SERIAL KILLER: Ted Bundy

The heinous crimes committed over the span of four years are certain to leave a scar on the world.

The story of Ted Bundy has been shared to the point it overshadows the people that should be remembered, the victims. Before we go any further there are a few things that I feel should be shared about Bundy from his life. One; during the years 1974 to 1978, Bundy escape police custody multiple times. Two; Bundy was a psychopathic, egotistical, delusional liar that seemed scared to die. Three; Bundy confessed to multiple murders while also saying some crimes he would never speak of as the victims were “too close to home”, “too close to family”, or they were “very young”.

With that done, these are the named “confirmed” victims of Ted Bundy.

On January 3rd 1974, Karen Sparks (aka Joni Lenz) was at her local laundromat, when she noticed an older man watching her. She said that every time she would look at him he would look away instantly. Brushing off the strange occurrence, Karen went back to her room.

In the early hours of the morning, Karen was reading a book in her basement-level bedroom when she thought she saw someone peering inside the window. It happened so fast that Karen thought she was seeing things.

These two points made the police believe that Bundy was stalking Karen for at least a day.

Karen managed to shake off the odd events throughout her day and fall asleep. It was then that Bundy broke into her room.

Bundy attacked her with a metal bar, potentially taken from her bedframe, he beat Karen over the head before using the same pole to vaginally rape her. The assault was so violent that it split her bladder.

Before Bundy could go any further, it is believed that one of Karen’s sleeping roommates began talking in his sleep. The male voice in the home could have scared Bundy off, saving Karen from her untimely death.

After Bundy fled, Karen was left in her bed for hours, unconscious and slowly bleeding out. It wasn’t until one of her three roommates went to check on her at 7 pm that Karen got the help that she desperately needed.

For the following ten days, Karen remained unconscious in the hospital, waking up without memory of her attack. She had suffered 50% hearing loss and 40% vision loss mostly on the left side of her head.

Karen Sparks (18) attacked in her home in Seattle

During the late evening hours of January 31st 1974, Lynda Healy was said to have gone out with friends at a local tavern. She enjoyed a couple of drinks before calling it a night, telling the group she was with that she planned on calling her boyfriend once she got home.

Lynda made it home safe and it’s believed she made the planned phone call before going up to one of her roommate’s bedrooms. It was midnight when she left her friend, reportedly happy and content.

This was the last time that Lynda was seen alive.

The following morning, a housemate was awoken by Lynda’s 5:30 am alarm. On any normal day, Lynda shut the alarm off quickly but this day it continuously rang. The housemate that was woken up went down to check on Lynda, concerned. When she poked her head into the room, nothing appeared disturbed so the housemate left the room.

Everyone in the house began to worry when Lynda’s boss called to ask why she wasn’t at work. The worry reached her family too, Lynda not showing up for a planned family dinner. When her parents called the house to inquire about where she was, the other women went to search her room.

In the light they discovered missing bedsheets, blood on the sheets that remained on the bed and one of Lynda’s nightgowns hung up with blood on the neckline. They called the police after discovering the back door was unlocked.

The investigation into her disappearance brought up minimal evidence and remained unsolved until 1975 when her mandible was found on Taylor Mountain.

In his death-row confessions, Bundy claimed that he broke into Lynda’s basement bedroom and beat her unconscious before dressing her in a white blouse, blue jeans and boots and carrying her away. He decapitated and dismembered Lynda’s body post-mortem.

A slight oddity with this case and Bundy’s confession is, as stated before, he wouldn’t speak of certain murders. One criterion that made him not speak of a murder was if it was “too close to home”, Lynda’s home was three blocks from Bundy’s home.

Lynda Healy (21) was murdered in her home in Seattle

On the night of March 12th 1974, Donna Manson bid her roommate goodbye, setting off for an on-campus Jazz show at Evergreen University. She left at 7 pm that night, dressed in a red, orange and green striped top, green pants and a long fuzzy black coat. This conversation as she left her home would be the last time Donna was seen alive.

Her disappearance wasn’t reported for nearly a week but when it was the police believed that she had not left of her own accord. Once again searches were performed but nothing was found.

Donna’s case went cold until August 29th 1978. Two fishermen found a skull on a road in the foothills of Mount Rainier. A more in-depth search of the area revealed more human bones, human hair and clothing. One piece found was a shirt that was reported to have been multi-coloured, similar to the one Donna was last seen wearing.

