5h 30min, apr 13, 1971 y - Denise Kathleen Anderson DISAPPEARANCE

Description:

At the time of her disappearance, Denise Anderson, 22, lived at the Auditorium Apartments, in Apt E at 925 16th St in Sacramento with two roommates, who were both also young women. Denise worked at a Wells Fargo Bank in the city. She was an aspiring actress, and was active in the Centerplayers theater group. She had been cast in the part of Simone Everad in the theater group's production of Marat/Sade, which was to open shortly after she disappeared.

Denise was last seen by one of her roommates at 5:30am on Tuesday, April 13, 1971. Denise was in bed, asleep at that time. That same roommate then borrowed Denise's car that day. When the roommate returned at 2:30pm, Denise was not home. She has not been seen or heard from since.

Denise left behind her car, a bank account, and "all of her personal belongings." No checks have been cashed on her bank account since April 13, 1971. She did not appear for rehearsals with her theater group after April 13. She also did not go to work on that date.

On September 6, 1973, almost 2.5 years after she disappeared, Denise was added to The Sacramento Bee's Secret Witness list, which regularly published a summary of Denise's case and offered a reward to anyone with information. The summary and reward offer were posted in the newspaper more-or-less every week until February 13, 1974.

Denise is a 5'2-5'4 white female who weighed 120-125 lbs at the time of her disappearance. She has brown eyes and straight brown hair that was longer than shoulder-length at the time. She was also known to wear a short black wig. One of her roommates stated that the wig was missing from the apartment after Denise disappeared.

According to Doe Network, Denise's dentals and DNA are available for comparison, while her fingerprints are not. She has fifteen UID exclusions on NamUs: the only one from CA is a Black woman who was found in 2005. The only other exclusion found in a western state has since been identified as Anne Marie Lehman.

It should be noted that, according to an at the time of her disappearance, Denise was living only 1.28mi away from the home of Phillip Arthur Thompson, who lived at 2526 V St. Two months after Denise's disappearance, Thompson raped and murdered 21-year-old Betty Cloer. Cloer's body was found in Cameron Park, El Dorado County, CA only 11-12hr after she was last seen alive.

Despite the scant facts surrounding her case, there have been many theories put forth online. She is listed among the victims of the supposed Astrological Murders serial killer on Wikipedia. Some have speculated that Denise's case is related to those of Judith Hakari and Carol Beth Hilburn, as well as Betty Cloer. It's also been proposed online (without any information to back it up) that Denise was a victim of: Ted Bundy, EARONS/GSK (Joseph DeAngelo), the Zodiac, her roommate(s), any male neighbors or associates, an ex-boyfriend, etc.

Denise is still listed as a missing person on NamUs, Charley Project, and Doe Network. Her case is unsolved. Anyone with information regarding Denise is urged to contact the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 808-0560 or (916) 808-4500. The agency case number is 71-12652.

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CONFIRMATION OF COMPLETION DATE: May 31, 2025
LAST UPDATED: June 11, 2025

Cases mentioned above that are also/will be present on this timeline:
Betty Cloer, Judith Hakari, Carol Beth Hilburn; Ann Marie Lehman
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LUNAR PHASE: waning gibbous
ZODIAC SIGN: aries
DAY OF WEEK: Tuesday
EVENTS: Apr. 11 = Easter Sunday (2 days earlier)

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