nov 21, 1972 - Lori Lee Kursa

Description:

13yo; last seen by mother while they shopped at a U-Save 11/11. She was apparently seen on Nov. 20 or 21 in Santa Rosa while visiting friends, having deliberately run away. Someone reported possibly seeing her hitchhiking on Nov. 30

Dec. 14: frozen remains were located in a ravine ~50ft off Calistoga Rd, northeast of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa; likely died 1-2 weeks prior (12/1-12/7). She had one wire loop in each earlobe, but the rest of the earrings were missing; no clothes found. She died from a broken neck with compression and hemorrhage of the spinal cord. She likely died after opening passenger door of van to escape her captor(s) then fell/jumped/was pushed out and broke her neck in the fall into the ravine.
















-----
In February 1975 the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) issued a special report titled "Unsolved Female Homicides: An Analysis of a Series of Related Murders in California and Western America." The report indicated that, "After evaluating more than one hundred murder cases involving female victims, it appears that thirteen of these crimes" -- with fourteen victims total -- "were committed by the same person. Each of the thirteen cases occurred in Northern California within the past five years. As of this writing, the suspect remains unknown and the cases unsolved" (pp4 of pdf). The report summarized all thirteen cases, noted observations and similarities, created a suspect profile, and included a map of all of the cases.

The cases were:
- The six then-known cases -- with seven victims -- of the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders (1972-1973): Maureen Sterling & Yvonne Weber, Kim Wendy Allen, Lori Lee Kursa, Carolyn Davis, and Theresa Walsh.
- The four 1973 San Francisco victims: Rosa Vasquez, Yvonne Quilantang, Angela Thomas, and Nancy Gidley.
- The 1969 murder of Leona LaRell Roberts
- The 1970 murder of Marie Antoinette Anstey
- The 1971 murder of Linda Susan Dudley
- The 1974 murder of Donna Maria Braun

The report's summary of Lori's case is as follows:
"On November 20 or 21, 1972, Lori Lee Kursa was last seen by a family acquaintance in a Santa Rosa market. Her nude body was discovered on December 12, 1972, lying over a roadside embankment in a heavily wooded area of eastern Sonoma County. The cause of death was listed as a dislocation of the first and second cervical vertebra. The victim was apparently dumped at the location completely nude, and none of her clothing has ever been located. She had not been sexually assaulted."

Also included in the report was a possible out-of-state connection involving the disappearances of eight young women in Washington and Oregon since January 1974, as well as the murders of Janice Ott and Denise Naslund. The only copy of the report that I could find online has some of the last few (ten or so) pages missing, though other reports are also included in the pdf. Because of this, only a few of the Washington-Oregon cases remain: Janice Ott, Denise Naslund, Lynda Ann Healy, and Donna Gail Manson. All four of these young women were later determined to have been murdered by serial killer Ted Bundy.







LUNAR PHASE: full moon
ZODIAC SIGN: scorpio (last day)
DAY OF WEEK: Tuesday
EVENTS: Nov. 23 = Thanksgiving (2 days later)
Moon-Saturn 23:08

Added to timeline:

Date: