Terror in Gainesville, Part 2

*Last Sunday's night's program on "How It Really Happened," featuring the Gainesville murders of 1990, reminded me that I never did finish my posts on this case.   Apologies!  Rectifying that now.*

For part 1 of Terror in Gainesville, go here.

The 1990-1991 school year should have been the optimistic start to a new decade for the University of Florida.  John Lombardi was readying for his first semester as the school's newest president; Steve Spurrier was prepping for his first season as the Gators' head football coach.  More than 36,000 students had flooded Gainesville during August; by the end of the month, many fled in fear, leaving those who remained behind to sleep in shifts, huddling up into groups of as many as 20, some with baseball bats and other weapons at their side.  Many strung beer cans across their entries and rooms at shoulder level or placed plates on the floor; anything to give them some type of warning if an intruder should enter.   Some tried to make the shared sleeping spaces more of a slumber party, with food and even slasher films but many were terrorized and traumatized.

In just 72 hours, a serial killer had gone on a deadly rampage through the peaceful university town, leaving five students slashed, stabbed, and mutilated.  The streets that were normally teeming with young collegiate were now host to news trucks and various media outlets who, with the typical slowness of summer, quickly infested the area to broadcast images of grief-stricken and fearful students across the country.   As well as sensationalize every gory detail that was known then, reporting even more mundane ones like Mace, which had sole for $4.95 just a week earlier, was now selling for $25; and that UPS was rushing shipments of locks, hardware, and guns to the now-barren shelves.

Gainesville residents, some of whom had previously left their doors unlocked with a trusting nature that was no longer the norm by 1990 in most of the country, now shirked behind double-locked doors, turning on lights in every room of their homes.  The sound of a branch cracking or owl screeching sent them to their phones to call for help.  Once the police arrived, however, some of the same callers wouldn't open their door to the responding officers out of fear that the unknown killer was masquerading as law enforcement -- or worse, that the killer was a member of law enforcement.  Those who did open their doors to the police did so with drawn guns.

Summer nights, once a time to relax and enjoy cooler temperatures as the sun went down, were now dreaded.

Gainesville is a college town through and through.  There is pride for the school, pride for the football team.  If something affects the school, the town comes a calling and vice versa.  The city and the university banded together, enjoined in fear and worry.  For its part, the school offered to refund tuition to the students that chose to leave and for the students that chose to stay in Gainesville, did not penalize them for missing classes.  Lounge areas of residence halls were opened up for those students who were too afraid to go home to their off-campus residences.

The pressure on local law enforcement was immense.  Everyone, from students to their parents to the university, demanded answers as quickly as possible.  Local law enforcement, following the discovery of Christa Hoyt's body, had sprung into immediate action.  Gainesville's usual crime (that did not include murder) dropped drastically, thanks to the increased presence of the police, who literally looked to be on every corner.  The fact that many businesses closed once the sun went down, and the streets were basically deserted, helped.   For the authorities, on whose increased watch Tracy Paules and Manny Taboada had been massacred, there was a single-minded desire and determination to catch the monster responsible for the destruction of these students -- and anger.

Although some fiction books, television shows, and movies make the capture of criminals seems a relative breeze, the reality is that serial killers are typically not that easy to catch.  This was in 1990, when DNA testing was in its infancy, making their jobs that much harder.  Furthermore, serial killers not only escalate in violence as they accumulate victims but also in their methods and "education;" meaning that by the time they are serial killing, they become better at avoiding detection.  Serial killers also rarely stop of their own accord, leaving the investigators and P.D. in Gainesville to wonder not only if this unknown killer had struck before August 24, 1990 but when he might strike again.

As quickly as the vicious murders began in Gainesville, so they appeared to end.  Sonja Larson and Christina Powell fell victim on late Friday evening/early Saturday morning; Christa Hoyt on late Sunday morning; and Tracy Paules and Manny Taboada on late Monday evening/early Tuesday morning.  The city held its collective breath as Wednesday passed, then Thursday and then another weekend was upon them.  While news of the killings themselves were unsettling, the sudden abatement was nearly as unnerving.  Why had the killer stopped?  Were they still in the Gainesville area?  Was he only a weekend killer?  Would he strike again?  And if so, when?

On Wednesday, the day after Tracy and Manny had been discovered, Marcia West, the founder of Gainesville's first center for female assault victims, organized a march through downtown; the same day that the university and local police held a joint press conference.   It was announced at the press conference that some 100 investigators, forming a task force, would be working on the investigation -- the largest manhunt in Florida's history.  Those investigators who had worked on the Ted Bundy case back in 1978, after Bundy attacked four Chi-Omega sorority sisters and one Florida State student off-campus in Tallahassee, killing two, and abducting and murdering 12-year-old Kimberly Leach in Lake City, were asked to come back and assist with the Gainesville case.

While the investigators gave little details to the media and worried public, for fear of compromising the integrity of their investigation, by the press conference on Wednesday they already had what seemed to be a solid suspect in Edward Lewis Humphrey.

Humphrey, 19 years old, was a student at the University of Florida.  Six foot two and over 200 pounds, he walked with a limp from a car accident and had many scars on his face.  Described as a loner with very few friends, those that knew him said he bragged about being in the Recon and 82nd Airborne (not true) and that he stated he hated women.  He had done six stints in mental institutions over the previous few years, was known to carry a large hunting knife on his leg, and until the week prior, he had lived at the Gatorwood Apartments, where Tracy and Manny had been murdered.  His roommates had kicked him out due to his "acting crazy."  

John Douglas and Jim Wright, the two FBI psychological profilers who had been sent to Gainesville, to provide a profile for the unknown killer, believed that Humphrey fit the profile but cautioned detectives about releasing any information to the public, believing that such information might push Humphrey -- or the killer if Humphrey was not him -- to commit suicide.  

On Thursday morning, Humphrey was arrested in Indiatlantic for beating up his 79-year-old grandmother, who told cops that Humphrey told her she was going to die and struck her, leaving her bloody.  He was taken to the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes.  His grandmother, after receiving medical treatment at the hospital, then recanted her story and said she struck the refrigerator.

While law enforcement had maybe a dozen suspects they were checking out -- and SWAT, complete with K9s, was regularly swarming the southwest section of the city -- Humphrey was at the top of their list.  They found that more than 20 disturbance phone calls had been made from Humphrey's grandmother's house over the summer; many of the complaints had to do with Humphrey and knives.  On August 6, Humphrey had been arrested at Patrick Air Force Base for having concealed weapons -- a marine knife with a seven-inch blade and a Buck stainless-steel six-inch knife.  At the time, Humphrey claimed he wanted to swim to Iran to kill people.

The same morning Humphrey was arrested for beating his grandmother, the Orlando Sentinel ran a story that not only identified Humphrey as a major suspect but reported that one of the victims had been decapitated.

