, most of the women I write about from Oregon were most likely not victims of Ted Bundy, and that includes Ms. Covet-Foss… but, because this is a blog about him I do feel the need to mention that we know he wasn’t responsible for her death, as he was just beginning his legal troubles in Utah and was tied up at the time.

Alma’s ex-husband Thomas died at the age of 67 on January 11, 1998 in Johnson City, IL; according to his obituary, he was a Korean war veteran and served in the US Army as a Specialist 3rd Class. Alma’s mother Pearl Richardson passed away at the age of 96 in Branson, MO on August 17, 2023. She loved being a mom and a grandmother, and loved to shop, bowl, and fish, but her greatest love was her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Despite my best efforts I was unable to find any information about Ms. Barra’s children, but I quickly realized there is most likely a reason for that and stopped. If I made any mistakes in my research or if anyone from her family that comes across this would like to reach out to me directly, my contact information is on my home page.

Alma.
Alma, photo courtesy of Amber Geye.
Alma, photo courtesy of Amber Geye.
A newspaper article about the murder of Alma Barra published in The Oregon Daily Journal on March 27, 1972.
A newspaper article about the murder of Alma Barra published in The Oregon Daily Journal on March 27, 1972.
A newspaper article about the murder of Alma Barra published in The Capital Journal on March 28, 1972.
A newspaper article about the murder of Alma Barra published in The Corvallis Gazette-Times on March 28, 1972.
A newspaper article about Alma Barra published in The Capital Journal on March 28, 1972.
A newspaper article about the murder of Alma Barra published in The Oregon Daily Journal on March 29, 1972.
A newspaper article about the murder of Alma Barra published in The Oregon Daily Journal on March 29, 1972.
A newspaper article that mentions the murder of Alma Barra published in The The Oregonian on January 25, 1983.
Barra’s name in the list of deaths in Oregon state.
An want-ad for a bar maid at the Copper Penny Tavern published in The Oregonian on August 13, 1971.
Tom Barra’s grave stone.
Alma’s ex-husbands obituary.
Ted’s whereabouts in the middle of October 1975 according to the 1992 TB FBI Multiagency Investigative Report.
Alma’s mother, Pearl.
Cold-Case-Camille-FossDownload

Ted, Liz, and Molly.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ 1 Comment

I was able to find a few pictures of Ted, Liz, and Molly these past few days and I wanted to share them here. Ted and Liz had a tumultuous relationship that began in September 1969 and eventually fizzled out after his kidnapping conviction in 1976. Both Liz and Molly are alive as of December 2024 and they reside in Seattle, Washington.

A young Elizabeth.
A young Elizabeth Kendall.
Liz at her college graduation from the University of Utah, taken in 1968.
Liz standing in front of her fireplace in her University District apartment.
A picture of Liz taken at he POE, at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Liz at work.
A young Liz.
Liz.
Liz and a young Molly.
Another shot of Liz and Molly taken outside in the sunshine.
Liz and Molly.
A picture of Liz and Molly taken at the Pacific Science enter in Seattle, 1970.
Liz and Molly at Molly’s baptism. Ted was late because the night before he abducted Brenda Ball.
Ted and Molly watching the ‘veg-o-matic man’ at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, 1970.
Ted and Molly fishing for rainbow trout in Flaming Gorge, UT in 1970.
Molly playing with the hose with Ted in the background; picture taken in July 1970 in Green Lake, Seattle.
Molly and Ted walking out of his parents cabin in Green Lake, Seattle; picture taken in July 1970.
Ted and Molly baking cookies at Green Lake in Seattle, 1970.
Ted swinging Molly around in Flaming Gorge, UT; picture taken in 1970. The Flaming Gorge is a popular recreation area that spans Utah and Wyoming that features a reservoir, dam, and scenic landscape.
Ted and Molly driving a boat.
I couldn’t find another copy of this, I don’t know why Molly’s face is covered up and the other childs isn’t.
Ted and Molly on a carousel at the Seattle Center, 1970.
Ted spraying water on Molly and the neighborhood children.
Ted and Molly playing outside.
Ted teaching Molly how to ride his bike, picture taken in Green Lake in 1970.
Ted teaching Molly how to ride a bike.
Another picture of Ted teaching Molly how to ride a bike.
Ted and Molly at Christmastime in Ogden in 1970.
Another shot of Ted and Molly in Ogden at Christmastime in 1970.
Ted and Molly celebrating Christmas at Green Lake in 1970.
A picture from Molly’s fifth birthday. Ted made the banner. Taken at Green Lake in Seattle, 1971.
Christmas Day in Utah, 1974.
Christmas Day in Utah, 1974.
Ted and Molly around Christmas in 1974. Picture taken at the Hardware Ranch in Utah.
Ted and Molly in their ‘hippie clothes; picture taken in Seattle’s University District in 1975.
Ted swinging Molly around in the University DIstrict in 1975.
Molly putting barrettes in Teds hair during a visit to Seattle. Taken in June 1975 at Liz’s apartment in the University District.
Ted and Molly outside of Liz’s residence in the Universtiy disctict in Seattle, 1975.
Ted and Liz on the lake, about to go waterskiiing, picture taken at Flaming Gorge, UT in 1970. Flaming Gorge is a 91-mile-long reservoir created by damming the Green River in 1958, and is known for its sapphire blue water and is a top destination for boating, fishing, and other water activities.
Ted, Liz, and Molly visiting family in Ogden, UT. Picture taken in 1970.
Ted and Liz at Hood Canal in Washington. Picture taken in 1973.
Ted carrying Liz on his back.
Liz hugging Ted from the back. Does that sweater look familiar? It was the one he wore during his first escape in 1977.
A picture of Ted and Liz; her father is on the other side of her.
Liz and Ted sunbathing.
Ted and Liz.
Ted and Liz in front of a fireplace, picture taken in Ogden, UT in December 1974.
Ted and Liz in Flaming Gorge, Utah in 1975.
Liz, Ted, and Molly on a vacation visiting Liz’s family in Ogden, taken in 1970.
The trio on horses outside of the Liz’s childhood home in Ogden, UT.
Ted tickling Molly, picture taken in December 1974.
Ted and Liz on a trip to the zoo with Molly.
Ted, Liz, and Molly.
Ted and Liz sharing a kiss.
Ted and his little brother Richie on a camping trip.
Ted sitting in front of Liz’s fireplace.
Ted jumping for joy and his first camping trip with Liz; picture taken in 1970 at what would later turn out to be his Issaquah dump site.
Ted playing with his hair.
Ted waking up from a nap at Green Lake in Seattle, 1971.
Ted in 1972.
Ted at Hood Canal, WA in 1973.
A young Ted wearing a suit.
Ted waterskiing.
Ted holding a dog.
A picture of Ted taken in 1972.
Ted taking a nap on Liz’s childhood bed at Christmastime in Utah, 1974.
Ted playing Frisbee on the beach.
An action shot of Ted playing Frisbee on the beach.
Ted in Wyoming on his way to Flaming Gorge, UT.
Molly with her biological dad.
A young Molly.
A picture of Molly from high school.
Molly.
Liz Kloepfer.
Liz featured in a news special about Bundy.
Liz after her relationship with Bundy, taken in the 1980’s.
Liz.
Liz.
Liz Kloepfer.
Liz Kloepfer after her relationship with Bundy.
Elizabeth Kloepfer.
Elizabeth Kloepfer.
Liz and Molly in a promotion photo for Amazon’s, ‘Falling for a Killer.’