Dental x-rays were performed on the skull and compared by a forensic dentist to eight missing persons. Seven were ruled out, the eighth was Donna Manson. It would be impossible to definitively confirm if the skull belonged to Donna as the police department that found the remains “lost” them.

There is doubt put on if the remains were Donna since when reconstructed they would stand at 5'7" whilst Donna was only 5'. It’s a very plausible theory that the remains are from multiple people.

Bundy was linked to Donna’s case in multiple ways.

• There were reports that a man in a beige/light-coloured Volkswagen was driving around campus, the description of the car a match to Bundy’s.
• Donna told some friends that she had met a man on campus that had a broken arm, a ruse that Bundy often used to lure women in.
• Bundy also vaguely confessed to killing Donna on death row, he kept changing where he had left her remains.

Donna is still classed as a missing person.

Donna Manson (19) disappeared from the Evergreen University campus

On April 17th 1974, Susan Rancourt had just set a load of washing to go in the communal laundry room of her dorm at Central Washington University before leaving for an event at Munson Hall. She planned to attend a meeting intended for undergraduates that had an interest in becoming resident assistants.

The meeting ran for two hours, Susan was last seen leaving Munson Hall at 10 pm. She was supposed to get her clothes before meeting up with some friends. Susan never got to the planned gathering and her clothes remained in the laundry room.

According to investigators, it’s most likely that Bundy spotted Susan leaving the meeting alone. At the time, witnesses had reported seeing a man wearing a sling and carrying a stack of books around campus. It’s mostly believed that Bundy dropped the books at Susan’s feet and she offered to help what she believed to be an injured man. Bundy, in this theory of events, led Susan to his car and while she was loading the books into the Beetle, Bundy hit her over the head with a crowbar. With Susan unconscious, Bundy loaded into the car before speeding away.

Susan was reported missing almost instantly. She was the type of person that was very “predictable” so not returning or doing as she planned to was very unexpected of her. Despite the early report, no leads were found and Susan’s disappearance went cold.

Ten months would go by before anything would come up again. Forestry students discovered a skull on Taylor Mountain which led to a wide search of the area. The search found four remains, Lynda Healy being one of them. Susan’s skull was found when a King County detective tripped over a branch and stumbled across it. The bone had been sun bleached and there was a large fracture.

It was formally confirmed to be Susan.

Susan Rancourt (18) was murdered on the Central Washington University campus

Roberta Parks was already going through a difficult time in her life when on May 6th 1974 her older sister called with terrible news. Their father was in the hospital after having a heart attack. This added to her relationship troubles, uncertainty about her future and previous argument with her family, Roberta wasn’t doing all too well.

She was left to sit with all her emotions for hours before getting another call from her sister. The doctors said their dad would be alright.

After an emotionally exhausting day, Roberta left her dorm and headed towards the common area of Oregon State University. On the way, she was stopped by a friend, and the two had a short chat before Roberta excused herself, stating she was getting a hot fudge sundae. That was the last time Roberta was seen alive.

Later that night, that same friend noticed that Roberta had still not returned to her dorm room despite the 2 am curfew and Roberta is a highly responsible person. Despite the actions being out of character for Roberta it was pushed aside since her day had been out of the ordinary. She didn’t return that morning but still, her roommates and friends didn’t report her missing as they didn’t want her to get in trouble for being off campus after curfew. They thought she was off getting space.

Despite not wanting her to get in trouble the friends did end up reporting her missing to their Residents Advisor after the missing women in Washington made them worry.

Roberta remained missing until the 1975 discovery on Taylor Mountain.

Once one of the four skulls was formally identified as hers, authorities were shocked. Roberta was rarely linked to the missing women in Washington, believing that the killer would rarely leave his “hunting territory”.

According to Bundy’s confession, he spotted Roberta sitting alone in the cafeteria, describing her as “lonely” and “depressed”. He struck up a casual conversation with her before eventually convincing her into travelling to Corvallis with him. It’s possible that Roberta willingly accepts the offer to take her mind off of the day. Once Bundy had Roberta inside his car he lied claiming he needed to pick up his thesis from a nearby typist before they could leave. Once they were in a secluded area Bundy attacked Roberta there.

Roberta Parks (20) was murdered on the Oregon State University campus

On the evening of May 31st 1974, Brenda Ball was at the Flame Tavern, celebrating the summer and her recent decision to leave school. She had become a regular among workers and some bands that play at the bar. It was why it came as no surprise for her to be there until closing time, around 2 am, and for her to ask one of the band members for a ride back home.