Already discouraged by a clear leak in the department, the initial questioning of Humphrey left more questions than answers for many.  During the interrogation, Humphrey insinuated that he had a split personality named John; that John had committed the killings; and he put himself at the Williamsburg Village Apartments at the time that Sonja Larson and Christina Powell were being killed.  He also rambled on unintelligibly and got many facts of the case wrong.

By Monday, Labor Day, the level of fear began to drop significantly in and around Gainesville, with students returning to campus.  On Tuesday, nearly 1,000 people attended the memorial service held at UF for the five victims.  On the 34th Street Wall, students painted a more lasting memorial, putting all five victims' names in big, white block letters with a heart underneath.   On Saturday, more than 75,000 fans - - a record attendance -- filled Florida Field to cheer on the Gators in their season opening game, where a moment of silence in honor of the victims was observed.

Gatorwood Apartments 

While Ed Humphrey remained in jail on a $1 million bond, search warrants were executed for his Cadillac, his grandmother's residence, and the Gainesville apartment he had moved to after being evicted from Gatorwood Apartments.  Knives and tennis shoes were confiscated to be compared to the evidence found at the crimes scenes.  In a pillowcase, three detective magazines were found; all contained articles about decapitation.

Investigators had relatively sparse evidence for the number of victims and the extremely bloody crime scenes.  Footprints had been left at the third scene.  They knew the killer had used a screwdriver to gain entry into both the Hoyt and Paules/Taboada apartments.  Unidentified hairs had been found in the bedding of both Christa Hoyt and Sonja Larson.  Semen and blood had been recovered at all three crime scenes.

The Williamsburg Village Apartments 

Pubic hair taken from Humphrey was microscopically similar to the hairs found at both the Hoyt and Larson scenes but it wasn't enough to warrant a conviction.  Florida, an early leader in DNA technology, hoped that tests on the blood and semen would lead them to their perpetrator.  From testing they knew the killer was a blood type B secretor.  Florida would run DNA tests against Humphrey once his blood work came back - - a wait of about a week.

In the meantime, investigators began checking other unsolved homicides throughout the country.  One that got their interest was a slaying in November of 1989 in Shreveport, Louisiana in which a woman, her father, and her nephew were stabbed to death.  Much like Sonja Larson, the woman, Julie Grissom, had been dragged to the end of her bed after being killed and posed, with her legs hanging off the end of the bed and her hair fanned out around her.  The killer had poured vinegar in her vaginal area and put a towel at her feet.  And as with Manny Taboada, the male victims seemed to be collateral damage; they were killed quickly and efficiently while the killer's rage was directed at the female.

Christa Hoyt's apartment 

Investigators also attempted to find any links between the victims.  Believing that Manny was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, they zeroed in on the female victims.  The found that on Thursday, August 23, Sonja, Christina, and Christa had all shopped at the same Walmart within an hour of each other; Christa had checked out at 4:51 p.m. and Sonja and Christina had checked out at 6:07 p.m.    On Friday, August 24 at 3:05 p.m., Tracy and Manny were shopping at the Oaks Mall; Christa met friends at the mall that same day at 6 p.m.    Sonja, Christina, and Christa all went to the All Women's Health Center.   And if race was any motive at all, Sonja, Christina, and Tracy had all dated black men.   The connections were tenuous but detectives worked them doggedly.

Friday, September 7, 1990 would ultimately be the day that would lead to major developments in the case, although investigators couldn't have known it at the time.

Forty miles south of Gainesville,  at around noon on Friday, September 7, the manager of the Winn Dixie grocery store in Ocala was held up, with a .38 revolver to his head.  After collecting money from the registers at the front of the store, the robber walked out the front door of the store and ran to the nearby Palm Chevrolet.

The first responding officers immediately noticed a man fitting the description of the robber in the parking lot of Palm Chevrolet, sitting in a silver Mustang that would turn out to be stolen.  When officers asked the man to put his hands up, he complied but then accelerated into traffic.  He would top speeds of 60 to 80 miles per hour, bouncing off curbs before striking another car.  He took off on foot but was quickly apprehended behind a flower shop.

Unlike most people who were handcuffed and placed under arrest, this one liked to talk.  He emphasized that he knew his rights but he wanted to talk.  He told the officers  his gun was still in the Mustang, he had stolen the car from Tampa and he apologized for the trouble he had caused them.  He also said he had shot his father.  

His name was Danny Harold Rolling.

Book Review: "Ted Bundy's Murderous Mysteries: The Many Victims of America's Most Infamous Serial Killer" by Kevin Sullivan

New from the author of the WildBlue Press classics The Trail of Ted Bundy and The Bundy Secrets!

Ted Bundy's Murderous Mysteries is a deep-dive into the archival record of America's most notorious serial killer.  It's a veritable goldmine of information on Bundy, his victims, and this very voluminous case.

Written by the foremost authority on Ted Bundy, this latest examination of this brutal serial killer contains new, revealing, and never-before published interviews with those close to Bundy, close to his victims, and a potential victim who barely escaped his clutches.

Ted Bundy's Murderous Mysteries brings to light for the first time many heretofore passed-over facts about Bundy and reveals previously hidden aspect of the lives of some of his victims.

     (Summary from Goodreads)



Ted Bundy’s Murderous Mysteries: The Many Victims of America’s Most Infamous Serial Killer is Kevin Sullivan’s fourth work on the devious and deadly Ted Bundy, behind The Bundy Murders, The Trail of Ted Bundy, and The Bundy Secrets.  I have read his three previous books (and really should write reviews because they are that good) and taking all four into account, it’s amazing (at least to me) that it was only a chance conversation that caused him to begin his research on Bundy to begin with.  Fortunately, he did have that conversation because Mr. Sullivan has quickly become a foremost expert on the serial killer.



One thing that stands out in Ted Bundy’s Murderous Mysteries, and the entire Bundy series, is that Mr. Sullivan will ferret out even the most seemingly minor details about the young women and girls Bundy abducted and killed, bringing life to them.  They weren’t just victims; they were daughters, sisters, and friends who had lives with dreams and futures before Bundy snatched them away.  While some true crime books glorify the killer or killers, relegating the victims to supporting status, Mr. Sullivan makes you feel (and hurt) for these precious women and girls that were lost.  He utilizes police reports, talks to persons who knew the lost, as well as to two survivors of Bundy’s attempted abduction and attack, and even shares personal writings.  As such, the victims of Bundy aren’t just Bundy victims.  They are real people and it makes the tragedy of what Bundy did even more heartbreaking.



This book isn’t for the Bundy neophyte; if you’re new to the subject, it’s best to start with Mr. Sullivan’s The Bundy Murders, where he recounts Bundy’s known crimes.  For those of us who have read Mr. Sullivan’s previous books and are up on all things Bundy, this latest offering is another well-researched and well-written book that delves into the fractured psyche of a monster whose depravity still continues to this day to have repercussions. 



