This is the complete autopsy of Caryn Campbell. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.
The Autopsy of Caryn Campbell.
ted bundy
William Earl Cosden Jr.: Part Two, Victims.
Written by Teri Phillips-Offield.
Intro: Jessica told you about the monster behind these heinous crimes, and now, I am going to tell you about the victims. I think it is important to know about their lives and not the fact that they died, but that they lived. The victims are the ones who should be remembered.
I feel that his sisters were among his first victims along with Helen Pilkerton. They suffered abuse at his hand and also were used to lure unsuspecting victims. To my utter disbelief, there were not much information for the beautiful lost souls, and none for the hitchhikers they fell victim to him. I want them to know that I, a complete stranger, do not know who you are or where you are, did not forget you.
I also feel that if his parents would have not covered for him and turned him in, many lives would have been saved. This is my opinion but after hearing the whole story from his sisters, my opinion is that they didn’t protect them and then did not protect the poor innocent girls from this monster.
Ted Bundy was suspected of Kathy’s death, but DNA proved to be William Cosden Jr. He was in prison for attacking Beverly Pearson already hiding right under their nose. It took 28 years and DNA evidence to find the truth. Here is the havoc this man created and the grief he inflicted on the families of his victims. I will start with his earliest victims, his sisters, and then go on to victims he raped, and killed, and finally Kathy Devine, his final known victim. A story full of senseless killings that never should have happened if he would have stayed in jail where he belonged.
Early Victim, Helen Pilkerton: Cosden was sent to a mental hospital in Maryland for killing a woman in 1967 and was serving a three to four-year term at the McNeil Island Corrections Center near Tacoma for a 1976 rape and murder conviction. Her name was Helen Patricia Pilkerton. She was an employee of the Lexington Park Motel and was just 20 years old. Helen Patricia Pilkerton was born on May 24th, 1945, in St. Mary’s, Maryland, her father, John was 22 and her mother Helen was 21. She had one brother and four sisters. She died on April 16, 1967, at the age of 21, and was buried in Hollywood, Maryland.
Helen was found in a stream by two teenage girls and her body was badly beaten. Cosden had just returned from active duty in Vietnam where he was discharged due to violent behavior. The family of the victim had to sue the Military because of the outrageous leniency of the sentence. To my utter disbelief, Cosden was free after 6 years to rape and kill again. Deputy Prosecutor Philip Harju said, “He is an obvious danger to society.” Yet, he was released to rape and kill again. The story should have ended here, better yet not allowed at all.
His sisters, Karen and Susan: They were told their brother was away at a hospital and so his sisters thought he was all better when he came home. There was no warning from their parents whatsoever. They never told them why he was away and never took steps to protect them. He would get in constant trouble at home and in school almost like he invited the punishment. He always had to be in control. His sisters wished their parents were more aware. He loved to torment his sisters and animals. He got pleasure in making his sisters cry. When Karen was 4, he started sexually abusing her. He warned her he would hurt the whole family if she told. The same thing happened to Susan in a few years. He took steps to encourage them to not be close.
When Susan was 8, her brother can downstairs all dressed up to go out. The next morning, she woke to find the sheriff at the kitchen table. They came for her brother. He had confessed to his father that he had killed a woman the night before. The sisters were beginning to see just how evil he was. He did four years in a mental hospital. Four years. His parents told the girls he had went to get well and he was well. That very night he came home, he sexually assaulted his sister.
He was also a firebug and burned down the family home. His mother suspected it was him but did nothing. Again. The cause of the fire was listed as electrical. A house down the block burned too. He seemed to get away with everything. He would also burn his truck to cover evidence.
Then one day the paper was showing about a body found. He got more and more agitated as the paper was read and screamed at them to stop reading. This turned out to be Kathy. He would go to “help” people on snow days when in fact he was looking for prey. One day after a snow day he was arrested for rape.