Margaret Elizabeth Bowman.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

Margaret Elizabeth Bowman was born on January 6, 1957 to Jack and Runelle (nee Karnes) Bowman in Honokaa, Hawaii. Jackson Harrison Bowman III was born on October 26, 1930 in Chattanooga, TN and Mrs. Bowman was born on May 19, 1932 in Denton, TX. Margaret is also the great-great-granddaughter of Pinellas County pioneer Daniel McMullen and the great-niece of Donald C. Bowman (a prominent attorney). The couple were married on December 27, 1954 in Dallas TX and had two children together: Margaret and her younger brother, Jackson H. Bowman IV (b. May 12, 1961).

Mr. Bowman attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was a ROTC cadet. He joined the Air Force and became a pilot, and flew Trans-Pacific routes from bases in California, Hawaii, Utah and Japan; he also served his Country as an Operations Staff Officer in Saigon Vietnam where he flew combat missions, earning a Bronze Star. While ‘getting his wings,’ in 1953 he went on a blind date with Runelle, who was a Braniff Airways flight attendant at the time and the pair were together ever since. In December 1973 Jack retired from the US Air Force with the aeronautical rating of command pilot and the rank of lieutenant colonel. The following year he began his second career in the real estate business in St. Petersburg, where he served as president of the local Realtor Association and was an officer of the Florida Association of Realtors.

Always Margaret from the first grade on (never Peggy or Maggie), she always requested to be called by her full name. Tall and willowy, with chestnut hair and warm brown eyes, Bowman had her mother’s strong features as well as her delicate nose. As a little girl, she would sit in her father’s lap while he read her Peter Rabbit, and if he stopped for any reason she would pick up where he left off, reciting the book completely from memory, and when her grandparents gave her a copy of ‘The Secret Garden’ at the age of ten, she devoured it, and read it over and over again.

In Margaret’s early years the Bowman family moved around a lot, but in 1973 they settled down in St. Petersburg, FL during her time in high school and college. During her junior and senior years in high school Bowman was a member of the drama club, the Civinettes service club, the scuba diving club, and the tennis team, and in her senior year she served as the president of the French Club and the French National Honor Society, ‘Le Cercle Francais;’ she also enjoyed playing chess with her brother.

At the time of her murder, Bowman was 21 years old and a junior art history major (she had a deep love for classical civilizations) at Florida State University in Tallahassee and was a member of the Gamma Chapter of the Chi Omega sorority. She joined the Chi Omega’s because her grandmother (who was also named Margaret) had pledged there as well. She lived in room number nine in their house on West Jefferson Street, and was described by her sisters as ‘very religious’ but very sweet and easy to get along with. Margaret was rush chairman for the Chi Oh’s and was a member of the schools senate, and in January 1978, she was learning to sew and was working on making a green velveteen dress.

On the evening prior to their murders, both Bowman and her sorority sister Lisa Levy had been at Sherrod’s, a disco-like bar that was located right next door to their house, but whether Bundy saw them there is unknown. According to The Tallahassee Democrat on January 17, 1978, Margaret was invited to go out for a late night burger at an all-night diner  on the evening she was killed but she turned them down, deciding to go to bed instead.

In the early morning hours of January 15, 1978, Bowman was attacked as she was asleep in her second story bedroom as well as three other coeds: Lisa Levy, Karen Chandler, and Kathy Kleiner were found brutally attacked in their beds. Kleiner and Chandler survived, but Margaret and Levy did not. Using blood samples from the four women, forensic serologist (which is a scientist that studies bodily fluids) Richard L. Stephens proved that Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman were bludgeoned before Kleiner and Chandler.

According to author Steve Winn, responding Tallahassee police officer Bill Newkirk went into Margaret’s room first and he assessed the damage: the young coed laid on her bed in a limp, awkward pose and she had a pair of panty hose cinched around her neck (knotted at the windpipe); her lifeless eyes stared blankly in front of her, and her mouth was gaped open. She had experienced a substantial blow to the head and had a large puncture on the left side of her cranium as well. There was blood everywhere, which had largely accumulated around her shoulders and head and there was also a bloody palm print on the wall that had already started to dry. Despite the massive head wound that Bowman had, the medical examiner concluded that both her and Levy died as a result of strangulation.

According to Officer Newkirk: ‘Ms. Bowman was lying on the bed in the south-west corner of the room with her head and feet pointing in the south-north direction, respectively. The bed spread was covering Ms. Bowman’s entire body with the exception of her head, which was tilted to the right lying on her pillow. Her face was facing the west wall. This writer pulled back the cover bedspread and observed Ms. Bowman had been strangled with a pair of nylon panty hose. Her legs were bent outwardly slightly and spread open. Ms. Bowman was lying on her stomach. Her right arm was extended down her side and her left arm was bent with her elbow facing east and her left hand resting on her back. Both palms of the hands were turned upward. This writer turned Ms. Bowman over onto her right side to check for a heartbeat or pulse and discovered neither. This writer looked at Ms. Bowman’s head and observed where Ms. Bowman had received a crushing blow to her right forehead coupled with what appeared to be puncture wounds in the same vicinity. Massive bleeding occurred from both the forehead and the right ear. Additionally Ms. Bowman’s neck appeared to be disjointed leading this writer to believe there was a possible neck fracture. Ms. Bowman’s body was relatively warm to the touch and her eyes were glassy with pupils dilated.’

As we all know, Margaret’s killer would later be identified as Ted Bundy, who was first arrested in Granger, Utah in August 1975. After being found guilty of attempted kidnapping on March 2, 1976, Bundy escaped (for the second time) from Glenwood Springs jail in Colorado on December 31, 1977, and over the course of a few days he slowly made his way to the sunshine state, arriving by bus on January 6, 1978. He secured housing at ‘The Oaks’ rooming house the following day, and was seen next to the Chi Omega house late in the day on January 14, 1978.

At 2:00 AM on January 15, 1978 Bundy left Sharrod’s Bar and approximately a half hour later entered the Chi Omega house and began his assault on the four sleeping coeds. It’s strongly believed that Margaret was attacked while in her bed at about 2:45 AM; she had been sexually assaulted and beaten with a piece of firewood, then strangled to death with a Hanes stocking. At 3:17 AM Nita Neary arrived home from a date when she heard unusual noises coming from the upstairs, and suddenly a man came running downstairs then out the door; police were immediately called and nine minutes later they arrived on the scene.

After fleeing the Chi Omega house Bundy made his way about eight blocks over to Dunwoody Street, where at 4:37 AM he broke into the basement apartment of Cheryl Thomas. He brutally attacked the 21-year-old dance major and left her for dead; her skull was broken in five places and she suffered from a dislocated shoulder and fractured jaw. Thomas survived, but due to the permanent loss of equilibrium that she suffered from the attack essentially ended her dance career.