How good was this book?  I purchased it on release day and planned on holding on to it for maybe two weeks, to take with me on vacation.  That plan lasted a whopping 48 hours tops before I couldn’t take it anymore and dove in.  I read through the book in under two days, unable to put it down.  I consider myself somewhat of a “Bundy scholar” (something that makes perfect sense to true crime readers) and I continue to learn new, relevant and fascinating information from Kevin Sullivan.



I cannot recommend this book, and the previous three, enough.  Reading them, you will gain insight about the infamous Ted Bundy, as well as the lives that his many victims were leading until they crossed paths with a killer, expertly relayed by the talented hand of Kevin Sullivan.



Ted Bundy’s Murderous Mysteries: The Many Victims of America’s Most Infamous Serial Killer is currently available for purchase in both e-format and paperback.  (Kevin Sullivan’s earlier Bundy books are also available for purchase as e-books, paperbacks, and audio versions.)  Don’t wait - - pick yours up today!

Follow Kevin Sullivan on his Facebook page, Twitter page, and via Wild Blue Press.



FTC Disclosure:  I purchased this book with my own funds.  I was neither paid nor compensated for this review.      

Remembering Janice Ott and Denise Naslund

Sunday, July 14, 1974.  Bastille Day in France and an unusually sunny, warm day in Seattle, Washington.  For Washingtonians that are relentlessly outdoorsy, this was a perfect day to spend at one of the local lakes.

At Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, roughly 20 miles east of Seattle,  some 40,000 people had descended on the park, including employees from Rainier Beer; Rainier was holding its annual picnic at the park.  By noon, the temperatures hit 90 degrees.

Jan in June 1974. She had less than a month to live. 

She's wearing the same shorts she would wear on July 14, 1974.

Janice Ott was one of the 40,000 people to flood the park that day.  Petite (only 5'1") with long blonde hair and grey-green eyes, Jan was still a newlywed, having married her husband Jim the year before.  A probation officer in Seattle, she had moved from the larger, busier city to Issaquah, feeling the smaller community was safer after her car was broken into.  She lived with a roommate, as her husband was in school in California, and was known for her sunny, bubbly personality.

Jan had spent the morning of the 14th doing laundry at her local laundromat and then having a cup of coffee with a friend she met and made there.  Returning to her apartment, she pulled on a black bikini, cut-off shorts and a white blouse she tied at her midriff, left a note for her roommate that she would be sunning herself at Lake Sammamish, and then hopped on her yellow Tiger bike for the quick ride.

Jan, who looked much younger than her 23 years, was such a pretty, sparkling girl that she was noticed by others, who watched her take out her towel, kick off her shoes, remove her blouse and shorts and apply cocoa butter to her skin.  Unfortunately for Jan, she was also a caring, compassionate person who, having studied psychology and the anti-social personality while in school, felt she could handle herself as well as lend a hand to others.

As she had been spotted upon arrival, she was also noted when, after being approached by a young man with his arm in a sling, she got up, re-dressed and left with him, pushing her bike.  It was around 12:30 and the last time Janice Ott was ever seen alive.

A school photograph of Denise

Denise Naslund had also chosen to spend this glorious Sunday at Lake Sammamish.  The 19 year old was a stunning girl with long dark hair and dark eyes.  A friendly girl, she had ambition to be more than just a secretary in life.  She was taking computer programming classes and paying for them by working as an office helper.

She had spent the earlier part of the day with her boyfriend of nearly a year and another couple.  The group had socialized, enjoying each other's company, and drank some beer and smoked a joint. When they decided to soak up the fresh air and sun at Lake Sammamish, they took Denise's car, a gift from her mother.  Denise's mother thought owning her own car would keep Denise safe.  The four friends arrived at Lake Sammamish in the afternoon, after Janice Ott had walked off with the mystery man.

The foursome, still high from beer, pills and the joint they smoked, had eaten hot dogs for lunch while at the park and then dozed off in the sunshine.  Denise had awoken around 4:30 and, noticing her dog, whom she had brought with her, was gone, headed off on her own to look for it and find the women's restrooms.  She was spotted in the restroom by a Seattle policewoman, who left the building at the same time Denise did.  She then vanished.

The man with his arm in a sling was noted by several women around that same time.  Denise's friends  would later say that Denise would always help someone in need and was friendly; more so, if she was under the influence.

Like Janice Ott, Denise had simply walked off, dressed in her blue halter top, cut-off jean shorts and Mexican style sandles.  The dog would return to Denise's boyfriend and friends; Denise would not.  She left them behind, as well as her car, with her handbag locked in the trunk.  

These most recent disappearances, after months of young women vanishing in the Seattle area, put residents on edge.  Jan was a mature and responsible woman; Denise had been warned by her mother of Washington State's missing women. Neither had a reason to voluntarily leave their lives.

Searches for both your women began immediately.  The lake itself was searched, as well as the park and wooded areas close by.  While many articles of clothing, underwear and bathing suits were discovered, neither Jan nor Denise was found, nor anything belonging to them.

Local authorities were baffled.  The killer had struck out in the open, in broad daylight - - the first abduction not to occur at night.  And he had taken two young women within the space of four hours.

For nearly two months, the fates of Jan and Denise would be unknown, until a hunter in Issaquah stumbled upon their remains and that of a third body, which would be unidentified until Ted Bundy's end of life confessions in 1989 where he disclosed the body had been that of Georgann Hawkins, who was abducted in June of 1974.  All three were found only two miles from Lake Sammamish State Park.

As is the case with other Bundy victims, the victims were overshadowed by the victimizer.  Jan and Denise were remembered more for their killer, and their horrific ends in this "double event" Bundy staged and committed, than the kind, generous people they were.  For the Ott and Naslund families, this tragedy was compounded by their daughters' remains being "misplaced" or "lost" by King County authorities when the department moved.

Janice Ott would never celebrate a second anniversary with her husband.  She was reportedly planning to join her husband in September - - the same month her body was discovered - - in California.  She never got the opportunity.  

Denise Naslund would never finish her computer course, never return to the bedroom in her mother's house with her guitar and stuffed animals.  Her mother would keep Denise's room unaltered, exactly as she left it, along with Denise's car parked out front, until she herself died in 2000.

Janice Anne Blackburn Ott

February 14, 1951 - July 14, 1974

Denise Marie Naslund

January 1, 1955 - July 14, 1974

Christopher Wilder: The Cross Country Killer

Ask any true crime "fan" who Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, The Green River Killer, John Wayne Gacy are and you'll get an answer.  Christopher Wilder, while just as heartless and cruel, is a forgotten killer in the annals of crime.

Born in 1945 to an American naval officer and Australian woman in Sydney, he barely survived his birth (he was reportedly given last rites by a priest) and then nearly drowned in a swimming pool two years later.  At the age of three, a sickly child, he suffered convulsions that led to fainting spells.

Despite his shaky health, his childhood appeared to have been average until his teens.  He started peeking in windows and in 1962, at the age of seventeen, he participated in the gang rape of a teenage girl on the beach in Sydney.  Pleading guilty, Wilder received a year of probation to be combined with counseling and electroshock therapy.  Rather than helping him, it seems the shock therapy fueled his violent fantasies.  He began to foster a need to dominate women and hold them against their will.