Sadly, the band member was heading in the opposite direction of Brenda’s home and didn’t give her the ride. This left Brenda to plan a new way home, conflicting reports say she planned to hitchhike while others say she left with an unknown man.

There wasn’t an immediate panic when Brenda didn’t return to her apartment the next day. It wasn’t unheard of for her to vanish for days on end at the drop of a hat. But when days became weeks with no contact, people started to worry. Her roommates checked her room and found all her clothes were still inside and when they contacted her bank, they found nothing had been taken out since May 31st. In a last-ditch effort to find Brenda her friends called her parents. Nobody had heard from her since that night at the Flame Tavern.

Brenda’s mom was the one to report her missing on June 17th 1974.

Once again her case wasn’t linked to the others since she was last seen at a bar while the other women were attacked on campuses. Her case wasn’t made public until August 7th, 67 days since Brenda went missing. Even then it was barely put in the media.

Brenda had been largely forgotten about by the public until two forestry students found her skull on Taylor Mountain. It was Brenda’s remains that led to the discovery of Lynda Healy, Susan Rancourt, and Roberta Parks.

According to Bundy, he had “intentionally” changed M.O. to throw off the police. Choosing a hitchhiker after the campus attacks had gotten too much media attention would allow for the case to go under the radar. He claimed that he spotted Brenda on the side of the road and picked her up, inviting her to a party at his place after they chatted a little. Brenda allegedly agreed to go to the party.

Of course, when they arrived there was no party to which Bundy made excuses and convinced Brenda to still enter the home. They drank some more before having “consensual” sex. When Brenda fell asleep, Bundy strangled her.

There’s a lot of doubt about his confession. At the time of Brenda’s murder Bundy was living with other people so why take the risk of taking her home? Bundy was very impulsive yet drove 15 miles to take her to his home. He claimed to have strangled Brenda after “consensual” sex but her skull had a large fracture that couldn’t have been made by wildlife.

Brenda Ball (22) was murdered after leaving Flame Tavern in Burien, Washington.

On the night of June 10th 1974, two sorority sisters went to a campus party together. Georgann Hawkins was one of the pair. She didn’t stay at the event long, just having a couple of drinks before she left, wanting to say goodnight to her boyfriend and needing to study for her upcoming Spanish final. She told her sorority sister where she was going before leaving the party.

She arrived at the Beta Theta Pi frat house at 12:30 am, spending half an hour with her boyfriend before she left, taking some revision notes with her. Another frat member heard Georgann leave the building and stuck his head out his bedroom window to see who it was. After recognizing Georgann, the frat member asked if she was alright, and they chatted for a couple of minutes. Georgann leaves with a shout of “adios” over her shoulder.

Georgann had to walk to her sorority house down an alley behind the houses, it was a well-lit path that she was familiar with. It was only about 90ft between the two places.

She was last seen wearing navy blue bell buttons, they only had one button as three were missing and the waist had been cinched in with a safety pin. She had a white backless t-shirt with a red, white and blue sheer top over it. She also had on a pair of open-toe sandal wedges.

Georgann remained missing without any leads in her case until September 6th 1974. Two hunters discovered skeletal remains near a service road in Issaquah. A three-day search of the area revealed two skulls, various bones and tufts of hair were found. All the remains were decomposed and had been disturbed by animals. No clothing or jewellery was found leading investigators to believe the bodies were nude. A third set of remains was found in the form of a femur and several vertebrae, it’s believed these belong to Georgann but it wasn’t ever confirmed.

According to Bundy’s confessions, he approached Georgann, feigning an injury, and dropped his briefcase in front of her. He asked for her help and Georgann agreed to help him. As she was putting his briefcase into the Beetle, Bundy hit Georgann over the head with a crowbar before shoving her body inside.

Georgann woke up and began muttering about a Spanish test before Bundy hit her again. Once at a secluded location Bundy used an old piece of rope to strangle her. Bundy claimed that her femur had been found but unidentified.

Georgann is still considered missing.

Georgann Hawkins (18) was last seen leaving the Beta Theta Pi frat house at Washington State University.

Lake Sammamish State Park became the sight of Bundy’s first confirmed mass of attacks and attempts. On July 14th 1974 many people travelled to the park to enjoy the beach, the water and the sun for a day.

The first person that Bundy approached was Janice Graham. He had a sling on his arm when he approached Janice, he introduced himself as Ted and asked for her help unloading his sailboat from his car.