Thankfully before the media broke the news the families of the victims were notified of what happened in the early morning hours of January 15, 1978. The attacks at Florida State shook the Tallahassee community, and the perpetrator remained unidentified for nearly a month. Bundy was arrested for the final time at 1:30 AM on February 15, 1978, but not before he killed 12 year old Kimberly Diane Leach in Lake City, Florida; he was identified two days later. On July 7, 1978 he was indicted for the Chi Omega attacks and after standing trial was given the death sentence for the murders; he was executed on January 24, 1989.

Margaret was one of the few victims whose murder Bundy was ever charged with, and in the days before his execution he confessed to thirty murders, including hers. After their daughter’s death the Bowman family found peace within their church, St. Thomas Episcopal on Snell Isle. Mrs. Bowman said: ‘We decided that the only acceptable way to continue on with our lives was to live life to the fullest and not become bitter old people that no one wanted to be around.’

If Margaret Bowman were alive in December 2024, she would be 67 years old. Her parents thought she would have found happiness working at a museum, possibly involving art or archaeology and would probably be married with children of her own. In 1987, Jack and Runelle Bowman donated a cross in their daughter’s name at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg, where Margaret once belonged. Runelle said that God blessed her with ‘a non-feeling’ when it came to the man that killed her daughter, and she didn’t hate him or even think about him. Instead she turned to her faith, and went to church every Sunday, where she would look at the cross dedicated to Margaret and remember her memory. According to Mrs. Bowman, ‘we decided that the only acceptable way to continue on with our lives was to live life to the fullest and not become bitter old people that no one wanted to be around.’

After Margaret was murdered Runelle Bowman went back to school and earned her Bachelor’s degree in business from the University of South Florida in 1982. After graduating and getting a job in her field she never missed an opportunity to cook a good meal for someone she loved, and her ‘food offerings’ helped serve as a great reminder of how much she loved her family and friends.

On the morning of Bundy’s execution Jack Bowman couldn’t sleep, and as dawn crept near he and Runelle turned on their television set. As seven o’clock came and went, somewhere inside of Florida State Prison the last person to see Margaret alive was being strapped into the electric chair. According to an article published by The Tampa Bay Times, at 7:18 AM they were notified by Paul Freeman from the attorney general’s office that their daughter’s killer had finally been put to death. Freeman’s position had only recently been created mostly due to the efforts of Diane Cossin, a Chi Omega sorority sister who held Lisa Levy as she died.

Following the call, the couple heard horns and fireworks going off in the distance, and on the news saw crudely made signs supporting Bundy’s death and felt a little sickened. About the execution, Mrs. Bowman said: ‘I don’t understand. You don’t see any of the victims’ families acting that way.’ As they watched their TV they saw an eyewitness to the execution describe Ted as looking scared, but that he had managed to retain a sense of dignity. Jack Bowman was glad to hear that, saying: ‘I didn’t have a motivation of vengeance. I had a motivation of justice.’ In the days following Bundy’s death, someone asked about his feelings regarding the execution, to which he replied, ‘I wanted him punished, This was not hard for me,’ and when asked to talk more about Margaret, he began to cry then shut his eyes, saying ‘I don’t think I can.’

After retiring Jack and Runelle decided to stay in Florida because of the kindness they had received from the community when they were on deployment. According to his son, Mr. Bowman was someone that never forgot a face or said an unkind word about anyone, and enjoyed a good meal at a fine restaurant with loved ones. About her husband, Runelle said ‘I was so blessed to have Jack as my husband. He made me a better person. He could connect with people and people loved him.’ The couple were married for over sixty years when Jack died of esophageal cancer at the age of 84 on May 31, 2015. Runelle Bowman passed away peacefully at the age of 88 on March 13, 2021.

No photo description available.
The Bowman family.
Margaret and her little brother.
Margaret and a friend working on Red Cross friendship boxes published on The Tampa Bay Times on August 3, 1969.
Margaret Bowman’s junior picture from the 1974 St. Petersburg High School yearbook.
Margaret Bowman’s senior picture from the 1975 St. Petersburg High School yearbook.
Margaret Bowman in a group picture for the Civigrams from the 1975 St. Petersburg High School yearbook.
Margaret in a picture from her time on the tennis team at St. Petersburg High School.
Margaret in high school.
Bowman.
Margaret Bowman.
Margaret
Bowman and some friends.
Bowman and some friends at FSU.
Bowman at a dance, with a date.
Bowman
The crime scene of Chi Omega victim, Margaret Bowman. Photo courtesy of Vanessa West. It’s speculated that the entire crime spree took Bundy less than fifteen minutes.
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.
Lisa Levy.
Bundy being read his indictment by Sheriff Ken Katsaris.
The grave of Margaret Bowman.
The Chi Omega House right after the murders took place in 1978. 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 in the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another bed from the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.
Another bed 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.
The layout of the rooms at the Chi Omega house in January 1978.
An advertisement for Sherrod’s Disco published in the Florida Flambeau on January 28, 1978. Courtesy of Tiffany Jean.
An article about Bundy’s attacks at FSU published in The Boca Raton News on January 16, 1978.
An article about Bundy’s attacks at FSU published in The Miami Herald on January 16, 1978.
An article about Bundy’s attacks at FSU published in The Fort Pierce Tribune on January 17, 1978.
An article about Bundy’s attacks at Florida State University that mentions Bowman published in The Tallahassee Democrat on January 17, 1978.
An article about Bundy’s attacks at FSU that mentions Margaret Bowman published in The Tampa Bay Times on January 20, 1978.
An article about Bundy’s attacks at FSU published in The Pensacola News Journal on January 22, 1978.
An article about stolen credit cards and student ID’s published in Florida Today on February 21, 1978.
According
A newspaper article about Margaret Bowman published in The Tampa Bay Times on November 28, 1999.
Ted’s whereabouts in January 1978 according to the TB 1992 FBI Multiagency Investigative Team Report.
A comment on a YouTube video about Margaret Bowman.
A newspaper blurb about Runelle Bowman being crowned the Bronco’s Basketball Sweetheart published in The Denton Record-Chronicle on February 15, 1948.
Runelle’s Bowman’s junior year picture from the 1948 Denton High School yearbook.
Runelle’s Bowman’s senior year picture from the 1949 Denton High School yearbook
A picture of Margaret’s mom from the 1948 Denton High School yearbook.
Jack and Runelle Bowman’s wedding announcement published in The Tampa Tribune on December 31, 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. Bowman’s marriage license.
Jackson Bowman IV in a picture from the 1976 St. Petersburg High School yearbook.
Jackson Bowman IV in a picture published in the Tampa Bay Times on January 16, 1978
Jackson Bowen IV’s wedding announcement published in The Miami Herald on March 4, 1990.
A newspaper clipping about the Bowman’s joining the Dragon Club published in The Tampa Bay Times on April 15, 1983.
A picture of Jack Bowman published in The Miami Herald on November 8, 1994.
Jack Bowman.
The Tampa Bay Times on June 3, 2015.
Runelle Bowman.
Mrs. Bowman’s obituary published in Tampa Bay Times on April 2, 2021.
Jack Bowman’s grave stone.
The first part of an article mentioning Jack Bowman published in The Tampa Bay Times on January 25, 1989.
The second part of an article mentioning Jack Bowman published in The Tampa Bay Times on January 25, 1989
A quote by Jack Bowman published in The Tampa Bay Times on January 25, 1989.
An article about former Governor Martinez’s re-election campaign that mentions Jack Bowman published in The South Florida Sun Sentinel on April 21, 1990.
A snippet of a newspaper that mentions Jack Bowman published in The Tampa Bay Times on June 5, 1997.
An article about Bundy’s conduct in court that mentions Jack Bowman.
A letter from Jack Bowman to Larry D. Simpson dated June 7, 1979. Courtesy of Tiffany Jean.
A second letter from Jack Bowman to Larry D. Simpson dated June 7, 1979. Courtesy of Tiffany Jean.
A letter from Jack Bowman to Judge Stewart Hanson dated July 2, 1979. Courtesy of Tiffany Jean.
Jack Bowman (on the far right) at a 1986 conference on victim advocacy. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Jean.
Bowman+Levy+Autopsy+Reports_wmDownload