At 23, Wilder married but his new bride left him after only week, once she discovered his dark fantasies.  She had also discovered that one of Wilder's passions -- photography -- led him to have photographs of naked women in his briefcase.

In 1969, now divorced, he headed for Florida, settling in Boynton Beach.  The building boom led him to a large economic success, making a fortune in real estate and construction.  He bought himself a nice home, boat, and cars, began racing and developing his photography.  From the outset, Christopher Wilder looked every bit the successful playboy.

In 1971, he landed in hot water again.  This time he was turned in to local authorities for attempts to get various women to pose nude for him.  He received a fine.  He kept his nose clean briefly but he simply couldn't stay out of trouble.  He forced a high school student to perform oral sex on him in a house he was renovating. She turned him in, resulting in him being taken to court.  Wilder told the judge that he was masturbating at least twice a week to the image of raping a girl and did not think what he had done was wrong.   Doctors that examined him believed he was not safe in an unstructured environment and needed supervised treatment.   Efforts to make a deal fell through and the case went to trial.  The jury, somewhat amazingly, acquitted Wilder.

In 1974, Wilder approached two girls in a shopping center and, posing as a photographer, attempted to entice them into a "modeling job" with him.  One girl agreed; he drugged and raped her in his truck.  He was allowed to plea bargain those charges down to probation with therapy.  Claiming he suffered from blackouts, the sex therapist Wilder was required to see believed that he was making progress.

In 1982, on a trip home to  Australia, he was accused of grabbing two 15 year old girls and forcing them to pose nude on a beach.  He bound them into subservient positions and masturbated on them before letting them go.  Wilder's parents posted his hefty bond and Wilder was allowed to return to Florida to await trial.  That trial would be postponed multiple times before the final date was set for April of 1984.

Rosario Gonzalez

On February 26, 1984,  an aspiring model by the name of Rosario Gonzalez vanished.  Rosario was 20, a beautiful girl who was working a temporary job distributing aspirin samples at the Miami Grand Prix racetrack.  Rosario reportedly knew Christopher Wilder and had posed for a book cover with Wilder as the photographer.  Witnesses recounted that she left with an older man around noon.  She never returned; she didn't even pick up her paycheck for the day's work.  Wilder was at the race that day, racing a Porsche 911.

On March 5, 1984, Elizabeth Kenyon vanished.  Beth, 23, a Miss Florida finalist and former Orange Bowl Princess, taught emotionally disturbed students but hoped to return to modeling in the future.  She too knew Christopher Wilder; she had dated him.  She was close to her parents and drove from her home in Coral Gable to theirs in Pompano Beach every weekend.  Her last visit with them would be on March 4, where they had seen a news report on television about the missing Rosario Gonzalez.  The following day, she went to work as usual.  The school's security patrol officer watched her climb into her car and drive away.  He was the last person, save her killer, to see Beth Kenyon.

Elizabeth Kenyon

The Kenyon family hired a private investigator to search for Beth and the investigator found that Beth had recently gone out with three different men - - one being her former boyfriend, Christopher Wilder.  Wilder had even proposed marriage to Beth but she turned him down, feeling their 17 year age difference too much.   As far as Beth knew, they had remained friends.  In fact, she had told her parents on March 4 that Wilder had gotten her several modeling jobs.

Wilder claimed that he had not seen Beth in over a month and the case seemed to stall before two attendants at a local gas station where Beth frequently purchased gas recalled seeing her on March 5.  She was filling up when a man in a gray Cadillac drove up behind her and paid for her gas.  They identified the man as Christopher Wilder.  According to the two witnesses, Beth stated the pair was headed for the airport, although she had not packed nor told anyone she was leaving.  Her car would later be found at the Miami International Airport.

The Kenyons' investigator also spoke with authorities in Boynton Beach and found that Wilder had a lengthy rap sheet for sexual offenses.   The noose was beginning to tighten around Wilder.

March 13, 1984 was his 39th birthday.  On March 16, the Miami Herald reported that a wealthy contractor and racecar driver was suspected in the disappearances of Rosario and Beth.  He kept his appointment with his counselor that day, who asked him if he had anything to do with the disappearances.  He denied it.   On March 18, he dropped off his beloved dogs at a kennel and withdrew close to $50,000 from the bank.   He told his business partner he was being framed and would not go to jail.  Then he climbed into his car, a 1973 Chrysler New Yorker, and took off on a trip that would result in death for many women.

Terry Ferguson

On March 18, 1984, 21 year old Terry Ferguson had gone shopping at a mall close to home in Satellite Beach, roughly two hours from where Wilder had fled.  When Terry didn't return home, her stepfather located her car in the mall parking lot.  About an hour after she had been last seen at the mall, a tow truck was called to a state road by Canaveral Groves to pull a car out of sand.  Wilder, claiming he had gotten lost, had placed the call.  He paid for the tow with his business partner's credit card, which he had stolen.

On March 20, 1984, Wilder had moved on to Tallahassee, where he had grabbed 19 year old Linda Grover.  Like Terry Ferguson, Linda had been shopping close to Florida State when Wilder approached her.  He conned her into accompanying him to his car by telling the pretty blonde he could get her on the cover of Vogue.  Once at his vehicle, he clubbed her and headed north, into Georgia.  He pulled off once to bind her hands and tape her mouth.  At another stop, he placed her in the trunk of his car.  In the town of Bainbridge, Wilder checked into a motel and removed Linda from the trunk, wrapped in a blanket.  Once inside, he glued her eyes shut, shocked her with electrical wires, raped and throttled her.  Linda managed to get into the motel bathroom, where she locked the door and began beating on the walls and screaming, hoping to awaken other guests.  Panicked, Wilder grabbed his belongings and beat a hasty retreat, leaving nothing of himself behind.  Terrified, Linda Grover waited for over half an hour before she would even venture out.  She then wrapped herself in a bedsheet, as her abductor had also taken her clothes, and hurried to the manager's office, where the police were called.

Linda Grover proved to be an excellent witness, as she remembered her kidnapper's car and his appearance perfectly.  As Wilder had used his own Florida driver's license to register at the motel, he was quickly identified.  An APB was put out immediately for both Wilder and his vehicle.

Despite the quick action, Wilder slipped out of Georgia and headed west.

Terry Walden

On March 21, 1984, Terry Walden, a 24 year old nurse, wife and mother from Beaumont, Texas, informed her husband that an older, bearded man had approached her and asked if she would model for him.  He pressed her, asking if she would go to his car to see samples of his work.  She refused and firmly told him to leave her alone.  Two days later, on March 23, Terry vanished.  A friend had seen her around 11:30 that morning, at the student union on campus where she took classes, but Terry was not seen after that.  Her orange Mercury Cougar was also missing from the parking lot.