In 1986, Susan came across his file that showed he was going to be released, she freaked out. She went to the police department to talk about her abuse. The detective she talked to said he believed her brother killed Kathy and would not retire until he found out. Susan told her story and wanted to make sure he didn’t get out. DNA tests were done, and he was convicted. She even flipped him the bird as they were sentencing him. Her family was actually mad at her for doing this. Susan, you are a hero to me.
In 2015, he died alone of a heart attack. They had to deal with the effects of their traumatic past as adults, with one of the sisters even nearing death. Despite the difficulties, the sisters band together to discuss the harm done to them and make an effort to make things right. About a week after filming, Sisters in Silence, Karen Harris passed away following a battle with lung cancer. RIP Karen.
Hitchhikers: Restover Truck Stop in Tumwater, just off Interstate 5, focal point for hitchhikers where he worked there, and his father owned. As I pointed out, Susan says her brother Williams Cosden Jr. would use her as bait to pick up women hitchhikers. The women would feel safe getting into his truck with a little girl there. He would tell his mom he was taking Susan to get ice cream and then take her to pick up hitchhikers. Once the girls were in the truck, he would lock Susan in the back. Many hitchhikers would disappear during this time. We may never know all his victims and which ones were Bundy’s. I apologize for not finding any names of the hitchhiker victims, it makes me wonder how many girls are in unmarked graves all over because of men like Cosden. I wonder if these families ever knew what happened to their daughters. My heart goes out to these families. I hope they found some kind of closure.
Beverly Pearson: On November 30th, 1975, 24-year-old Beverly Pearson stopped to get gas. As she was filling up, she encountered Willian Cosden Jr. She recognized him, but finished getting gas and drove away. On her way home, she lost control of her truck and pulled over. She noticed that Cosden pulled over right behind her. She told him she was fine, but when she went to get back in her truck, he hit her with a rubber mallet. He then forced her into his truck and kept threatening her and she kept saying to not hit her again.
He pulled over at a wooded area and sexually assaulted her. She remembers thinking to try to get him to talk. Her step father was a police commissioner and taught her to try and get anyone who attacks you to talk. She asked him personal questions and told him if he let her go, he could come visit her at home. It worked and he took her back to her truck. She immediately called the police and Cosden was picked up Cosden was found guilty and was sentence to serve a 49-year sentence. Because of her bravery, he was off the streets.
Kathy Devine: I got most of Kathy’s story from Jessica because she wrote it better than any article I read. According to Jessica, Katherine Devine was born to Sally and William L. Devine in Seattle in King County, Washington, on December 25, 1958. She was a Christmas baby. Her family remembered how the kind-hearted teen thought she was destined to become a Minister after being born on Christmas Day. Kathy regularly brought home stray animals and homeless children living on the streets to take care of them. She had a big heart and always sought to help the less fortunate and helpless individuals.
Witnesses last saw the 14-year-old teen hitchhiking in Seattle near North 91st Street and Aurora Avenue North. Her mother stared Kathy had just broken up with her boyfriend and was headed south to visit relatives in Rockaway, Oregon. Her family had reported her to the authorities as a runaway. Little did they know that was the last time their daughter would be seen alive. On December 6, 1973, a young couple stumbled across the remains of the 14-year-old girl in Margaret McKenny Campground in Thurston County.
The victim’s throat had been slashed, and she was lying face down. An examination further revealed she had been brutally sodomized and strangled to death. According to police reports, the officers found the victim’s pants were deliberately torn. Authorities figured that since the place was deserted and it would take a local to know their way around the campground, the killer must be local. The decomposed remains were not immediately identified until Kathy’s sister Sherrie Devine, then 16, saw a television news program in Seattle of the discovery and recognized an embroidered patch on the pair of jeans the victim was reported wearing.
Witnesses saw Cosden come in the night of the murder with stains on his clothing. The witnesses called police. After leaving the truck stop, Cosden’s truck caught fire and was destroyed three miles from the truck stop. During initial interviews with police, Cosden denied ever seeing Kathy Devine.”