Valerie Ann Duke.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

Valerie Ann Duke was born on July 27, 1956 to Thomas and Elizabeth Ann (nee Porter) Duke in Mathis, Texas. Mr. Duke was born on September 15, 1931 Archer City, Archer, TX and Elizabeth was born on August 9, 1933 in Mathis, TX. The couple were wed on November 6, 1954 and had two children together: Valerie and her younger brother Thomas Wade Duke II (b. 1957). An Eagle Scout, Tom went on to earn his PhD in Oceanography at Texas A&M after serving as a Lieutenant in the US Air Force. At some time the family relocated to Tucson, AZ and in 1968 they moved to Gulf Breeze, Florida. The Duke family was Methodist, and before her death Valerie was a member of the Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church.

Information about her background was hard to come by, but I do know she graduated from Woodham High School in Pensacola in 1974 then went on to attend Florida State University in Tallahassee. After enrolling she pledged the Gamma Chapter of the Chi Omega society, and eventually moved into their house on West Jefferson Street; in early 1978 she lived across the hall from Lisa Levy, and next to Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler. On January 14, 1978 (which was the night before Bundy’s Chi Omega attacks) Duke decided to go home to her parents house for the weekend in Gulf Breeze, and was not present for the murders that took place the following evening.

On the first anniversary of the murders Valerie Duke dropped out of school, which according to her mother was ‘completely out of character for Valerie. She had broken up with her boyfriend and couldn’t seem to decide whether to stay in Tallahassee or come here.’ Her sorority sisters also said that she was having an incredibly difficult time processing the murders, and to make matters worse, according to her parents Bundy’s fingerprints were found in her room (even though I came across a shred of evidence that confirmed that).

But, Valerie believed it and on May 1, 1979 while driving in between her home in Gulf Breeze and Tallahassee the twenty-two year old* pulled her car off to the side of the road near the East River in Holley and shot herself; she died as a result of her injuries. Her remains were discovered at 6 PM later the day, roughly ten hours after she killed herself . Former Lieutenant Ron Boswell of the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Department said Duke parked her car near the river, locked the doors, then shot herself with a .38 caliber pistol that was found inside of the car. Also according to Boswell, ‘a suicide note was found inside of the car, at this point we have no reason to suspect foul play.’ It’s strongly speculated by those that knew her well that survivors’ guilt drove Duke to take her own life, and after a communion service she was laid to rest at the Cenizo Hill Cemetery in Mathis, TX. * For the record, I have seen her age listed at both 20 and 22, but simple math puts her at 22 years old.

Thomas Wade Duke I retired from the US Environmental Protection Agency as their Laboratory Director of Marine Biological Research in Gulf Breeze, FL, and went on to work as an environmental consultant for five years. In 2006 Tom and Elizabeth moved from Florida to Woodstock, Georgia to be close to their son and his family. Dr. Thomas Duke died at the age of 79 on March 10, 2011 in Woodstock, Georgia, and Mrs. Duke passed away at the age of 84 after a lengthy illness on December 1, 2017 in Pensacola.

Valerie Duke’s senior year picture from the 1974 Woodham High School yearbook.
Duke in a picture from the Jayettes from the 1974 Woodham High School yearbook.
An article about the suicide of Valerie Ann Duke published in The Pensacola News on May 2, 1979.
Valerie Ann Duke’s obituary, published in The Pensacola News Journal on May 3, 1979.
A newspaper clipping about Duke’s graveside service published in The Corpus Christi Times on May 4, 1979.
An article about the suicide of Valerie Ann Duke published in The Mathis News on May 10, 1979.
Part one of an article about the Chi Omega murders published in The Miami Herald on January 24, 1989.
Part two of an article about the Chi Omega murders published in The Miami Herald on January 24, 1989.
An article about Valerie Duke published in The Tallahassee Democrat on January 25, 1989.
Duke’s grave stone.
The layout of the rooms at the Chi Omega sorority house.
A picture of the front of the Chi Omega house. Photo courtesy of the Oxygen Network.
Outside the Chi Omega house the morning after the murders. Photo courtesy of the Oxygen Network.
Valerie’s mother on her wedding day, from an article published in The Corpus Christi Caller-Times on November 7, 1954.
An article about Thomas Duke visiting his sisters published in The Baytown Sun on August 5, 1954. ·
A picture of Elizabeth Duke published in The Corpus Christi Times on September 26, 1954.
An article about Mrs. Elizabeth Duke published in The Corpus Christi Caller-Times on November 3, 1954.
A write-up about Valerie’s parents getting married published in The Corpus Christi Caller-Times on November 7, 1954.
The birth announcement of Valerie’s younger brother published in The Mathis News on August 9, 1957.
Valerie is mentioned in a local newspaper, published in The Mathis News on December 27, 1957.
An article that mentions Valerie published in The Corpus Christi Caller-Times on June 17, 1974.
Wade Duke’s junior year picture from 1974 Woodham High School yearbook.
An article about the marriage of Valerie’s brother published in The Pensacola News Journal
on August 12, 1979.
Mr. Duke’s obituary published in The Atlanta Constitution on March 15, 2011.
Elizabeth Duke’s obituary published in The Pensacola News Journal on December 5, 2017.
Elizabeth Duke’s obituary published in The Mathis News on December 14, 2017.

Brenda Joy Baker, Case Files: Part Two.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

The second installment of documents from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department related to the murder of Brenda Joy Baker from Maple Valley, WA.

74-009255_Bishop__Charlene_StatementDownload
74-009255_Bundy_Confessed_HomicidesDownload
74-009255_Bundy_News_ArticlesDownload
74-009255_Curtis_Ltr_re_Baker_Fml_re_BundyDownload
74-009255_Bundy_VehiclesDownload
74-009255_Bundy_Wanted_PosterDownload
74-009255_Curtis_Supp_Bundy_1-89Download
74-009255_Curtis_Supp_re_Bundy_2-89Download
74-009255_Curtis_Supp_Bundy_3-88Download
74-009255_Map_Thurston_Co_Bundy_LocationsDownload
74-009255_Miles__Curtis_StatementDownload
74-009255_Map_Thurston_Co_Bundy_Locations (1)Download
74-009255_Miles__Melinda__Linda__StatementDownload
74-009255_Neely__Michael_StatementDownload
74-009255_Photo_DataDownload
74-009255_Redder__Samuel_StatementDownload
74-009255_Turner__Richard_Statement (1)Download

Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, documents related to their investigation into William Earl Cosden Jr., Part One.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

I requested the case files for the murders of Katherine Merry Devine and Brenda Joy Baker from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department and thought, why not ask for William Cosden Jr.’s as well? This is the first installment of those documents. There’s also a 2.3 gigabyte video they gave me as well, I have to figure out a way to get that on here.