Also on March 23, a female body was found in a snake-infested canal 70 miles west of Satellite Beach.  It would take dental records to identify it as that of Terry Ferguson.  The local newspaper reported the finding and a witness came forward saying that she had seen Terry talking to an older man the day she disappeared.  Looking through mug shots, and without hesitation, she picked out Christopher Wilder as the man she saw.

Suzanne Logan

On March 25, 1984, Wilder abducted 21 year old Suzanne Logan from the Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City.  Suzanne's husband, whom she had dropped off at work on her way to the shopping center, reported her missing when she didn't turn up for an appointment or to pick him up.  Suzanne was driven more than 180 miles north into Kansas, where he checked into the I-35 Inn in Newton.  As with Wilder's previous victims, she was tortured and raped.  He also cut her long blonde hair, leaving the locks in the motel room's trashcan.  After breakfast on the  morning of March 26,  Wilder drove to Milford Reservoir, just outside of Junction City, Kansas, where he stabbed Suzanne to death and left her body under a tree.  She would be found an hour after her death; some of her clothing had been removed and her face was badly bruised.  Suzanne wouldn't be identified for a week.

On that same day, March 26, 1984, the body of Terry Walden was discovered floating facedown in a canal.  She was fully dressed, tied with rope and her mouth covered by tape.  She had been stabbed multiple times.  There was no evidence of sexual assault.

Forty detectives were assigned to the case and by this point, the FBI had also entered the search for Wilder.

They found he had stayed at a motel near Beaumont, where Terry Walden went out, and a credit card in Wilder's partner's name was used for payment.  Wilder's abandoned Chrysler, without plates, was found; the assumption was that he was traveling in Terry Walden's Cougar.  They had a description of the car and a plate number but Wilder had a head start.  And they didn't know where he was headed.

Sheryl Bonaventura

On March 29, Wilder was in Grand Junction, Colorado when he spotted 18 year old Sheryl Bonaventura at a mall.  The pretty blonde teen, who had already done some modeling, was chatted up by Wilder and likely an easy mark for him.  Like the others, she was simply gone after speaking with him; her car remained locked and in the parking lot.

Unlike his previous victims, though, Sheryl was seen dining with Wilder in Silverton, where they told staff they were headed to Vegas with a quick stop in Durango.   On March 30, he and Sheryl were seen at the Four Corners Monument before he checked into a motel in Page, Arizona.

On March 31, Wilder was back in Utah, where he shot and stabbed Sheryl Bonaventura to death, leaving her body near the Kanab River.

Michelle Korfman

On April 1, 1984, Wilder arrived in Las Vegas and wasted no time heading to the Meadows Mall, where 17 year old Michelle Korfman was competing in a Seventeen magazine cover model contest.   Another photographer caught a photo of Wilder watching Michelle intently, with a broad smile on his face.  Witnesses would recall Michelle leaving with him, as well as Wilder approaching other women throughout the day with his modeling propositions.  Some of those he approached had agreed to meet him later in front of Caesar's Palace; he never showed.  Michelle's car was found in the center parking lot but Michelle was gone.

It's not known exactly when he killed Michelle Korfman but he disposed of her body near a rest stop by the Angeles National Forest in southern California.

On April 4, 1982, Wilder noticed 16 year old Tina Risico at a shopping mall in Torrance.  Tina had  just filled out a job application at Hickory Farms and he approached her as she left the store.  He told her he was scouting for models for a billboard and offered her $100 if she would pose for him.   She agreed and accompanied him away from the mall for her "test shots."  He took some photos before she told him she had to go home, at which time he became angry and pulled a gun on her.  He bound her, put her in Terry Walden's car, which he was still driving, and headed south to El Centro, just outside of San Diego and not far from the Mexican border.   He had already acquired a motel room, where he took Tina, tied her to the bed and assaulted her.  Unlike the unfortunate females before her, however, Wilder did not kill her.  A problematic childhood and sexual assault had left Tina more robotic after Wilder's assault, giving him no hysteria and panic to feed on.  It's possible he may also have considered that the young girl could help him to acquire other victims.

Tina was reported missing almost immediately.  The manager at the Hickory Farms in Torrance had seen Wilder loitering outside the store while she was inside; the manager identified Christopher Wilder from a mug shot.

By now, Wilder's image and dirty deeds were being reported on television and in the newspapers and the FBI had added him to their Ten Most Wanted list.  Knowing he had to get out of California, he headed east.  The two drove through Prescott, Arizona; Taos, New Mexico; Joplin, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois.  In Merrillville, Indiana, he would spot his next victim.

Dawnette Wilt

Dawnette Wilt, like Tina Risico, was 16 years old and filling out a store application at the Southlake Mall when Tina approached her and, identifying herself as "Tina Marie Wilder," asked her to step outside the store to speak to the manager.  Wilder was waiting with his gun; he forced Dawnette into the car where, after putting tape on her eyes and mouth, he repeatedly assaulted her in the backseat while Tina drove east.   The trio would stop in Ohio for the night, where Wilder would terrorize Dawnette further, before driving across Pennsylvania and into New York the next day, stopping at Niagara Falls.  That night, Dawnette was once again repeatedly assaulted and both girls were threatened with death if they attempted to escape or make a sound.

It was while they were staying in the Niagara Falls area that Wilder saw a televised plea from Tina's mother for her daughter's safe return.  He bundled both his hostages in the car and directed Tina to drive to Penn Yan, stopping outside some woods.  He marched Dawnette into the woods, where he attempted to suffocate her but the girl struggled too much.  He then stabbed her once in the front and once in the back.  She pretended to be dead while he returned to the car and had Tina drive away.  Once she knew he was gone, she dragged herself to the roadside where a passing motorist saw her and called for help.

Dawnette Wilt told the police that Wilder was headed for the Canadian border in Terry Walden's car and had told her and Tina that he would not be taken alive.

Beth Dodge

Christopher Wilder, as always, was still hunting for victims.  On April 12, 1984 at Eastview Mall in Victor, New York, he laid eyes on 33 year old Beth Dodge, who was getting out of a gold Pontiac Trans-Am.  He had Tina persuade the woman to come over to their car, where he took her keys and forced her inside the Cougar.  He had Tina follow him in Beth Dodge's Trans-Am.

After a short drive, Wilder pulled in to a deserted gravel pit, where he had Beth get out of the vehicle and then shot her twice in the back.  The Mercury Cougar was then abandoned, with Wilder and Tina leaving the scene in Beth's car.

Wilder directed Tina to drive to Boston - - Logan Airport, more specifically where he told his captive that he was going to send her home.  After nine harrowing days, he bought Tina a ticket to Los Angeles and set her free.  So traumatized was the teen, she waited for him to shoot her in the back as she walked away to board the plane.  She told no one at the airport or on the plane of her ordeal. When she landed in L.A., she caught a cab to a boutique, where she purchased lingerie with money Wilder gave her.  She told the clerk that Wilder had cut her hair to resemble Jennifer Beals, the star of Flashdance.  She was spotted by friends, who took her to the police.  She told the police that Wilder had expressed a desire that she not be with him when he died.