Kathy was first thought to be a victim of Ted Bundy. When Ms. Devine disappeared in 1973 Ted was attending the University of Puget Sound Law School and lived within two miles from where she was last seen. Everyone knows he drove the yellow, cream-colored Beetle for years before his arrest, but supposedly his brother owned a white pickup truck. During his death row confessions before his execution in 1989, Bundy told law enforcement that he picked up a hitchhiker in 1973, killed her then left her body close to where Kathy’s remains were found in Olympia, however he couldn’t remember the exact location. He denied having any involvement with Devine’s murder. But this makes me wonder if he did indeed kill Kathy. Cosden was surprised to be convicted and Bundy admitted to killing a hitchhiker and they only found Kathy at that site.
Kathy’s ex-boyfriend was a suspect but passed the polygraph. Another man said he saw the whole thing but was very uncooperative with police. While searching his house, a lot of newspaper articles about Kathy were found along with a blood-stained knife. When they brought him in, he denied all charges and said he could explain. He said the knife was for hunting and after testing, the knife did indeed have animal blood on it. He was cleared of the charges.
An anonymous man called detectives and suggested they investigate Cosden. The man said he looked in the back of Cosden’s truck and found a blood-soaked sleeping bag along with a single shoe. He was looking in Cosden’s truck because he claimed he was a co-worker and Cosden was stealing from him. Before the police had a chance to investigate Cosden’s truck “mysteriously” caught in fire. Remember, Kathy was found missing a shoe. The shoe found on Kathy matched what the man described but they never got the evidence since it burned.
The police went to the jail to confront Cosden and he denied it even though they have DNA proof found on Kathy. Luckily, they had enough to convince a jury and his sister, Susan helped, and he was convicted.
He lived in the area at the time of Kathy’s disappearance and murder. According to witnesses, William was seen wearing bloodstained clothes at the Truck Stop on November 26, 1973. He worked at the truck shop owned by his father and was reportedly working an early morning shift. After leaving the truck stop, Cosden’s truck caught fire and was destroyed three miles from the truck stop.
Additionally, witnesses claimed to find what appeared to be bloodstains inside William’s truck late on November 25, the very day Kathy was last seen alive.
William Cosden was already in prison for sexually assaulting Beverly Pearson when he was convicted of Kathy’s death. it was be the oldest open murder case in the state to have been solved by DNA “fingerprinting,” authorities said.
After Cosden was finally convicted of his daughter’s murder, Mr. Devine said: ‘It’s finished. There’s a justice system, and it works.″ ‘It doesn’t bring Kathy back, but it sure does help. “It was very creepy,” Sherrie Devine, the victim’s older sister, said of the court appearance. Devine’s mother, Sally, said she was nervous about seeing Cosden for the first time. “It would have been worse if we would have had to look directly at him,” I cannot help thinking that if the justice system kept this monster behind bars after his first murder and rape in 1967, Kathy would still be alive. And why weren’t his sisters protected from this monster? They were just little girls.
Conclusion: It took many years to finally catch her killer, but finally the family has answers and hopefully a little bit of peace. Such an unnecessary waste of her and of the beautiful souls who left this world too soon. My heart goes out to everyone whose life was touched by William Cosden Jr. I want to thank Jessica for not letting these girls be forgotten and reminding us they did live and not only die. And Charlene and Sherrie, you should have never had to endure this kind of horror in your family. My heart goes out to you and much respect for coming out the other side of this tragedy. A long as Jessica and I are here, we will not let her be forgotten.
Cites:
Katherine Devine Murder: Where is William Cosden Jr Today? Update (thecinemaholic.com)
Life term for man whom DNA linked to murder (seattlepi.com)
Closing ceremony, tour of McNeil Island prison (seattlepi.com)
Evil Lives Here, Sisters in Silence. Season 13, Episode 10.