During their conversation, Janice questioned what happened to his arm, Bundy claimed to have sprained it playing racquetball.

Janice described Bundy as seeming “very sincere” and “easy to talk to” but when she approached his car, Janice became uncomfortable. Bundy wanted her to get inside the car and there wasn’t a sailboat.

Janice managed to escape her encounter with Bundy by refusing to enter the car and walking away.

(I was unable to find a photo of Janice Hawkins from during the time of this encounter)

The next woman, Janice Ott, wasn’t so lucky. Janice O. had a seemingly last-minute decision to go on a trip to the beach, leaving a note to her roommate about where she had gone.

It was 4:30 pm when she found a spot on the beach, undressed down to her bikini and put on some cocoa butter. She only managed to relax in the sun for twenty minutes when Bundy approached still wearing a sling and introducing himself as ‘Ted’. The ruse was almost identical to before except this time, however, Bundy said he needed help collecting his sailboat from his parent’s home nearby.

Janice O. was a little uninterested despite being friendly towards Bundy according to onlookers, she seemed as though she just wanted him to leave her alone. Bundy remained insistent. Witnesses in earshot, Bundy offered to teach Janice how to sail the boat which seemed to gain her interest. When she asked what to do with her bike, Bundy said it would fit in his car. Janice made a deal with Bundy, she would help him if he took her for a ride on the boat. With his agreement, Janice got dressed and went with him.

The last time Janice O. was seen alive was walking towards the parking lot with Bundy.

On September 6th 1974, two grouse hunters found skeletal remains scattered across a grassy patch of land in the woodlands near Issaquah. They were confirmed to be Janice’s remains.

Janice Ott (23) was murdered after leaving Lake Sammamish State Park.

Following Jancie, Bundy attempted to get sixteen-year-old Sindi Siebenbam to help him. She was just leaving the bathroom when Bundy approached her with the same ruse he used on Janice. The only difference was, to Sindi, Bundy was unusually nervous. As he spoke, he used his “injured” arm to gesture towards the parking lot and he even grabbed Sindi’s, trying to tug her along.

Sindi refused to go with Bundy, who reluctantly allowed her to leave and she safely returned to her friends without harm.

(I was unable to find a photo of Sindi Siebenbam from during the time of this encounter)

Minutes after Sindi refused to go with him, Bundy went after Patricia Turner. She was just walking over to a concession stand when Bundy, wearing an arm sling, approached. The two chatted on the sidewalk before Bundy asked for a “big favour” from Patricia.

Bundy claimed that his brother was busy and unable to help him, Patricia told him that she was busy and couldn’t help. Once again Bundy reluctantly brushed it off, watching Patricia as she walked away.

(I was unable to find a photo of Patricia Turner from during the time of this encounter)

It was reaching 4:30 pm and Bundy was still trolling around Lake Sammamish Park for another victim. Jacqueline Plischke had just arrived at the park, locking her bike up in the parking area when she noticed a man with an injured arm staring at her. She attempted to ignore him and went to the edge of the lake.

Bundy followed after, striking up a conversation and asking for help with his sailboat on his car. Jacqueline said she wasn’t very strong and wouldn’t be able to help. It was Bundy’s response that unnerved Jacqueline the most. Bundy said that it was best to ask someone who was alone. Thinking quickly, she told him that someone was about to meet her at the lake and Bundy left soon after.

(I was unable to find a photo of Jacqueline Plischke from during the time of this encounter)

The final woman that Bundy approached after three back-to-back rejections was Denise Naslund. She had gone to Lake Sammamish with her boyfriend and another couple. The group arrived at 1 pm and went to sit on the eastern side of the park, around 200 feet north of the restrooms.

One of the friends at the park claimed that Denise had taken a few Valium pills right as they arrived.

The group just spent the next few hours hanging out on the beach, enjoying their day out. Around 4 pm, the two men in the group went to get hot dogs and potato chips before falling asleep on the beach. The same friend who claimed Denise took Valium also said that around this point Denise said she was starting to feel the effects of the drugs.

The two women continued their conversation as their partners slept before Denise stood and wordlessly went to the bathrooms. Her walking away was the last time anyone would see Denise alive.

When Denise didn’t return from the bathroom, the group began to worry. Not only was their friend missing but she was the one who had driven them all to the park. One check of the parking lot revealed that Denise hadn’t left them stranded and so her boyfriend reported her missing to the park rangers.