Wilder, meanwhile, seemed to know that his time was running out.  After dropping off Tina Risico, he once again headed north toward Canada.

On Friday, April 13, Wilder attempted to grab another victim when he saw a 19 year old whose car had broken down on the side of the road.  He offered to give her a lift to a service station; when he began passing available service stations, she quickly realized what was up, threw open the door and leapt out of the car.  After she escaped, he threw out all of his belongings, including his camera and items of his victims' he had kept.  Then he drove into New Hampshire.

It was in Colebrook, about 12 miles from the Canadian border, that two state troopers spotted him at a service station.  They either recognized the car from BOLOs or Wilder's supposed erratic behavior.  His tan definitely indicated he was not from the area.  Although he had shaved off his beard, the troopers believed he resembled the FBI's wanted posters and so they pulled in.

New York Times article with photo of Wilder in death

When the troopers called out to him, Wilder dove into the Trans-Am, reaching for the .357 Magnum he kept handy.  A scuffle ensued with two shots ringing out.  Trooper Leo Jellison, who had jumped on Wilder's back, attempting to obtain the weapon, was hit as the first bullet passed through Wilder's body and into Jellison's chest.  The second shot decimated Christopher Wilder's heart, killing him instantly.  Leo Jellison would survive and recover.

Forty-seven days after Rosario Gonzalez disappeared and twenty-six days after his cross country spree began, it was over.

Found in Wilder's possessions when he died was the .357 Magnum, which would kill him, rolls of duct tape, handcuffs, rope, the electrical cord he had designed to shock his victims, a sleeping bag, his business partner's credit card and a copy of the 1963 book The Collector.  Written by John Fowles, it tells the story of a man who captures and imprisons a pretty young girl, keeping her in his basement and believing that because he treats her well, he will eventually win her love and loyalty.  Wilder had been so obsessed with The Collector, he had practically memorized in in its entirety.

Christopher Wilder's body was returned to Florida, where it was cremated.  Many questions remained though.  Did Wilder commit suicide?  Was he trying to escape?  Where were his victims that had not been found?  And how many victims did he truly take?

On May 3, 1984, the body of Sheryl Bonaventura was discovered under a tree in Utah.

On May 11, 1984, the body of Michelle Korfman was discovered.  She was so badly decomposed that it took a month to make a firm identification.

At his death, Wilder left an estimate reported to be somewhere between $2 and $7 million.  In 1986, a court appointed arbitrator ruled that the balance of the estate, after taxes, was to be divided between the families of his victims.

Rosario Gonzalez and Beth Kenyon have never been found.

Marianne and Christine

Over the years, Wilder's name has been connected to cases of other missing and murdered women.  It's impossible to say how many disappearances and homicides he's responsible for but it's entirely likely that he could have begun killing before February of 1984.

On January 11, 1965, Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock, both 15, were murdered at Wanda Beach in Sydney, Australia.  They were discovered the following day, partially buried in the sand.  The girls had been bludgeoned, stabbed and slashed and their killer had cut their clothing and attempted to rape both.  These murders came just over two years after Wilder had been charged in the gang rape.  He was one of three potential suspects in the killings and he closely resembled the sketch of the suspect.  The murders remain officially unsolved.

Mary Opitz

On January 16, 1981, 17 year old Mary Opitz went to the Edison Mall in Fort Myers, Florida with her mother and brother.  Growing tired, she had grabbed a bag of pretzels and headed to the parking lot, to wait in the car for her family.  Roughly an hour later, her mother returned to the car to discover packages Mary had been carrying, and the bag of pretzels, sitting on the trunk.   Police initially believed Mary to be a runaway, although her family disputed this from the beginning.

On February 11, 1981, Mary Elizabeth Hare, an 18 year old who eerily resembled Mary Opitz, disappeared from the same parking lot at the Edison Mall.  Like the case of Mary Opitz, no clues were left behind.  Mary Elizabeth Hare's car was undisturbed.

In June of 1981, Mary Elizabeth Hare's body was located in a field in a relatively undeveloped area of Lehigh Acres, Florida.  She was fully clothed and had been stabbed in the back.

The murder of Mary Elizabeth Hare remains unsolved and Mary Opitz is still missing.

In May of 1982, two sets of skeletal remains were unearthed in Loxahatchee, Florida.  The bodies, both females, were found close to property that Wilder owned in Palm Beach County.  One woman had been dead for several months at the time of discovery.  The other victim, found in a green nylon bag, had been dead for anywhere from one to three years and her fingertips were missing -- sliced off by her killer in a probable attempt to keep her from being identified.  It would take just over 30 years but in July of 2013, she was identified as 17 year old Tina Marie Beebe.

Shari Lynne Ball

On June 27, 1983, 20 year old Shari Lynne Ball left her home in Boca Raton, Florida, telling her mother she was going to New York to model.  Two days later, she called her boyfriend to say she was in Virginia.  That was the last contact Shari had with her friends and family.  On October 29, 1983 a decomposed female body, partially sunk in swamp water, was discovered in Shelby, New York.  No identification was found and cause of death could not be determined.  She was buried as a Jane Doe.  In 2014, after the body was exhumed to be tested against other missing woman, it was finally identified as Shari Lynne Ball.

Tammy Lynn Leppert

On July 6, 1983, 18 year old Tammy Lynn Leppert disappeared some time after 11:30 a.m. from Cocoa Beach, Florida, after getting into a heated argument with a male friend.  Tammy was already an established model and an actress, having appeared in such films as Little Darlings, Scarface, and Spring Break.  It was after shooting of Spring Break had concluded and she had gone to a weekend party by herself that she returned home "different."  She left the set of Scarface unexpectedly after four days and was reportedly fearful for her life in the days leading up to her disappearance, as well as possibly pregnant.  Tammy's mother, a modeling agent, filed a wrongful death suit against Wilder before his death; she later dropped the case, citing that she never truly believed her daughter was Wilder's victim.  Tammy has never been found and remains missing.

Broward County Jane Doe

On February 18, 1984, the body of a young woman was found face-down in a canal in Broward County, Florida.  She was somewhere between the ages of 18 and 35, had curly blonde or strawberry blonde hair, hazel eyes and a gap between her front teeth.  It was estimated she was strangled to death around February 16, 1984.  She remains unidentified today, known only as "Broward County Jane Doe."

Colleen Orsborn

On March 15, 1984, 15 year old Colleen Orsborn left her Daytona Beach home and vanished.  Wilder was staying in a motel in Daytona Beach on the same day.  Despite intense searches, Colleen could not be located.  In 2001, Colleen's brother received an anonymous letter detailing where her body could be found.  The letter was postmarked from Manchester, N.H.  No body was found where instructed and the lead turned out to be a dead end.  In 2007, there was a DNA match on a body that had been discovered in April of 1984 in Orange County, Florida.  The body, which had been partially buried near a lake, had been unidentified for more than thirty years before it was determined that Colleen had been found.