Katherine Devine Murder: Where is William Cosden Jr Today? Update (thecinemaholic.com)
Katherine Merry “Kathy” Devine. | Another Bundy Blog. (wordpress.com)
Most pictures were taken from Another Bundy Blog: Kathy Devine
Facebook page Cowards ad Killers
Man sentenced to life in prison for 1973 murder | The Seattle Times
Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s – Newspapers.com
On the case with Paul Zahn, Season 12, Ep 4, Waving Goodbye.
Other info, Another Bundy Blog. (wordpress.com)
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/rapist-charged-in-1973-killing/
Lynnette Dawn Culver, Complete Police File.
Thank you to Erin Banks/CrimePiper for this document.
Theodore Robert Bundy, Crime Scene Photos.
Over the years I’ve only come across a few pictures from Bundy’s crime scenes, for the simple fact that there’s not many of them. This is because he usually left little to no trace of himself behind, and there were no bodies recovered until they were completely decomposed (well, until the end in 1978). I came across a website last night on TikTok (as silly as that sounds), and it contained a bunch of pictures I’ve never seen before, I was pretty amazed. So, here they are. I also went through my own collection and found some additional crime-scene related pictures and included those as well. Because, why not? If anyone has more, please feel free out reach out to me. I will give you credit.
Edit: I wanted to thank Tiffany Jean for all of the hard work she does on the Bundy case. Because of her we have information never before accessible, and she is a wonderful educator and TB resource. Thank you for all that you do.
Powerline Road on Taylor Mountain. Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.
Laura Aime, Autopsy Report.
Thank you to Erin Banks/CrimePiper for this document.
Paul John Knowles in Possible Relation to the Katherine Kolodziej Murder.
On April 25, 1946, Paul John Knowles was born in Orlando, FL to Thomas Jefferson and Bonnie (née Strickland) Knowles. Moving around from foster home to foster home in his early life, he was incarcerated for the first time at the age of 19. Paul was serving time at Raiford Prison in early-1974 (ironically the same prison Bundy was put to death in) when he began corresponding with Angela Covic, a young divorcee living in San Francisco; the pair quickly got engaged. Covic paid for his legal counsel and upon his release, he flew directly to California to be with her. However she quickly called off the wedding, saying her fiance projected an ‘aura of fear’ that terrified her. Knowles said he killed three people in the city that night, although these claims have never been verified. He eventually returned to Jacksonville and was soon arrested after stabbing a bartender during a fight. After picking the lock in his detention cell, Knowles escaped on July 26, 1974 and began a four-month, multi-state crime spree. That evening, he broke into the Jacksonville home of Alice Heneritta Curtis and gagged her, then ransacked her home for money/valuables and stole her car. The 65-year-old choked to death.
In his taped confessions, Knowles claimed to have murdered a teenage girl named ‘Alma.’ On December 21, 2011, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified her as 13-year-old Ima Jean Sanders, who disappeared on August 1, 1974 in Warner Robins, Georgia. Her skeletal remains were found in April 1976.
He also claimed to have kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old Mylette Josephine Anderson and 11-year-old Lillian Annette Anderson outside of Jacksonville on August 1, 1974. Investigators believe this was a false confession. The crimes were not linked at the time but after Knowles’ was captured law enforcement realized he had mailed recorded confessions to an attorney. The tapes were reviewed by a grand jury in 1975 but were never released to the public; they were destroyed ‘after being ruined beyond repair in a flood of the Federal Courthouse in Macon’ (along with all transcripts), according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
On August 2, 1974, Knowles met Marjorie Howie, in Atlantic Beach, Florida. The 49 year old was found strangled in her apartment and her TV was stolen. Roughly three weeks later on August 23, 1974, he forced his way into the house of Kathie Sue Pierce in Musella, Georgia. Knowles strangled the 24-year-old but left her 3-year-old son alive and physically unharmed.
On September 3, 1974 32-year-old William Bates was last seen with a redheaded man at Scott’s Inn, a roadside pub near Lima, Ohio. Bates was later reported missing by his wife. Near the pub, investigators found the vehicle of Alice Curtis abandoned but Bates’ car was missing. In October, Bates’ nude body was found strangled and dumped in the woods. After ditching Curtis’s car, on September 18, 1974 Knowles bound and killed 62-year-old Emmett Alexander Johnson and 59-year-old Lois Mildred Johnson at a rest stop near Ely, Nevada.
