jul 12, 1973 - Nancy Patricia Gidley

Description:

24yo; last seen at the Rodeway Inn at 895 Geary Street in San Francisco on July 12

July 15: found strangled behind the George Washington High School gymnasium in San Francisco. No clothes were found on or near the body. She had one (1) fish-shaped gold earring on. She was determined to have died within the previous 24hr (July 14-15)

Her FindAGrave states that some believe her murder was done by the Zodiac




After Nancy's death, a spokesman for police stated at the time, "We're treating these cases as individuals. However, the similarities are sufficient that we cannot exclude the possibility we have one person involved."

All four victims — Rosa Vasquez, Yvonne Quilantang, Angela Thomas, and Nancy Gidley — were young women and girls who were found in public places in San Francisco, nude and strangled or smothered. There were no clothing articles at any of the scenes, and LE believed they had all been killed at a different location before being dumped where they were found. Several of them had "signs of minor injuries seemingly approximal to the time of death." All four also had connections to the military: in Nancy's case, she served four years in the Air Force as an X-ray technician at Hamilton Air Force base. She was discharged in early 1972.

On August 8, 1973, Chief of Police Donald M Scott of the San Francisco PD published an information bulletin regarding the four homicides, listing the similarities and summaries of each. The bulletin ordered that "All patrol units should pay particular attention to schoolyard areas during night watches and special attention given during weekends and holidays." It also provided contact info for anyone with information. The bulletin is available in the "Photos" section of Yvonne's FindAGrave page. The summary of Nancy's case as detailed by the bulletin is as follows:

"Sunday, July 15, 1973 the nude body of Nancy Gidley, WFA, 24 years, was located in the parking area of George Washington High on the 30th Avenue side. As in the other three homicides, she had been deposited after the crime. She had arrived in San Francisco on Thursday, July 12 1973, checked into the Roadway Inn at 895 Geary. She had spent that night in her room, but not Friday or Saturday. She claimed to be here to be Maid of Honor in a wedding; however, this information proved to be incorrect. This victim is missing an unusual type of hammered silver cross, celtic in nature, normally worn around her neck. Autopsy revealed subject recently had sexual intercourse."

None of the four San Francisco cases were ever solved, including Nancy's.

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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 1974 murder of Donna Maria Braun
- And possibly the 1971 murder of Linda Susan Dudley (the pdf is incomplete)

The report's summary of Nancy's case is as follows:
"On July 12, 1973, Nancy Patricia Gidley was last seen at a motel where she was staying, while visiting in San Francisco. Her nude body was discovered on July 15, 1973, lying in a parking lot on the Washington High School grounds in San Francisco. She had apparently been strangled to death and dumped at the location where she was found. None of her clothing has ever been located, and it appeared she may have been raped."

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.




FROM THE "CA DOJ Investigation" photo on her FindAGrave:
Female, Caucasian, 5'6, 140 lbs, 24 years of age, long reddish blond hair, brown eyes, pierced ears.

FROM THE Aug 8 1973 SFPD BULLETIN (on the other girls' FindAGrave):
- has been linked to the deaths of Rosa Vasquez, Yvonne Quilantang, and Angela Thomas from the beginning b/c all in SF over a short time frame (about a month and a half); all were either strangled or suffocated; all found nude, and dumped elsewhere; all found after either a weekend or holiday; in two cases sexual activity was apparent




Penumbral lunar eclipse visible from San Francisco on July 15 from 3:49:04am to 5:28:11am
JULY 12
LUNAR PHASE: waxing gibbous
ZODIAC SIGN: cancer
DAY OF WEEK: Thursday

JULY 15
LUNAR PHASE: full moon
ZODIAC SIGN: cancer
DAY OF WEEK: Sunday
Penumbral lunar eclipse 3:40

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