Install_4_Statements_RedactedDownload
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BACKGROUND_INFORMATION-_WILLIAM_COSDEN_P_709-712_RedactedDownload
BOOK_1-_CRIME_LAB_REPORTDownload
BOOK_1-_DESCRIPTION_OF_EVIDENCEDownload
BOOK_1-_DRAWINGDownload
BOOK_1-_FBI_REPORT_01-29-74Download
BOOK_1-_HOMICIDE_INVESTIGATION_REPORT-_REDACTEDDownload
BOOK_1-_HOMICIDE_SYNOPSISDownload
BOOK_1-_MARY_S_STORY_CHAPRTER_ONE_THRU_SIXDownload
BOOK_1-_MISSING_PERSON_REPORT-_REDACTEDDownload
BOOK_1-CORRESPONDENCE_TO_FBIDownload
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CORRESPONDENCE_SENTENCE_REIVEW_BOARD_P_835-838Download
CORRESPONDENCE_SENTENCE_REVIEW_BOARD_04-28-95__P_848-849Download
CORRESPONDENCE_STATE_FIRE_MARSHAL_8-12-75__P_1045-1055Download
CORRESPONDENCE_SUSAN_M_KELLER_11-20-95__P527-530_RedactedDownload
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DAILY_OLYMPIAN_ARTICLE_12-10-73__P657Download
DAILY_OLYMPIAN_ARTICLE_12-11-73__P_669-675Download
DAILY_OLYMPIAN_ARTICLE_P_664-668Download
FIELD_INVEST_REPORT__ZIMMARO_11-26-73_P_463-470Download
FIELD_INVESTIGATION_REPORT_8-20-73__P860-863Download
FILE_NOTES_9-5-95_5-10-95_P_833-834Download
FILE_NOTES-_BARCLIFT_11-30-75__P_884Download
FILE_NOTES_CURTIS_7-21-93__P_880Download
FILE_NOTES_P_864Download
Install_3_RedactedDownload
INVESTIGATION_PHOTO_DATA_11-30-75__P_939-940Download
Itemized_List_of_DocumentsDownload
LINE_OF_INTEREST-_WILLIAM_COSDEN_P_706-708Download
NEWS_TRIBUNE_ARTICLE_12-11-73__P_678Download
NEWSPAPER_ARTICLES_AND_PICTURE_P_888-894_RedactedDownload
OBITUARY_P_656Download
OFFICERS_REPORT_BARCLIFT_12-1-75__P_895-902Download
OLYMPIA_NEWS_12-13-73__P655Download
REPORT_FROM_FBI_1-21-76__P_970Download
SENTENCE_REIVEW_BOARD_10-10-95_P_839-842Download
SENTENCE_REVIEW_BOARD_4-2-96_P_828-831Download
STATEMENT_BEVERLY_FREDERICKS_12-2-75__P_967-969Download
STATEMENT_BEVERLY_FREDRICKS_11-30-75__P_913-919_RedactedDownload
STATEMENT_KAREN_COSDEN_7-16-93__P_531-546_RedactedDownload
STATEMENT_KAREN_COSDEN_7-21-93__P_547-550_RedactedDownload
STATEMENT_SUSAN_M_COSDEN_8-4-86__P_514-526_RedactedDownload
SUPP_REPORT__CURTIS_10-26-93_P_462Download
SUPP_REPORT_415-74_P_1079-1093Download
SUPP_REPORT_CURTIS_01-23-02_p_461Download
SUPP_REPORT_CURTIS_10-26-93__P846-847Download
SUPP_REPORT_CURTIS_2-1-94__P_471-473Download
SUPP_REPORT-_CURTIS_4-5-95__P_832Download
SUPP_REPORT_CURTIS_01-23-02_p_461Download
SUPP_REPORT_CURTIS_10-26-93__P846-847Download
SUPP_REPORT_CURTIS_2-1-94__P_471-473Download
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SUPP_REPORT-_GRAEF_12-11-73__P_658Download
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TCSO__CASE_NO_75-13968-08__P_1056-1072Download
TCSO_-_Exemptions_Letter___Key__07-05-2022Download
TCSO_CASE_NO_74-5372-04__P_1025-1044Download
TCSO_CASE_NO_75-19182-10_P_1073-1078Download
THE_SEATTLE_TIMES_ARTICLE_12-13-73__P_680-684Download
THE_SEATTLE_TIMES_ARTICLES_P_685-698Download
Withholding_Log_4TH_INSTALLMENTDownload
The jeans that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
The top part of the jeans that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
The shirt that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
A close up of the shirt that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
The coat that Kathy was wearing at the time of her murder.
A close up of the bottom part of the coat that Kathy was wearing at the time of her murder.
A close up of the top part of the coat that Kathy was wearing at the time of her murder.
The back of the coat that Kathy was wearing at the time of her murder.
One of Kathy’s ‘waffle stomper’ boots that she was wearing at the time she was killed.
The earrings that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
Kathy Devine’s ring.
The ring Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
A close-up of one of the rings that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
A close-up of the inside of one of the rings that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
One of the rings that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
One of the rings that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
A close-up of one of the rings that Kathy Devine was wearing at the time of her murder.
One of Kathy’s rings at the scene of her murder.
Another one of Kathy’s rings at the scene of her murder.
A chain found on Kathy at the time of her death.

Fay Ellen Robinson.

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ 4 Comments

Fay Ellen Robinson was born on October 7, 1948 to Thomas Harvey and Alice Susan (nee Prentiss) in Portland, Oregon. Thomas Harvey Robinson Jr. was born on September 29, 1912 in Corsicana, TX, and Alice was born on September 15, 1916 in Oregon. Mr. Robinson graduated from Oregon State University in 1935 with a degree in electrical engineering,** and he had a long and successful career with The Bonneville Power Administration. The couple were married on September 6, 1938, in Longview, WA and had three children together: Fay, Patricia (b. 1943), and Randolph (b. 1946). Fay was a 1966 graduate of Tigard High School, where she excelled at academics and was a member of National Honor Society; she was also in her schools play group, Spanish Club, and Ski Club. Robinson went on to attend the University of Oregon, and after graduating in 1970 she moved to Eugene and got a job with the State Public Welfare Division. At the time of Fay’s murder her sister Patricia lived across the street from her.

At around 7 AM on Wednesday, March 22, 1972 Fay Ellen Robinson was found dead in her bed in her downtown apartment. According to former Lane County Public Attorney Robert Naslund, a friend and coworker named Samuel Owens made the gruesome discovery and had stopped by to give her a ride to work. She was fully clothed, dressed in pants and a sweater, and suffered from stab wounds in her neck and upper chest. According to police, Robinson’s apartment was located alongside an east-west alley located off Oak Street, and her neighbors said they heard her return home the night before at around 10 PM but didn’t hear anything unusual after that.