42-year-old Ebon Charlynn Hicks was reported missing by family on September 22, 1974. Three days later on September 25 her body was found beside the road near a rest stop outside of Seguin, TX. She had been raped and strangled; her vehicle was found at the rest stop.
On September 23, 1974 Knowles encountered Ann Jean Dawson in Birmingham, Alabama. It is unclear as to whether he abducted the 49-year-old beautician or if she traveled with him willingly, but it appeared that she paid the bills while they traveled together. He killed her on September 29, 1974 then threw her remains into the Mississippi River. Her body was discovered by two squirrel hunters in Mississippi on November 15, 1977.
On October 16, 1974, 35-year-old Karen Wine and her 16-year-old daughter Dawn Marie Wine were both bound, raped and strangled after their Marlborough, CT home was broken into. The only thing determined to be missing was a tape recorder. Law enforcement felt that Knowles was the murderer. Two days later on October 18, 1974 Doris Hosey was shot to death with her husband’s rifle. The gun was placed beside the 53-year-old’s body.
After picking up two hitchhikers in Key West, FL, Knowles was stopped by a policeman. Despite driving a stolen car he was let him off with a warning. Rattled by the experience, he dropped off the hitchhikers off unharmed in Miami. It was around this time that he recorded his confessions and mailed the tapes to an attorney in Florida.
On November 2, 20-year-old Debbie Griffin and 23-year-old Edward Hillard disappeared while hitchhiking near Macon, Georgia. Hillard’s remains were found in nearby woods and Griffin’s body was found in Crawford County, Georgia on August 29, 1975. Knowles is a suspect in both of their murders.
In Milledgeville, Georgia on November 6, 1974, Knowles befriended Carswell Hall Carr Sr. and was invited back to his house to spend the night. He stabbed the 45-year-old to death and strangled his 15-year-old daughter (Amanda Beth) and attempted necrophilia with her remains.
Knowles met Sandy Fawkes in Atlanta on November 8. The 45-year-old British journalist said that he impressed her with his looks, which she felt were a ‘cross between Robert Redford and Ryan O’Neal.’ Despite spending the next few days together, Fawkes said Knowles was unable to perform when they tried to have intercourse. They parted ways two days later on November 10. The next day, he picked up an acquaintance of Sandy and demanded sex from her at gunpoint. Luckily, she escaped him and notified law enforcement. When patrolmen tried to apprehend Knowles he pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and made his escape.
Days later in West Palm Beach, he invaded the home of invalid Beverly Mabee, where he abducted her sister, 32-year-old Barbara Mabee Abel and stole their vehicle. From there, Knowles drove to Fort Pierce, Florida arriving the following night. Barbara was raped repeatedly during her captivity but thankfully survived.
Early in the morning of November 16, 1974 35-year-old Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Charles Eugene Campbell recognized the stolen vehicle near Perry, Florida. Knowles was able to wrestle Campbell’s gun away from him and took the officer hostage in his own patrol car. Knowles used the police vehicle’s siren to pull over 29-year-old James Meyer, and put both hostages in Meyer’s car. He then took both men into a wooded area in Pulaski County, handcuffed them to a tree, then shot them both in the head at close range. Shortly after, the fugitive got into a car chase with Henry County Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Hancock and crashed the vehicles through a police roadblock, escaping on foot and firing shots at the approaching officers. He was shot in the foot by Chief Detective Philip Howard during this footrace however Officer Jerry Key was injured when the stolen car crashed into his patrol car. Chaos ensued, with Knowles pursued by dogs, multiple law enforcement agencies, and even police helicopters. On November 17 he was eventually cornered outside of the perimeter established for the manhunt by a 27-year-old Vietnam Vet and hospital maintenance worker named David Clark. Henry County investigators Paul Robbins and Billy Payne quickly arrived on the scene, arresting and handcuffing Knowles.On December 18, 1974, Sheriff Earl Lee and Agent Ronnie Angel from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were traveling down Interstate 20 with Knowles, who was handcuffed in the back of their police cruiser. Their intended destination was Henry County, Georgia, where the prisoner admitted to ditching a handgun he had stolen from Trooper Campbell after killing him with it (per a Georgia Bureau of Investigation press release). The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that, ‘Knowles grabbed Lee’s handgun, discharging it through the holster in the process and while Lee was struggling with Knowles and attempting to keep control of the vehicle, Angel fired three shots into Knowles’ chest, killing him instantly.’