It would be eight weeks without any leads or evidence as to where Denise had gone. Her remains would be found in the same field as Janice Ott’s.

Denise Naslund (19) was murdered after leaving Lake Sammamish State Park.

It was October 2nd 1974 when Nancy Wilcox left her home in Holladay, Utah, needing to cool off after arguing with her father.

During this point in time, the police and in turn the media didn’t believe the killer to be leaving the state of Washington. Roberta Parks’ case wasn’t linked to the other women just yet. This led women to feel a little more secure in going about their day-to-day life.

It isn’t clear exactly when, how or who reported Nancy as missing but her case was deemed a runaway by the police and both her parents. It was for this reason that a public appeal wasn’t made until December of the same year, three months after Nancy was last seen. In this public appeal, it was stressed that Nancy “might still be a runaway”.

A quite shocking fact about the timeline of this case is that Nancy’s public appeal came weeks after police believed there was a sexual predator targeting young women in Utah. Searches of all cases including missing girls and women revealed that only two were still missing, Nancy being one of them.

It was then that Nancy’s case was properly looked into. 45 friends and acquaintances were questioned, a few even taking and passing polygraph tests. None of them knew where Nancy was.

Family members did remember Nancy telling them about a man that kept coming into her work at the local drive-in restaurant. Nancy said that the man kept flirting with her and that he was an older guy attending law school. Her sister would also describe Nancy as getting excited whenever she saw this guy drive by the family home.

Bundy could have been potentially grooming Nancy as he was attending law school in Utah at this time.

A witness had also come forward after the December public appeal. She claimed to have seen a girl matching Nancy’s description with a tall man with a moustache. They got inside a light-coloured Volkswagen and drove away. It doesn’t seem much else was found about Nancy aside from this.

It was Bundy’s confession that completely linked the case to him. He claimed to have spotted Nancy walking on the side of the road when he ushered her into a nearby orchard. There he restrained her, put her inside his car and drove back to his apartment. He claimed to have kept her captive for a day before murdering her. In this confession, Bundy never mentioned knowing her before kidnapping her and he didn’t give any details on how he killed her.

His story then changed to he ushered her into an orchard where he attempted to rape her before strangling her.

Either way, Nancy’s remains have never been found.

Nancy Wilcox (16) disappeared after leaving her home in Holladay, Utah.

Not much is known about the next case, with gossip becoming facts over time and facts being forgotten but on October 18th Melissa Smith went to a pizza parlour in Midvale, Utah. It’s unclear if she met with her father or with a friend that needed comforting through a breakup. Around 10 pm she left the parlour with plans to spend the night at a friend’s house. Before she was able to go to the friend’s house, Melissa needed to head home and get her things for the night.

Melissa would never make it to either home.

Nine days of searching for Melissa would go by when her body was found 23 miles away at the bottom of a hillside, hidden in some scrub oak. She was nude with a stocking around her neck and several head injuries. There was evidence that she had been raped and sodomized. Her hair had been shampooed and makeup had been applied post-mortem.

There are a few unconfirmed reports that Bundy was in the area asking women for help with a car problem. He also confessed to the murder giving very minimal details about the case.

Melissa Smith (17) was attacked after leaving a pizza parlour in Midvale, Utah.

Once again the facts of this case are unclear, all that is truly known is a few months before the case Laura Aime had left high school and began living a nomadic style of life. She would couch surf between friends’ houses and worked several part-time jobs. Her parents had started getting used to this new lifestyle.

On October 31st 1974, Laura went to a Halloween party. It’s unclear where she went and who she went with but it is confirmed that Laura left the party alone and it was the last time she was seen alive.

There was very minimal coverage of her disappearance and it’s unclear, again, when or who reported her as missing.

Laura was still missing until November 26th when two hikers found her body on the side of an embankment in American Fork Canyon in Utah. Laura had been beaten, raped and strangled to death.

Her remains were originally believed to have been another one of Bundy’s victims — Debra Kent — and it’s also questionable if the police even knew that Laura was missing at all.

A medical examiner put Laura’s time of death as the 20th of November which brings up plenty of unanswered questions. Was it correct? Did Bundy hold her captive for 20 days? Was Laura alive up until the 20th?

Bundy hasn’t exactly confessed to killing Laura but he also didn’t deny involvement either.

Laura Aime (17) was attacked in Orem or Lehi, Utah after disappearing from a Halloween party.

On November 8th 1974, Carol DaRonch went to the local mall to do some shopping when a man approached her. He claimed to be a police officer and that she needed to go with him as someone had attempted to steal her car.

