oct 3, 1969 - Ann Bernice Duncan DISAPPEARANCE

Description:

Ann Bernice Duncan, 31, was last seen on Friday, October 3, 1969 in San Francisco when she had an appointment with Social Services regarding placement of her then-six-week-old son in foster care. Ann never showed up for her next appointment and was never seen or heard from again. The courts later declared the baby was abandoned by both parents, and was deemed available for adoption.

Ann had other children who were also in foster care; according to one newspaper clipping, at least one of her sons was in a foster home in Santa Rosa by/at the time of December 30, 1967 (a little less than two years before her disappearance). Ann visited her children in foster care every week without fail; however, these routine weekly visits stopped abruptly in the same approximate time frame as her last sighting. in October 1969. According to her family, even though Ann was unable to care for her children herself at the time, she loved her children dearly and would not have willingly abandoned them. Ann’s occasional and/or routine phone calls to her mother also stopped around this time.

Ann’s family thinks that she was in fear for her life around the time of her disappearance, and that she may have been murdered. According to NamUs, Ann had made three different statements to three different people (who were implied to be family members) regarding her being fearful for her well-being.

Ann was a white female, 5’2, 105-115 lbs, and 31 years old at the time of her disappearance. She had, “large, pretty” hazel eyes and brown hair. Her hair was “Marilyn Monroe style and length; Medium long with styled curl.” Her hair was fine in texture, She sometimes colored it blonde, and at one point she had a red wig, “so it [her hair] could have been in the reddish tones too.” Ann is double jointed and can “place the back of her hands on her hips, fingers pointing backwards, and bring her elbows together in front of her.” She would, “dress casually but fashionably stylish” and “often wore a scarf because of the wind.” She didn’t have any prescription glasses at the time. She also did not drive, at least that her family was aware of, and would instead take city buses. She may use her maiden name, Burns.

Ann is listed as Missing on Doe Network and Endangered Missing on Charley Project. According to Doe Network, her DNA is available for comparison, while her fingerprints are not. Her dental charts are also available; according to CA DOJ, her dental x-rays are not available. There are also close-up photos of her with her teeth visible on NamUs.

Ann has eleven UID exclusions on NamUs, including two from CA (one from 2011, the other from 2013) and one from IL; the remaining eight UIDs were all found in VA.

Ann’s NamUs page was created on August 11, 2011. Her case was added to Doe Network “prior to 2011” and was last (as of 12/22/24) updated on 2/20/24. Regarding her page, Charley Project states, “Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated November 27, 2011; two pictures and alternate weight added.” From all of this it seems — though this is not certain, and is speculation on my part — that Ann may not have been reported missing (or the original report was lost beforehand) until 2011. Who reported her missing and when is not stated in any of the sources, but based off of the wording used in NamUs it seems that her family (ie parents and/or sister) may have been the ones to report her, or at least were the source of some/all of NamUs’s information.

Ann’s case remains unsolved. The San Francisco Police Department is investigating her case. Anyone with information regarding Ann should contact SFPD at either: 415-558-5508 (according to CA DOJ and Charley Project), 415-553-0123 (according to NamUs), or 415-553-9225 (according to Doe Network). Her agency case number is 090372734.

According to the Doe Network, you can also contact SFPD regarding Ann at SFPDMissingPersonsUnit@sfgov.org; according to the same source, her case is specifically being handled by SFPD’s Special Victims Unit.

Ann has been posted about beforehand on two different Zodiac forums, and there is some speculation that her case is related: she was last seen exactly eight days before the confirmed Zodiac murder of Paul Stine, also in SF. Some speculate that the October 5 1970 “13-Hole Postcard” (which may or may not be a confirmed Zodiac correspondence, sources differ), which has a group of three (3) hole punches followed by a group of ten (10) hole punches, is connected to Ann, with the hole punches corresponding to the date she went missing (10/3); the postcard, which was sent to the SF Chronicle, was also dated exactly 1yr 2d after Ann went missing.

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WRITE-UP COMPLETION DATE: December 2024
LAST UPDATED: June 11, 2025
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LUNAR PHASE:
ZODIAC SIGN:
DAY OF WEEK: Friday

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