Judge Edward Douglas Cowert.
Edward Douglas Cowart was born on February 17, 1925 to William and Helen (nee Douglas) in Plant City, FL. He had an older brother named William that was born in 1920. Judge Cowart served in the Navy from 1942 to 1946 and when he returned married Elizabeth Pearl Royal on July 22, 1946. The couple had two daughters, Susan and Patricia. Cowart worked as a motorcycle officer in the Miami Police Department before returning to school to earn his degrees in law: he got a BA in 1950 from the University of Miami and a JD from Stetson University in 1952.
Cowart worked as a Dade County Circuit Court Judge for 14 years. He was highly respected in the law community and was well-known for his almost Southern hospitality and long drawl. The trial that helped make him famous is that of Ted Bundy, who had a messy, incomplete background in law himself and was originally arrested for a series of murders in the Pacific Northwest on August 16, 1975 in Utah (between at the very least 1974 and 75). The judge imposed a death sentence on the serial killer, and he is frequently remembered for his unusually sympathetic post-sentencing remarks to Bundy:
‘The court finds that both of these killings were indeed heinous, atrocious and cruel. And that they were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile and the product of a design to inflict a high degree of pain and utter indifference to human life. This court, independent of, but in agreement with the advisory sentence rendered by the jury does hereby impose the death penalty upon the defendant Theodore Robert Bundy. It is further ordered that on such scheduled date that you’ll be put to death by a current of electricity, sufficient to cause your immediate death, and such current of electricity shall continue to pass through your body until you are dead. Take care of yourself, young man. I say that to you sincerely; take care of yourself. It is an utter tragedy for this court to see such a total waste of humanity, I think, as I’ve experienced in this courtroom. You’re a bright young man. You’d have made a good lawyer and I would have loved to have you practice in front of me, but you went another way, partner. I don’t feel any animosity toward you. I want you to know that. Once again, take care of yourself.’
Cowart replaced Gerald Kogan in the position of Dade County Circuit Court, as he was appointed to the Florida state Supreme Court. About Cowart, Kogan said that he was ‘one of those human beings who was destined to be a judge. He was intelligent, he was compassionate, he was understanding, and when he had to be, he was tough as nails.’
In 1982 then Dade State Attorney and (former) US Attorney General Janet Reno hired Cowart to be her chief assistant, in between his stints on the bench. He stayed in the position until 1984, when he went back to be a judge at the Dade County Circuit Court. Every year he was in that role, Cowart ranked either at or close to the top in the annual Dade Bar poll of judges.
Just after midnight on August 3, 1987 Edward Douglas Cowart died of a massive heart attack at Coral Reef hospital in Miami at the age of 62. He was cremated and the location of ashes is unknown. In his obituary published by The Miami Herald on August 7, 1987, ‘from jail guards to Supreme Court justices, traffic cops to traffic judges,the wept together and swapped favorite stories on Thursday (August 6, 1987) at a memorial service for Dade Circuit Court Judge Edward Cowart.’ The 25 minute long service in the massive Old Cutler Presbyterian Church (which seats 1,500) was standing room only.