Of course, this would get Carol’s attention but after just a second to think about the situation she began doubting the man. Still, Carol went with him to his car, where he claimed she needed to go to report the supposed crime. Carol got inside the Volkswagen where Bundy attacks her, putting a handcuff on one of her wrists and trying to hit her with a crowbar. Carol fought back, escaping the car and running for her life.

She reported the attack to the police, still wearing handcuffs. This report would be used in the upcoming months to arrest Bundy and keep him locked up for almost three years.

Carol DaRonch (18) was attacked in a mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. She escaped and went on to testify against Bundy.

The final confirmed attack of 1974 was on November 8th. That evening Debra Kent and her parents went to Viewmont High School to watch a school play. It was just after 10 pm when her parents asked if she could pick her younger brother up from the local ice skating rink. Debra agreed happily. When she left the school building it would be the last time she was seen alive.

A witness claimed to have heard a woman’s screams around the time that Debra left the school and another claimed they saw a light-coloured Volkswagen driving away from the school around the same time.

Debra’s parents didn’t think anything was wrong until left the school not too long after Debra. When they spotted Debra’s car in the lot without her, they instantly knew something was wrong and began searching for her.

Despite her car being left behind, Debra was believed to be a runaway at first. That was until the key that matched the handcuffs that Carol DaRonch was forced into was found in the lot.

Debra was still classed as a missing person up until Bundy was making confessions whilst on death row. He claimed that he took her from Viewmont High’s parking lot and drove to his home. He kept Debra alive for 12 hours before murdering her, he kept her body for a further 12 hours. Bundy claimed he dumped her on a mountainside even showing on an atlas exactly where he put her. After months of searching the area pointed out found ten bags of bones, and only one out of them all was a human bone.

The patella was believed to be Debra’s and returned to her family in 1989. It wasn’t commonplace to do DNA testing at the time so her family kept ahold of the bone for years until in 2015 the bone was taken to be tested and was officially confirmed to be Debra.

Debra Kent (17) was attacked outside of a high school in Bountiful, Utah.

During the second week of January 1975, Caryn Campbell went on a vacation with her fiance and two stepkids to Snowmass, Colorado. They had chosen to go to Snowmass as Caryn’s partner had a cardiology seminar to attend. Despite the trip being partly for business the family of four still enjoyed their time, whenever it was just Caryn and the kids, they would go sightseeing

On January 12th, the whole family was sitting in their Inn’s lounge when Caryn wanted to run upstairs to their room to get a magazine. As she exited the lift on the second floor, Caryn recognized a group of doctors that were attending the same seminar as her partner and she stopped to chat. She was last seen walking away from the group, heading in the direction of her room.

When Caryn didn’t return to the lounge her fiance went upstairs to check on her. As he got to the room the bedroom door was still locked and when he knocked nobody answered, worried he went to the front desk and got a spare key. Caryn wasn’t inside the room, her magazine was still inside and the room was seemingly untouched. He called the police instantly to report her as missing, the police told him to wait until all the bars were closed even though he was adamant it was out of character and Caryn had been feeling unwell. To appease him, Caryn’s description was sent out over the radio.

The next morning Caryn still hadn’t returned so a more active approach was taken to search the Inn for any sign of Caryn. Every room was searched and 100 interviews were done and nothing came of it, almost as if she had vanished into thin air.

Nothing was found of Caryn for five weeks until a nude body was found on the side of a road. The local worker noticed something was wrong from how the birds were hovering around a snow bank. Eight yards through the snow a frozen body was found.

The remains had been in the snow for 40 days and after being found it took a full day to thaw her body, only then was it possible for the remains to be identified as Caryn.

Coroner’s report said that Caryn’s skull showed signs of multiple heavy fractures. Her left ear lobe was cut with a sharp instrument. She died shortly after she had gone missing. It was physically impossible due to decomposition and wildlife destruction to identify how Caryn had died.

Bundy confessed to attacking Caryn but he didn’t give exact details about how he lured her in, how he killed or anything else. He just claimed to have killed her.

Caryn Campbell (23) was attacked inside her holiday inn in Snowmass, Colorado.

On the evening of March 15th 1975, Julie Cunningham left her apartment after a long phone call with her mother where she vented about her recent breakup. She planned on meeting her roommate at the local tavern but she never made it and there was no sign ever found about where she could have gone.

The last time anyone heard from Julie was the phone call with her mother.