Fay’s boss and the manager of the Welfare Division David Kuhns said that Robinson had been an intake worker at the department’s office building since January, and said she was ‘a very quiet, serious type of person and very interested in her job. I have no idea why someone would want to harm her.’ According to reports, Robinson was a ‘rather gregarious person with a number of friends, and they’re being questioned by police,’ and in an article published in The Eugene Register-Guard, no motive had been established and police were at a loss for who would want to hurt her. Her autopsy was performed later in the same day she was discovered, and showed that she suffered from multiple stab wounds to her upper chest and neck.

According to the ‘TB MultiAgency Report 1992,’ Bundy’s whereabouts are mostly unaccounted for in early 1972. At the time Ms. Robinson was murdered Ted was living in Seattle at the Rogers Rooming House on 12th Avenue, and was in the middle of a long term relationship with Elizabeth Kloepfer. He was in the final semester of his undergraduate psychology degree from the University of Washington, and was getting ready to start an internship at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in June (he also started at the Seattle Crime Commission around the same time).

As I’ve said in multiple other articles, its Bundy canon that the serial murderer began killing in early January 1974 with his brutal attack on fellow University of Washington student Karen Sparks (I can only assume he thought she was dead when he left her). But during his confessions before his execution he hinted to Dr. Robert Keppel that he may have started as early as 1972 with a young girl in Seattle (but of course didn’t elaborate any further than that). But… I’ve also read that he confessed to a different person that he began killing in 1969 in the Jersey Shore, and yet another that suggests 1971.

In the 2.5+ years that I’ve spent writing this blog I seem to stumble upon a new victim from Oregon every few months, and there’ve been quite a few cases of young women in the area with fates similar to Robinsons. The first one that jumped out at me is Alma Jean ‘Jeannie’ Barra, who was last seen leaving the Copper Penny Tavern in Portland the day after Fay was killed on March 23, 1972. The 28-year-old was last seen between 11 and 11:30 PM wearing a white sweater, turtleneck, maroon vest and pants and was in the company of an unknown male driving southbound on 92nd Avenue. Three days later Ms. Barra’s body was found roughly 40 feet off of Mount Scott Boulevard in an area of heavy brush of the Willamette National Cemetery in Happy Valley, OR.

In my opinion, there’s three murders that took place in mid to late 1973 that all fit very neatly into TB’s MO: Rita Lorraine Jolly, Vicki Lynn Hollar, and Suzanne Rae Seay-Justis. I know Ted only confessed to two additional Oregon murders aside from Roberta Kathleen Parks, but we all know he didn’t tell the truth very often… Seventeen year old Rita Lorraine Jolly left her family home on Horton Road in West Linn at around 7:15 PM on June 29, 1973 to go for a routine walk, and was last seen a few hours later sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 PM walking uphill on Sunset Avenue. She has never been heard from again.

24-year old Vicki Lynn Hollar was last seen getting into her black 1965 Volkswagen Beetle (with Illinois plates and the running boards removed) in a parking lot at 8th Avenue and Washington Street in Eugene at 5:00 PM on August 20, 1973. She and her supervisor walked together to their respective vehicles after work and that was the last time Hollar was ever seen alive; additionally, her Beetle has never been recovered.

Suzanne Rae Seay-Justis was last heard from on November 5, 1973 after she called her mother from outside the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. During the call, Justis said that she would return to Eugene the following day to pick up her son from school. Law enforcement recovered her vehicle left behind near her residence, and it was reported that she frequently hitchhiked to get around. Sue’s mother reserved a room for her for the night at a nearby hotel, but it was never used, and she never arrived home the following day. For reasons that are unknown, a missing persons report wasn’t filed for Justis until 1989.

According to an article published in The Oregonian on February 22, 1989, investigators in Oregon were looking into murders that Bundy could have been linked to far before 1972: a student at the University of Oregon, Janet Lynn Shanahan was married and worked PT at a credit union when her remains were found stuffed in the trunk of her car on April 23, 1969. Her vehicle and remains were found in West Eugene by her husband, who reported her missing two days before her body was recovered; according to the medical examiner, she had been raped and strangled. On May 24, 1971 thirty-four Barbara Katherine Cunningham was found deceased in her West Eighth Ave apartment; she had also been raped and strangled.

Gayle Elizabeth LeClair, who was found deceased in a similar manner that’s almost identical to that of Robinson. LeClair was a clerk/typist at the Eugene Municipal Library, and she was found stabbed in her rental house by her supervisor on August 23, 1973 after she failed to come in for her scheduled shift at 10:30 AM. Gayle had a date with a known acquaintance the night before, and the pair went to a drive-in movie then back to her apartment for a nightcap. She was last seen alive by him at 1:30 AM, and after a conversation with detectives the young man was quickly cleared as a suspect.

At roughly 1 PM on June 16, 1972 the badly decomposed remains of Geneva Joy Martin were found face down in a ‘woody, roadside ditch’ by Frank Miller, a local farmer. Martin was only wearing a coat and shoes, and her hair was caked with dried mud and sediment. She remained unidentified for roughly ten days, and because of the advanced level of decomposition police were unable to pinpoint her cause of death, but it’s suspected she had fallen in with a bad crowd and was dabbling in substance abuse. Also in June 1972 the remains of sixteen year old Beverly May Jenkins were found just off the I-5 roughly ten miles outside of Cottage Grove; she had been strangled to death.

On July 9, 1973 the remains of Laurie Lee Canaday were recovered on the pavement at the intersection of Southeast Scott Street and McLoughlin Blvd in Milwaukee, OR. According to LE, she was a frequent hitchhiker and was on her way home from work when she was abducted. Fifteen year old Alison Lynn Caufman’s nude remains were found on June 20, 1973 after she was dumped down a 30 foot long embankment near the Northeast Marine Drive near Blue Lake Park. She told her parents that she had plans of going to a BBQ, but LE later learned that there was no get-together at the address she had given them; an autopsy showed that she had died from strangulation and been sexually assaulted.

Deborah Lee Tomlinson disappeared on her sixteenth birthday along with an unnamed friend on October 15, 1973 from Creswell, OR. Creswell is an incredibly small town with only one high school, and the reported population according to the 1970 census was a mere 1,199 (it went up to 5,031 people in 2010). Called Debby by family and friends, Tomlinson had brown eyes, was 5’5”, weighed 140 pounds, and had golden brown hair she wore at her shoulders; she had a ring of moles around her neck. Not even a week later Virginia Erickson vanished without a trace on October 21, 1973 out of Sweet Home, OR. Earlier in the day that she disappeared, Erickson told her oldest daughter: ‘Rachel, if I’m not here when you get home, you feed the kids and take care of them,’ which she then did, and her dad stayed home with their mom to ‘go on a hunting trip.’ After the service was over Rachel and her younger siblings returned to an empty house, and no trace of Virginia has been seen since.

According to an article published by The Sunday Oregonian on December 7, 1975, in March 1974 the remains of seventeen year old Caroletta Spencer were discovered on a road in Sauvie Island; she suffered from multiple gunshot wounds. On the evening of March 1, 1975 the remains of twenty-two year old Margo Nerine Ascencio/Castro were found in a room at the El Don Motel on West 6th Avenue. She had been brutally attacked and died as the result of multiple stab wounds, which she had all over her body. Detectives quickly learned that at one time Ascencio had ties to the Hessian Motorcycle Club, and her murder remains unsolved. Cecelia Louise Hostetler* was twenty seven when she was reported missing out of Eugene in 1975 (even though local LE could find no record of her in their files), and was last seen leaving her POE. It’s speculated that she had plans to hitchhike home using the I-5 and her remains have never been recovered.