What is so upsetting to me is that Bundy outlived the judge, as he wasn’t executed until January 1989 (after a number of unsuccessful appeals to Cowart and the Court of Appeals in attempts to overturn his death sentence or be granted a new trial). Elizabeth Cowart passed away on April 5, 2001 in Danbury, CT. Their daughter Susan passed away on October 4, 2007.
Bundy’s Activities on November 8, 1974.
On November 8th, 1974, 27 year old Ted Bundy left his apartment on 1st Avenue North in Salt Lake City and drove to the Fashion Place Mall on South State Street in Murray. From there, he attempted to kidnap 18 year-old phone operator Carol DaRonch, who was there doing some shopping after parking her maroon 1974 Camaro on the southern side of the mall’s parking lot. At the time, the storefront was occupied by Sears but today is a Dillard’s.
That evening at around 7 PM, DaRonch was standing outside a WaldenBooks when a man approached her. He identified himself as ‘Officer Roseland’ and asked if she parked by the Sears entrance of the mall. She said the man was polite and sounded well-educated. After Carol confirmed that she did, the ‘policeman’ told her that he witnessed someone attempting to break into her vehicle and requested that she go with him to assess the damage and see if anything was taken. DaRonch agreed, thinking Bundy was a real officer of the law, but once they arrived immediately realized her car was untouched and nothing at all was missing.
Despite assuring ‘Officer Roselund’ that everything was fine, Bundy was able to convince Carol to go with him back inside the mall and file an official complaint. Once inside, he began poking around the hallways, almost as if he were searching for someone. He then told Carol that ‘they’ must have taken the suspect to the nearby ‘police substation,’ then proceeded to walk her across the street to a closed laundromat on East St. South. The building was in a small, nondescript retail space and once there Ted tried to open its side door, which was conveniently locked (as the laundromat was closed). It was at that moment that DaRonch became suspicious of the ‘officer,’ and asked him for some identification. Almost as if he was waiting for the request, Ted pulled out his wallet and quickly flashed her a silver police badge. Carol immediately felt reassured and agreed to go with him to the main police station. Bundy then walked her back across the street to his waiting VW, and despite thinking it was an odd choice of vehicle for a police officer, she wondered that maybe he was working undercover and just went with it.
Once in Bundy’s Bug, the ‘officer’ immediately began heading in the opposite direction of the station. About driving for about a half-mile, he abruptly pulled the car over and onto a curb in front of McMillan Elementary School. Quickly realizing that something was wrong, Carol began panicking and demanded to know where they were going. Her captor seemed completely removed from the situation and just stared at her, not saying a word. While she tried to open the door to escape, Ted suddenly sprang to life, grabbed her left arm and slapped a handcuff on her wrist. During the struggle, DaRonch clawed and hit Bundy with such force that it prevented him from being able to get the handcuff on her other wrist.
In an effort to scare Carol, Bundy pulled out a small black pistol and threatened her with it. But instead of submitting, she continued to scream and fight against him until she was finally able to escape out of the passengers side door. Ted also got out of the car and pursued her with a crowbar, but thankfully Carol was able to flag down a passing motorist and get away.
Bundy took advantage of a hysterical and preoccupied DaRonch to quickly flee, and jumped back into his Beetle and drove off, furious that he had just let a potential victim get away. He then drove twenty-one miles away to Bountiful, where Debra Jean Kent and her parents were attending a play at Viewmont High School. When the performance went longer than expected, Debra volunteered to take the family car and pick up her two younger brothers at a local skating rink. It was only three miles away, and if traffic was light it should have been only a twenty minute round trip. Eventually an hour passed and Deb never returned to the auditorium. As more and more time went by, Mr. and Mrs. Kent grew anxious and decided to go outside and find a payphone.
After exiting the school, they were met with a sight that filled them with pure terror: in the parking lot was the family car. The Kent’s quickly realized that not only was their daughter missing, but their sons were still at the roller rink. Later that same evening, a search of the schools grounds took place, and classrooms were opened to make sure that Deb hadn’t accidentally been locked inside somehow. The Kent family and friends also searched some of the hills and canyons around Bountiful, but unfortunately they found no trace of the missing teenager.