There were a few things linking Bundy to Julie’s disappearance:

• Bundy was known to be in Vail, Colorado.
• Julie matched Bundy’s victim profile.
• Bundy also confessed to Julie’s murder and claimed to have buried her in the Rifle, Colorado desert. 90 miles away from her home.

Despite the confession, the lack of details and the large expanse of the desert, Julie hasn’t been found and is still classed as a missing person.

Julie Cunningham (26) disappeared after leaving her apartment in Vail, Colorado.

Just like all of the previous women and girls, Denise Oliverson was going through a rough patch in her life when she left her home on April 6th 1975. She had walked out angry after arguing with her husband, needing some space Denise mounted her pedal bike and rode off in the direction of her parents’ home. It was where she usually went whenever she needed a break from being around her husband. Her riding away was the last time she was seen alive.

Denise didn’t return home the next morning so her husband called her parents only to find out she had never arrived at their home. She was reported missing on April 7th.

Police searched the most likely route she would have taken, it would lead them underneath a viaduct. There her bike and sandals had been tossed underneath, almost like someone had tried to hide them from passers-by. That would be all they find of Denise.

Bundy confessed to killing her and confirming he was in the area gas station receipts from the area were found on the day she went missing. According to Bundy’s confession, he got Denise inside his car. There he strangled her and then drove five miles west. He dumped her body into the Colorado River, which is slightly odd after fourteen remains were disposed of on land. Either way, Denise has never been found and is classified as a missing person.

Denise Oliverson (25) disappeared after leaving her home in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Most tweens have skipped school once or twice and Lynette Culver was no different, it wasn’t a bad habit nor was it affecting her grades. On May 5th 1975, Lynette left Alameda Junior High on her lunch break, she didn’t tell anyone her plans, not even her closest friends.

After she left there are a few hours uncounted for but she was seen getting on a bus a mile away from her school at Hawthrone Junior high. The bus was headed towards Fort Hall, roughly a ten-mile trip from Pocatello, Idaho. This was the last confirmed sighting of Lynette.

When she was first reported as missing, the police chalked it up as another runaway situation which was supported as they apparently got cryptic tips. The longer that nobody heard from Lynette the more foul play was started to be suspected.

The only thing linking Bundy to the case was a confession. He didn’t directly say that Lynette was the victim of his crime but the police could only find her case that matched.

Bundy claimed in his confession that he abducted a girl matching Lynette’s description and he took her to a nearby hotel. There he sexually assaulted her and drowned her. Bundy disposed of the girl’s body in Snake River.

Lynette hasn’t been found and is still classified as a missing person.

Lynette Culver (12) disappeared after leaving Alameda Junior High on her dinner break.

Travelling 50 miles by pedal bike is a daring feat for anyone to make. Yet Susan Curtis willingly made the trip from Bountiful, Utah to Provo, Utah to attend a conference at Brigham Young University.

On the night of June 27th 1975, Susan dressed in a floor-length yellow dress to attend the formal ball. Her friends were the last to see her alive, Susan had told them she was heading back to her room. Yet, somewhere on the quarter-mile trip, she vanished.

It isn’t clear who, when or how Susan was reported missing but when she was, police took it very seriously. This was despite her having a history of running away. Searches of the area didn’t bring anything for the police and the case soon grew cold.

Bundy’s only link to the case was another vague confession, he claimed to have taken a girl from the Brigham Young University campus in June of 1975. He gave minimal details about the abduction and killing but he did give details of where he supposedly buried the girl. The area was searched and nothing was found.

Susan Curtis is still classified as a missing person.

Susan Curtis (15) disappeared after leaving a conference’s formal ball at Brigham Young University.

Months before Susan vanished a woman — Carol DaRonch — was almost kidnapped by Bundy. Her report to the police was still being looked into and on August 16th 1975 a light-coloured Beetle was pulled over.

The officer looked into the backseat and saw a pair of handcuffs, he arrested Bundy on the spot.

Bundy was quickly identified as the man who had attempted to kidnap Carol.

In March 1976, Bundy was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and put behind bars. Police contacted Washington, Colorado and Utah departments to try and link Bundy to any of their respective cases. Before anything else could come of Bundy’s capture, he escaped from the jail on December 30th 1977.

It wouldn’t take long after breaking out of jail for Bundy to attack again, he would travel to Florida for his second mass attack.

On January 15th 1978, the Chi Omega Sorority house was starting to wind down, and the members inside fell asleep peacefully. It was around 3 am when their peace would be destroyed.