I think the next two girls can be quickly debunked as TB victims, as he was in prison when they were both killed. Tina Marie Mingus was only 16 years old when her body was found in Salem, OR in October 1975, and Floy Joy Bennet (who went by Jeanne) was 37 (and obviously a bit out of Bundy’s preferred age range) when she vanished in February 1978. What’s strange is I couldn’t find any more information about any of these women out there on the interwebs. It’s almost as if they never existed.

Fay’s sister Patricia died from pneumonia at the age of 64 on May 2, 2008 in Beaverton, WA. Thomas Robinson passed away from heart failure on February 21, 2003 in Silverdale, Washington. He retired from an eventful career as an electrical engineer in 1973 and was a member of the Tri County Gun Club in Sherwood, Oregon. Mrs. Robinson died at the age of 93 on January 31, 2010 in Bremerton, WA. As of December 2024 the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson remains unsolved.

* I would like to thank a reader going by the handle ‘BG’ for this. I left the old (and obviously incorrect) information about Cecelia Hostetler in the article because it was what was reported on at the time. But she eventually turned up and died at the age of 74 in a nursing home, and it was most likely an errant missing persons report that was relayed to the news, and when she was found the police likely didn’t have a file on her because she was an adult, and the public was never updated on her case.

** A big big thank you to Fay’s brother Randy for helping me correct some inconsistencies. I really appreciate you.

This is Fay’s sophomore year photo from the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook (it looks like they don’t do individual pictures aside from the senior class).
Fay in a group picture from Ski Club taken from the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in the a picture for Mother’s Tea in the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group photo from the play ‘Once Upon a Midnight’ taken from the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group picture for Spanish Club taken from the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in the NHS in the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay’s senior picture from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group photo for Ski Club from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group photo for IRL Club from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group photo for the Tigrettes from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group picture for the Tigrettes taken from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a picture for the Tigrettes from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay in a group picture for NHS taken from the 1966 Tigard High School yearbook.
Fay Ell Robinson in the Death Index for Oregon, 1898-2008.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Eugene Register-Guard on March 22, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Oregon Daily Journal on March 23, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Capital Journal on March 23, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Eugene Register-Guard on March 23, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Eugene Register-Guard on March 22, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Statesman Journal on March 23, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Albany Democrat-Herald on March 23, 1972.
Fay Ellen Robinson’s obituary published in The Oregonian on March 25, 1972.
An article about a Eugene woman that killed her husband that mentions the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Eugene Register-Guard Apr 4, 1972.
An article about the murder of Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Eugene Register-Guard on September 10, 1973.
An article about unsolved murders in Lane County that mentions Fay Ellen Robinson published in The Eugene Register-Guard on April 16, 1978.
The first part of an article mentioning Robinson’s murder published in The Eugene Register-Guard on April 16, 1978.
The second part of an article mentioning Robinson’s murder published in The Eugene Register-Guard on April 16, 1978.
An article about Bundy’s possible Oregon victims that mentions Fay Robinson published in barb
Thomas, Alice, and Fay’s gravestone, which is located in Cor 201, Niche 200 at the River View Cemetery in Portland, OR.
Fay’s mother’s birth certificate.
Fay’s parent’s wedding announcement published in The Corvallis Gazette-Times on August 9, 1938.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson’s record of marriage.
Thomas H. Robinson’s WWII draft card.
Fay and the rest of her family listed in the 1950 US census.
Patricia Robinsons senior picture from the 1961 Tigard High School yearbook.
A picture of Randy Robinson from the 1964 Tigard High School yearbook.
Mr. Robinson’s obituary, published in The Sun on February 21, 2003.
Patricia Robinson-Gardner’s obituary published in The Sunday Oregonian on May 11, 2008.
Teds whereabouts in early 1972 according to the ‘1992 TB FBI Multiagency Report.’
Rita Lorraine Jolly, who disappeared out of her West Linn neighborhood at 7:15 PM on June 29, 1973 after leaving to go for a walk.
Justis was last heard from on November 5, 1973 after she called her mother from outside the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, OR.
Vicki Lynn Hollar, who disappeared from Eugene, OR on August 20, 1973.
Alma Jean Barra, who was last seen leaving the Copper Penny Tavern in Portland between 11 and 11:30 PM on March 23, 1972
A newspaper article about the strangulation death of Janet Lynn Shanahan published in The Oregon Daily Journal on April 24, 1969.
A newspaper article about the strangulation death of Barbara Katherine Cunningham published in The Oregon Daily Journal on May 27, 1971.
Gayle Elizabeth LeClair, who was found deceased in her Eugene apartment on August 23, 1972.
The gravestone of Geneva Joy Martin, who was found deceased on the side of the road in Eugene by a local farmer in July 1972.
A newspaper article about the death of Laurie Canaday published in The Oregon Journal on July 9, 1973.
A newspaper article about the strangulation death of Alison Caufman published in The Sunday Oregonian on June 24, 1973.
Deborah Lee Tomlinson disappeared out of Creswell, OR with an unidentified girlfriend on her sixteenth birthday on October 15, 1973.
Virginia Erickson, a resident of Sweet Home, OR that has been missing since October 21, 1973. 
An article about Floy Joy ‘Jeanne’ Bennet published in The Bulletin on March 2, 1988.
An article about the homicide of Margo Nerine Castro published in The Greater Oregon on March 7, 1975.

Debra Diann Smith.*

~ Another Bundy Blog. ~ Leave a comment

Debra Diann Smith was born on December 26, 1958 to Thomas Leroy and Thelma Lorene (nee Hoover) Smith in Mansfield, OH. Mr. Smith was born on December 14, 1938 in Lucasville, OH, and I wasn’t able to find when Thelma was born but the couple were wed in October 1957. They had seven children together but eventually divorced, and in 1971 Debra relocated with her family to Salt Lake City. According to the Utah Department of Public Safety website, Debbie Smith had brown eyes, brunette hair, was 6’7″ tall and weighed 180 lbs… but considering the picture that the website used is wrong, I’m only going to assume those stats are incorrect as well.

According to reports Smith was a frequent runaway before she was killed, and left home for the final time in early February 1976. According to an article published in The Bellingham Herald on December 5, 1998, Thelma Smith said that she never reported her daughter as missing because she figured she would just change her mind about leaving and would eventually just come home on her own. On Monday, April 26, 1976 her badly decomposed and nude remains were found by a Utah Power and Light worker checking on poles in an open pasture in some ‘sagebrush covered land’ located one quarter mile NW of the Salt Lake International Airport. It’s often incorrectly reported that Smith was discovered on April 1, however according to newspaper reports it was April 26, 1976.