The police initially told Belva Kent that 24 hours needed to pass before they were able to organize a search for the missing girl. In the beginning of the investigation law enforcement strongly speculated that the seventeen year old was just another runaway, but they were soon pressured into taking action. The next day, police and forensic experts combed Viewmont High School’s parking lot, and despite not finding any signs of a struggle they did find a discarded handcuff key outside of the auditorium on the western part of the school grounds. It didn’t take long for experts to determine it was a perfect fit to the handcuffs that had been used during the attempted kidnapping of Carol DaRonch earlier that same day. It was now glaringly obvious that after DaRonch’s kidnapper fled the scene he quickly made the drive north to Bountiful, where he successfully abducted Debra Kent.
A man matching Bundy’s description was seen that evening lurking around the school, asking young women to help him ID a car in the parking lot. Raelynn Shepherd was a drama teacher at Viewmont High School who Ted repeatedly tried to lure outside. Shepherd said that he had a ‘nervousness’ about him that made her feel uncomfortable and didn’t care for the way he was looking at her. Because of that, she told him that she was too busy to help; when she saw him again at around 10:45 PM his hair was messed up and he was breathing heavily. This was about 20–30 minutes after Kent had left the school to pick up her brothers, which means Bundy returned to Viewmont after abducting her. His motivations for doing this are unclear: he may have been trying to establish an alibi by appearing in public immediately after the abduction. Or, perhaps he was looking for a second victim. We’ll never know. Additional eyewitnesses reported hearing a woman screaming in the parking lot at roughly the same time that Kent left the auditorium. Another individual came forward and reported that they saw a VW Beetle driving away from the high school.
Bundy became the prime suspect behind Deb’s disappearance after he was arrested for the attempted kidnapping of Carol DaRonch. However, law enforcement didn’t have enough evidence to charge him with the abduction. As the years passed by, it seemed less and less likely that Kents’ remains would ever be recovered. The family lived at 23 East 3500 Street South in Bountiful, and after she disappeared her mother left their porch light on for years in hopes that it would somehow bring her home. Right before he was put to death in January 1989, Bundy finally confessed to killing Deb Kent. He said that he brought her back to his apartment and after ‘keeping her for a while’ murdered her. He then put her body in his car and drove 105 miles away to Fairview Canyon, where he buried her remains about 3 feet deep, under some heavy rocks. After searching the Canyon, law enforcement found a patella (kneecap), and it is likely that her other bones were scavenged and spread around by wildlife over time. Although the ME’s office determined that the bone was human, they weren’t able to test it beyond that until 2015, when a cold-case detective stumbled across Kent’s DNA that had never been entered into the NamUs database. At that point, he reached out to Mrs. Kent, who held onto the only piece of her daughter she had left and asked if he could take the bone for genetic testing.
Although she gave the detective the patella, Mrs. Kent told him that she didn’t want to know the results. In her mind, it belonged to Debra and didn’t want to be told otherwise. Thankfully her fears were put to rest five months later, when the results came back that the bone belonged to Debra. Mrs. Kent said that her daughters murder destroyed her family: her younger son, Bill blamed himself for his sister’s death and died in an alcohol-related car accident on February 3rd, 1985. Shortly after Deb’s disappearance, Dean Kent quit his job as an oil executive, began drinking, walked out on his marriage, and fathered a child. He died from cancer at the age of 78 on January 2nd, 2016. In a 1989 interview, Belva Kent said that Ted Bundy was a ‘cancer’ that tore her family apart. She passed away on June 22, 2023.
Robert A. Dielenberg’s ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline,’ Updated Edition..
“The Stranger Beside Me” .pdf by Ann Rule.
The Stranger Beside Me is a 1980 true crime classic written by Ann Rule about her one-time suicide hotline colleague Ted Bundy. Rule met Ted in 1971 when he was a psychology major at the University of Washington in Seattle and contemplating a career in law and politics.
Another Bundy Blog. 