Bundy first went into Margaret Bowman’s bedroom in the house, attacking her as she slept. He bludgeoned her with a piece of firewood before strangling her with a nylon stocking. Not much else is known about the attack. Margaret died during the assault and her body was found shortly after.

Margaret Bowman (21) was attacked in her sorority house bedroom.

After Margaret, Bundy went to Lisa Levy’s room. Using the same piece of wood that he used on Margaret, Bundy bludgeoned Lisa until she fell unconscious. Then he sexually assaulted her with a hair mist bottle, rupturing her internal organs. He bit into her left buttock, leaving an imprint that would be later used to charge him of the attack, he also bit her left nipple off. Lisa was then strangled, dying from injuries quickly.

Lisa Levy (20) was attacked in her sorority house bedroom.

The attack was only a few minutes long before Bundy moved on again, going into another room in the house. Inside the third room, Karen Chandler and Kathy Kleiner were sleeping in their separate beds.

Kathy was woken up around 3 am by the bedroom door dragging on the carpet, she was groggy and almost instantly tried to go back to sleep. She was fully woken up when someone stubbed into a foot locker between the two beds, knocking the things on top off.

Bundy seemingly noticed Kathy had woken up and repeatedly hit her in the face with the firewood, breaking her jaw in three places and shattering her chin. The assault almost made Kathy bite her tongue off. With a sharp piece of wood, Bundy sliced Kathy’s cheek from her lips to her ear.

Karen had begun to stir during the attack, making a groaning noise as she woke which alerted Bundy of her presence in the room. Taking the firwood again Bundy began hitting Karen in the face, causing her a broken jaw, lost teeth and a concussion. At some point, Karen put her hand up to protect her face and her finger was crushed.

Their bedroom window was uncovered and when a car drove past, the headlights lit up the room. It scared Bundy off, forcing him to flee the house.

Kathy Kleiner (21) was attacked in her sorority house bedroom. She survived and went on to testify against Bundy in court.

Karen Chandler (21) was attacked in her sorority house bedroom. She survived and went on to testify against Bundy in court.

Bundy was still going on his rampage on January 15th even after leaving the Chi Omega sorority house. He travelled eight blocks until he found Cheryl Thomas’s apartment. Bundy climbed in through the kitchen window and began to attack Cheryl shortly after entering.

Cheryl’s neighbour heard banging from the apartment. This accompanied by pained whimpering and moaning the neighbour to become worried and started calling Cheryl. It seems that the phone ringing distracted Bundy and once again he fled.

In such a short attack, Cheryl was left on the floor bloody and beaten. Her jaw was broken and a nerve leading to her left ear had been severed causing her to have permanent hearing loss and balance issues. The police found her after her neighbour called them.

Cheryl Thomas (21) was attacked in her apartment in Tallahassee, Florida. She survived and went on to testify against Bundy in court.

The final of Bundy’s confirmed and named victims was Kimberly Leach. Not much is known about the 12-year-old other than it was an oddity for her to skip class and she was a very shy girl.

Friends and classmates noticed that she was missing on February 9th 1978. One of her closest friends reported that she hadn’t seen Kimberly at their designated spot after class ended. She had vanished from school in the middle of the day.

Kimberly was missing for two months without any leads until April when her mummified remains were found. She was in a little shed near Suwannee River State Park. Kimberly had been sexually assaulted, beaten and attacked with a knife. She had died due to bleeding from wounds in her neck.

Bundy was linked to the case because of fibres found on Kimberly, they provided a near-perfect match due to a manufacturing error.

Kimberly Leach (12) was abducted from her school in Lake City, Florida.

Days after Kimberly’s death, Bundy seemed to think the police were onto him. On February 12th, he stole a car and headed to the Alabama border. it was around 1 am when he was stopped after a “warrants and wants” check that had shown his car was stolen.

The police officer that stopped him told Bundy he was under arrest and in response, Bundy kicked the officer’s legs out from under him and ran. Officer David Lee fired two warning shots before giving chase. Lee managed to tackle Bundy to the ground, the pair wrestling for the gun before Lee got the upper hand.

Lee got Bundy into the back of the car and began to transport him to jail. During the ride, Lee was unaware he had caught one of the FBI’s most wanted and apparently Bundy said he wished Lee had killed him.

On February 10th 1980 Bundy was sentenced to his third death sentence which would be the one carried out. Bundy was executed by an electric chair on January 24th 1989.