Wilder, at the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, immediately prior to abducting Michelle Korfman

After Wilder had gone on the run, some of his employees in Florida came forward to say that he was the best boss they ever had - - a nice, understanding man who always paid his employees on time and what they were worth.  It's hard to marry the image of a kind, generous business owner with a vicious rapist, torturer and murderer but it appears that Christopher Wilder had two sides to his personality.  Even Beth Kenyon, who went missing in March of 1984, after dating Wilder and turning down his marriage proposal, had told her parents that he was a real gentleman.

Christopher Wilder, unlike other killers, including Ted Bundy, did not have the same sense of self-preservation.  Many, including Officer Leo Jellison who attempted to apprehend Wilder and was shot in the process, believe that the killer took his own life rather than face prison time and/or the death penalty.  Others believe that Wilder was going for the gun to shoot his way out of the situation and would have fled.  Tina Risico's statements seems to indicate that Wilder knew his freedom was coming to an end and he was going to choose how he would end his story.  Controlling to the very last.

His death, while sparing many from a public trial in which their daughters and loved ones' last moments would be painfully rehashed, also kept other families from knowing where their daughters were.   Had Wilder been taken alive, would he have talked?  I think it's possible that he would have been like Bundy, discussing his crimes, if at all, in a vague third person account before possibly disclosing details only when his own life hung in the balance.

Christopher Wilder is an enigma.  Like Ted Bundy, he was attractive to women, charming, intelligent, and successful.  He managed to sweet talk his victims exactly where he wanted them; appearing well-dressed and congenial, like Bundy, they trusted him until the monster awoke.

Wilder traveled great distances; although Bundy did so to widen his victim pool, Wilder took to the road because he knew authorities were on his trail.

He seemed to have multiple methods of death -- he would bludgeon, strangle, shoot, and stab -- although his victim type rarely waivered.  Some of his victims were taken due to proximity, opportunity and appearance; some, like Beth Dodge, merely as a means to an end (in her case, for her vehicle.)

Unlike Bundy, who once he had a victim firmly in his grasp, under his control and assaulted, he never intentionally let go, Christopher Wilder not only kept one -- Tina Risico -- alive but gave her spending money and put her on a plane back home.  Why?  Why demonstrate near compassion for one victim and show only cold, cruel brutality to others?  Was it her non-reaction to his assaults and promises of being killed?  Or did he see something in Tina that he recognized in himself?  A painful childhood or a question of where to fit in and belong?  Only Wilder could know, if he was even capable of recognizing it.

Did something happen to Wilder when he was forced to undergo shock treatments, which merged sexual desire and violence?  Did it start much earlier -- when he was having convulsions at three or a near drowning at two?  Or was he simply born void of conscience?

Headlines after Wilder's death; the male figure in the far left of the picture was Wilder

Photo:  Murderpedia

In Memory of Georgann Hawkins

During his murderous career, Ted Bundy took the lives of many bright, lovely young women; some of his abductions seemed nearly too crazy to happen.  The case of Georgann Hawkins is one of those.

Georgann, known as "George" to her friends, was a happy, confident and beloved girl.  A Brownie and competitive swimmer as a child, she was full of energy and loved to talk.  She had many friends of all types; people simply enjoyed being around her.

As a teenager, Georgann developed into a beautiful young woman, with long dark hair, dancing eyes and a beaming smile.  As a 17 year old high school senior, she was named a Daffodil Princess, an experience that allowed her to travel throughout Washington State, meeting children, attending charity events and participating in parades.  In the spring of 1973, she went to the state Legislature where she addressed lawmakers.

Georgann as a Daffodil Princess in 1973

In the fall of 1973, Georgann began her freshman year at the University of Washington in Seattle, not too far from her parents in Tacoma.  She had worked all summer to have money in her pocket for the fun extras to enjoy during her first year of college.  A broadcast journalism major, she was tapped by the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and lived in the sorority house with a gaggle of other sorority sisters.  She had a boyfriend who lived in a neighboring fraternity house.  She had blossomed and found her element.

By June of 1974, Georgann was finishing up her freshman year, where she had maintained an A average, and was preparing to go back to Tacoma for the summer, where she had a job lined up.  She truly seemed to have it all, the quintessential golden girl.

Until Ted Bundy entered an alleyway behind Georgann's sorority house in the early morning hours of June 11, 1974 and stole Georgann away.  She had been cramming for finals all day on Monday, June 10, taking a break during the evening to attend a party with friends.  She socialized, drank a few beers and then planned to return home to continue studying for a Spanish test that concerned her.  She and her roommate walked down the very alley that Bundy would soon traverse, with Georgann stopping off to see her boyfriend briefly.  She left his fraternity safely, walking the 150 or so yards toward her own house, passing students doing their own studying in front of open windows.  She was spotted by a friend as she walked the brightly lit alleyway;  he called out to her and the two spoke for a few moments.  He would later recall hearing a cackling type laughter coming from somewhere in the dark, something that Georgann too noticed.  When she walked away from her friend's open window, around 1 a.m., she had less than 50 feet to walk to access the door to her sorority.  In those 50 feet, she disappeared without a sound.

For 15 years, Georgann's friends and family would be in the dark as to her whereabouts.  Her family knew immediately that she was dead; she was a happy, responsible girl who had no reason to run away, nor would she.  They were left with only their memories of this sweet, outgoing young lady.

The investigators had a case that seemed too fantastical to contemplate.  They couldn't wrap their minds around how a predator had grabbed this lively and energetic girl, leaving nothing behind and without making a sound.  Until a double abduction a month later, they had not considered their suspect might have acted injured or disabled in order to attract, and disarm, victims.

Days away from his execution, Ted Bundy, always considered to be Georgann's abductor and likely murderer, confessed to kidnapping and killing her.  He had been on the prowl around the University area late on the evening of June 10, 1974, seeking a victim.  Utilizing crutches and/or a cast or sling on his arm to appear helpless and needy, he encountered Georgann before she reached her back door and, dropped a briefcase he used as a prop for his nefarious purposes.  Asking her if she would help him with the case, the kind-natured Georgann never hesitated.  She knew of the missing Seattle area women from 1974; she and her friends had discussed it.  They took proper precautions -- they didn't go out alone, they traveled in pairs and groups and always looked out for one another.  She probably felt she had no reason to fear a well-dressed, attractive and apparently disabled young man who was certainly a student.

Georgann willingly accompanied Bundy away from the alleyway, carrying his briefcase.  It was after arriving at his car, parked in a darkened area, that he hit her over the head with a crowbar he had secreted by one of the tires.  She never would have seen it coming and did not have the chance to utter a cry or scream.