In the beginning of the investigation forensic experts incorrectly estimated the victim to be ‘middle aged’ and was anywhere from 35 to 45 years old, but when they studied her teeth they realized she was much younger. SLC Coroner Serge Moore performed Smith’s autopsy, and he determined that she suffered from three blows to the head and died from a fractured skull. He also said that she had been deceased for three to four months by the time her remains were discovered. SLC Detective Sergeant Dale Bithell said that evidence found near the scene of the crime indicated that she had been sexually assaulted and clothes were found near the body. Her identity remained a mystery until May 13, 1976, and it was only when Smith’s degraded fingerprints were reconstructed by the FBI that a positive identification was able to be made. The seventeen year olds prints were on file with the SLC Sheriff’s Department after she was arrested three separate times on minor charges.  

In the early spring of 1976 when Debra Smith was killed Ted was still with Liz Kloepfer (although they were getting towards the end of their rocky romance) and he was living at his third SLC residence, located at 413 B Street East (which he moved into at some point before March 22nd, 1976). According to the ‘1992 TB FBI Multiagency Report,’ Bundy was in Seattle on January 12, 13, 30 and was in SLC on February 23, which is when his kidnapping trial started. Although he was heavily under police surveillance around the time Smith was killed, on the report his whereabouts are mostly unaccounted for and he was remanded into custody on March 1, 1976, where he remained until he escaped in June 1977.

In the early stages of the investigation law enforcement thought that Smith’s murder could be linked to two other homicides in the SLC area: Kathy Harmon and Carolyn Sarkessian, who were both found dead on March 6, 1976. Harmon was a newlywed, and was last seen at the Better Days Bar four days before she disappeared. A University of Utah student out walking his dog found Kathy’s half nude remains between Parley’s Canyon and Emigration Canyon north of the Interstate-80. She had been raped, beaten, and strangled. As of December 2024 Harmons murder remains unsolved.

Also on March 6, 1976 SLC police discovered the remains of 24 year old Carolyn Sarkessian, brutally beaten and sexually assaulted; her cause of death is listed as strangulation and she suffered from a broken neck. In July 2004 it was determined that Gayle G. Benavidez was responsible for Sarkessian’s murder after a state-issued mouth swab destroyed his long-standing alibi; he was brought up on murder charge and took a plea deal of life imprisonment. Prior to his conviction of the murder of Carolyn he had two prior rape charges on his record. 

In an article published in the Bellingham Herald on December 5, 1998, Debra’s sister Stormee also disappeared briefly, much to the horror of her mother. At the time she vanished Stormee was in recovery from alcohol addiction, and had recently relocated to Fargo, ND where she completed a treatment program and was working on her sobriety. According to Thelma Smith, she had always managed to stay in touch with her (even ‘while drunk’), because she knew her mother worried about her after already losing one other daughter to murder: ‘the first time it happens to you, it’s totally devastating. because it was such a shock. I’m always concerned when I don’t hear from my girls. She (Stormee) knows that I worry and that’s why she’s so good about calling in.’ Mrs. Smith said that Stormee was outgoing and was comfortable in the company of strangers. and “she doesn’t seem to have a fear, even though her sister was killed.’ … ‘She’s never gone this long without giving me a call. She’s always called to let me know she’s ok. We haven’t heard anything this time. It’s fairly nerve wracking. But we’re holding up pretty well.’ Ms. Smith eventually turned up a few days later on December 9. Also in that same article, it confirms Debra as a Bundy victim and claims that he even confessed to her murder during his death row confessions in January 1989.

Stormee Ann Smith died at the age of forty-one in 2012 in Lynden, WA. Her brother Jeffrey Thomas passed away on March 7, 2020 at the age of thirty-eight. Wendy Jo Smith died at the age of fifty-five on April 5, 2019, and just two months later her twin Mary Francis passed away on July 21, 2019. Thomas Smith died at the age of 82 in January 2021 in Canada. As far as I can tell, Thelma Smith is still alive. As of December 2024 the murder of Debra Diann Smith remains unsolved.

* I have seen not only Debs first but also her middle name spelled a variety of different ways, and I decided to go with the spelling that is on her gravestone. I’ve also seen her middle name listed as DeAnn.

Works Cited:
bci.utah.gov/coldcases/deborah-diane-smith/
victims-of-serial-killers.fandom.com/wiki/Debbie_Smith

Debra as a baby.
Baby Debbie and her mother,
Smith and her mother.
Deb (right).
A picture of Smith in a local newspaper, published in The News Journal Sat, March 6, 1965.
Jack, Steven, Jeffrey, Terry Lynn Sparks, and Debra Smith in November 1968.
Deb and her mom, Thelma.
Debra and her brother, Thomas.
Debra’s gravestone.
Smith’s picture on the Utah Department of Public Safety website.
Thelma, Elizabeth, Stormee, and Francis Smith.
Debra’s grandmother Mary Ellen Smith holding one of her twin sisters (either Wendy or Mary) in their house on East First Street in Mansfield, Ohio.
An article about the discovery of the remains of Deb Smith published in The Daily Herald on April 27, 1976.
An article about the discovery of Smith published in The Ogden-Standard Examiner on April 27, 1976.
An article about the murder of Deb Smith published in The Deseret News on April 30, 1976.
An article about the discovery of the remains of Deb Smith published in The Ogden Standard-Examiner on April 30, 1976.
An article about the murder of Deb Smith that mentions Kathy Harmon published in The Herald-Journal on May 2, 1976.
An article about Deb Smith’s murder published in The News Journal on May 13, 1976.
An article about the identification of Debbie Smith’s body published in The Deseret News on May 13, 1976.
An article about the murder of Deb Smith that mentions Kathy Harmon published in The Herald-Journal on May 14, 1976.
An article about unsolved murders in Salt Lake that mentions Deb Smith published in The Daily Spectrum on October 10, 1984,
An article about unsolved murders in Salt Lake that mentions Deb Smith published in The Daily Herald on October 11, 1984.
An article about unsolved murders in SLC that mentions Debbie Smith published in The Salt Lake Tribune on October 14, 1983.
Part one of an article about unsolved murders that mentions Deb Smith published in The Salt Lake Tribune on October 18, 1983.
Part two of an article about unsolved murders that mentions Deb Smith published in The Salt Lake Tribune on October 18, 1983.
Part one of an article about Bundy’s execution that mentions Debbie Smith published in The Salt Lake Tribune on January 25, 1989.
Part two of an article about Bundy’s execution that mentions Debbie Smith published in The Salt Lake Tribune on January 25, 1989.
A newspaper blurb that mentions Mr. and Mrs. Smith applied for a marriage license, published in The News Journal on October 23, 1957.
An article about the disappearance of Stormee Smith published in The Bellingham Herald on December 5, 1998.
An article about the disappearance of Stormee Smith published in The Spokesman-Review on December 8, 1998.
An article about the disappearance of Stormee Smith published in The Spokesman Review on December 8, 1998.
An article about the disappearance of Stormee Smith published in The Spokesman Review on December 8, 1998.
An article about the disappearance of Stormee Smith published in The Bellingham Herald on December 9, 1998.
An article about the weather conditions in SLC on the day Smith’s body was recovered published in The Ogden Standard-Examiner on April 26, 1976.
Temperatures in 1976 at the SLC International Airport.
Bundy’s whereabouts in early 1976 according to the 1992 TB Multiagency Team Report.
Kathy Harmon.
Carolyn Sarkessian.
Gayle Gilbert Benavidez.