Fifteen years later, Bundy would recount that after striking her, he handcuffed Georgann and put her in the passenger side of his VW, where he had removed the seat to accommodate an unconscious female.  He remembered that during the drive to his preselected murder destination, she had regained consciousness and, in a state of shock, was quite lucid -- talking about the Spanish test she had the next day.  When he arrived at a locale near Issaquah, where he intended to do his dirty work, he struck her again with the crowbar and strangled her.  The next month, he would leave two victims from Lake Sammamish State Park, Janice Ott and Denise Naslund, close to where he had abandoned Georgann.  When their skeletons were discovered in September of 1974, an extra femur bone was found.  Bundy would confirm it was Georgann's.  Nothing else of hers - - not any other part of her body, not her blue bell bottom slacks with one button remaining, not her handbag with the little bottle of "Heaven Sent" perfume -- has ever been found.

In a single instant, Ted Bundy not only spirited away a daughter, sister and friend, he subjected Georgann's loved ones to the indescribable pain of not knowing what happened to her.

Within days of Bundy's execution in 1989, friends held a memorial service for Georgann at the high school she had graduated from 16 years earlier.  Her parents, who had never spoken to the media, shied away from interviews and declined book requests, did not attend.  They chose instead to remember their daughter from the photographs and the cards and notes in which the authors had written of how Georgann had touched him or her.

Georgann Hawkins

August 20, 1955 - June 11, 1974  

Remembering Brenda Ball

In the early morning hours of June 1, 1974, Brenda Carol Ball became Ted Bundy's fifth official murder victim when he stole her life from her.

Brenda was considered by all who knew her as a free spirit, a sprite of a girl who had lively brown eyes and long brown hair to match.  She had been a student at Highline Community College until two weeks prior and it sounds like she was in the process of finding herself, as was popularly said during that time.  She shared an apartment in Burien, a working class suburb of King County, with two roommates and at only twenty-two, she had her entire life waiting in front of her.

It was Memorial Day weekend and on that Friday, May 31, 1974, she told her roommates around 2 p.m. that she was planning to go to the Flame Tavern, a neighborhood bar, and then try to catch a ride to Sun Lakes.  Sun Lakes, located east of Seattle, was a popular campground and park area where the friends planned to spend the weekend.  It was the last time her roommates would see Brenda.

The Flame Tavern, while very familiar to Brenda and her friends, was a tough, basically seedy, neighborhood joint that routinely received complaints about the rowdy patrons' noise levels and frequent fistfights that broke out in the parking lot.  Missing persons last seen at the Flame, as the locals dubbed it, was not an uncommon occurrence for local police.

Brenda may or may not have known that a week earlier, another young woman had a frightening encounter down the street from the Flame, at Brubeck's Topless Bar.

The young woman, Vicky, was similar to Brenda.  She was in her early twenties, petite and with long dark hair she parted in the  middle.  She had left her car in the lot while she went inside to meet friends.  Around midnight, she returned to her only to find that it wouldn't start.  Her friends offered to drive her home and she accepted.  She returned around 4 a.m., not wanting to leave her car -- a convertible -- vulnerable in the now-empty lot and hoped it would start.  A handsome young man walked around from behind Brubeck's as she tried to crank it.  He too tried to start the car, without luck, and then offered to drive her to a friend's place that had the necessary jumper cables that he assured Vicky would start the car.  She never thought to wonder what the man would have been doing at Brubeck's at that hour, long after the bar had closed.

The two went first to a store, where Vicky was told they did not sell jumper cables before heading back out for the friend's place her Good Samaritan had mentioned.  It was then that he pulled a knife on her and ordered her to undress.  Crying, she complied and tried a number of psychological tactics with him.  She pointed out that he was a nice looking guy and surely didn't need to force himself on a woman.  He answered that he wanted "a little variety."  She attempted to grab the knife from him, leading him to grown enraged and yell at her, "Don't do that!"  It was only when she mentioned that her five year old daughter, at home alone, would wake and be scared that his demeanor changed.  He pulled into a neighborhood and ordered her out of his car, keeping her purse and shoes.

When police later examined Vicki's car, the found the distributor cap had been pulled, intentionally disabling the vehicle.  If anyone then made a connection between Vicky's abduction and the missing girls, it was not noted in the police report or any newspaper accounting.  Of course Vicky wasn't a college age girl on or around campus.  She didn't fit the perp's type.  At least not so far as anyone knew.

Brenda had been to the Flame many times and had friends who hung out there.  She lived in the area and knew it like the back of her hand.  She had no cause for concern and, indeed, on that Friday evening, she appeared her usual good-natured self to others at the Flame.

She apparently had a good time, staying until closing time -- 2 a.m.  She asked one of the musicians for a lift but he demurred as he was going in the opposite direction.  It was reported that she was a little worried about finding a ride but Brenda was known to hitchhike on occasion.  Later, patrons of the Flame stated she was both hitchhiking in the early morning of Saturday, June 1 and, in the Flame parking lot, chatting with man wearing his arm in a sling.  Then she disappeared.

When Brenda didn't show up at Sun Lakes, her roommates felt little cause for alarm.  She was known to be an impulsive adventurer; they assumed she had met up with other friends or taken off elsewhere for the weekend.  Because her life was mostly unstructured and largely unconventional, nearly three weeks passed before her roommates reported her missing.  During that time, Brenda had not returned to their shared apartment, collected any of her belongings, touched her bank account or made contact with her parents, who lived nearby.  

Brenda didn't fit the mold of the other missing girls.  She was the oldest to date, she had been out drinking and was known to take off on whims (something that second victim Donna Manson was also subject to do.)  She didn't vanish from a college setting and some felt she did not fall prey to the same malevolent force the other girls had.

It was only the grisly discovery of three human skulls and one lower mandible on Taylor Mountain in March of 1975 that would confirm that Brenda too had fallen victim to the-then unnamed predator that would eventually be identified as Ted Bundy.  Brenda's skull was the first discovered; it had suffered terrible blunt force trauma, resulting in cracks.

Only many years later, as her killer was awaiting execution, would there be some information about what happened to Brenda.

According to Ted, Brenda voluntarily accompanied him from the Flame and back to his Seattle rooming house.  The sex, he said, was "more or less" consensual.  He claimed that it was after Brenda had passed out or gone to sleep that he had given in to his urges and strangled her.  He never mentioned how her skull was cracked.

But Ted was a liar.  He told different stories at different times.  It's possible that Brenda did accompany him willingly to his car and his home, looking for some company that night, not knowing that she had gotten into a vehicle with a cruel, depraved killer.  It's possible that Brenda got into his car, believing she would be dropped off at safely at home.  It's also possible that, like other victims, she was blitzed in the parking lot, hit a devastating blow with a crowbar, and was unconscious or dead as she was driven away from the Flame.  Like the other victims, only her head was taken to Taylor Mountain.  Her body has never been recovered.  

Brenda was a pretty girl and one who friends would later say was sweet and caring.  She hadn't yet found her place in the world, but at only twenty-two, she should have had plenty of time to find it . . . had she not crossed paths with Ted Bundy.

As a postscript, while watching the news more than a year after her attack, Vicki saw the man she claims abducted and assaulted her.  It was Ted Bundy.

Brenda Carol Ball

November 4, 1951 - June 1, 1974