jan 3, 1975 - Lorelee Sue Lhotka DISAPPEARANCE

Description:

Lorelee Sue Lhotka was last seen in Seattle, Washington in 1975. Both the Charley Project and some other secondary sources state that the specific date of Lorelee’s disappearance is unspecified, while all other databases give her date of last contact as January 1, 1975. Lorelee was reportedly last seen leaving home to go to a doctor’s appointment. While she was supposed to take the bus to the appointment, she was also known to hitchhike in order to get around, and may have hitchhiked instead of taking the bus. According to the Charley Project, Lorelee never arrived at the doctor’s office and has never been heard from again.

Lorelee’s wallet was found at Blewitt Pass in the Wenatchee National Forest in Washington state in 1978. The circumstances of this discovery are not given beyond that, and there are no newspaper reports whatsoever regarding Lorelee, her wallet, or her disappearance. Few details are available in her case.

Lorelee was anywhere between 17 and 20 years old when she disappeared. According to the DOB listed on Doe Network and Charley Project, as well as the age given on most databases, Lorelee was 19 years old when she disappeared on January 1, 1975. However, according to some databases, it is uncertain when in 1975 Lorelee was last seen, leading said sources to list her age at time of disappearance as 19-20 years old. All sources on Ancestry, however, indicate that Lorelee was born two years (and five days) later than the DOB given on DN and Charley Project. If this is true — which I am inclined to believe — then Lorelee was 17 years old on January 1, 1975, and was going to turn 18 on June 27th of that year.

Lorelee was 5’3 and 120 lbs with brown hair and brown eyes. From the photo provided on all databases, her hair was styled in a middle part and reached to just below her shoulders. It is not known what she was wearing on the day of her disappearance. According to the Washington State Missing Persons database, Lorelee does have some sort of scar(s), mark(s), and/or tattoo(s), though further detail is not given; for further information, interested parties are to contact the submitting agency (King County Sheriff’s Office).

A couple databases state that Lorelee’s race was uncertain and/or American Indian/Alaska Native, while others simply state that she was Native American. It is certain that she was, at the very least, Indigenous. However, because she was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, it is possible that Lorelee would be considered First Nations instead of Native American. Which tribe/nation Lorelee was affiliated with is unknown. She was not missing from, nor was her primary residence on, tribal land.

The Washington State Missing Persons database lists Lorelee as “Missing – Endangered,” while Doe Network and Charley Project classify her as Missing and Endangered Missing, respectively. Lorelee’s NamUs page was created on March 19, 2012. Her Charley Project page was last updated on September 10, 2019, and her Doe Network page was added (and last updated) on December 15, 2023.

The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Lorelee’s disappearance. Anyone with information should contact Janet Gregory of the KCSO at 206-205-3432 (according to Charley Project) or (206) 296-4155 (all other databases). Lorelee’s agency case number is 05-232769.

Lorelee’s DNA is available for comparison, but it is unknown if her dentals or fingerprints are as well. NamUs states that she has fourteen UID exclusions; however, one of these is a repeat, so she actually has 13 exclusions, including one each from Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, two from Washington state, and eight from Virginia. One of the Does found in WA has since been identified as Sandy Morden.

-----
Doe Network and Charley Project list Lorelee’s DOB as June 22, 1955, which seems to have been a misinterpretation of records. The following information has been gathered from Ancestry.

Lorelee was born Lorelee Sue Davis in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, on June 27 1957. Her mother, Sophie Davis, was born December 15 1929, making her 17 when Lorelee was born. On January 2, 1974, when she was 16 years old, Lorelee applied for a marriage license with Stephen Dewey Lhotka (b March 29 1955 in Seattle, WA) in Okanogan County, WA. At the time, Stephen was an 18-year-old cook living at 11125 53rd St in Seattle. As she was still a minor at the time, Lorelee had to have consent given by her mother, Sophie, whom she lived with in Tonasket, WA. The marriage license was issued January 5 or 6, 1974.

On February 2, 1974, Lorelee and Stephen were officially married in King County, WA, with Francis and Katrina Lhotka — possibly Stephen’s parents — serving as witnesses. At some point after this, Lorelee lived at 9265 57th Ave S in Seattle, WA.

Lorelee and Stephen had one child together at some point. It seems that they had a daughter named Sheila born on December 20, 1974 in King county, WA. If the comments down below are correct, then Lorelee went missing a couple weeks after Sheila was born when she left for a postpartum checkup, putting her date of disappearance at about Friday, January 3, 1975. This is the date I have put this event marker at on this timeline.

According to the May 26, 1976 edition of The Olympian, a "Petition for dissolution [had] been filed in the Mason County Clerk's Office in the marriage of” Stephen and Lorelee.

A divorce record for the couple from December 22, 1977 in Mason County, WA exists. Stephen was the one to file for divorce, and his attorney filled out the information in the record for the two of them. At the time of filing, Stephen’s address was written as PO Box 900, Shelton, Mason County, WA. He did not live inside city limits. Lorelee’s address was listed as 235 SW 97th Place, White Center, King County, WA, and she lived inside city limits. However, under the “County” subheading — which was the second piece of information requested for her address after state — “unknown” was originally typed, but then crossed out in pen with “King” written above it. Stephen’s attorney also listed Lorelee’s DOB as unknown, and her place of birth as Canada. At the time of filing, Lorelee and Stephen had had one child together. Announcement of the decree of marriage dissolution was announced in the December 29, 1977 edition of The Olympian.

Very little else could be found. According to The Columbian, on September 23, 1979, 24-year-old Stephen Dewey Lhotka — who lived at 3005 O St in Vancouver, WA at the time — was arrested in Clark County, WA, “for investigation of forgery, [and] held in lieu of $2,000 bail.” On December 10 of the same year he pled guilty to two counts of forgery. By 1993, Lorelee’s mother Sophie Davis was still living in Tonasket, WA. This is all I could find about Sophie or Stephen.

Lorelee’s first name is occasionally spelled “Loralee”, and on at least one official record was originally spelled “Lorilee” before being corrected. Her maiden name is Davis. She may use the last name Spamola.

-----
On August 6, 2018, user ”J.” commented on the Charley Project blog post about Lorelee, “Her married name was Lhotka. My friend growing up is her daughter. She disappeared just a couple weeks after she was born. She was on her way to a follow up Dr.s appointment. She was part native. I heard bits and pieces of story years ago. She was reported missing at the time not in 2012”

On May 20, 2019, user “Sheila” commented on the same Charley Project post (though not in reply to user J.), saying “She was my mom. Native NOT white. My fathers car had broken down, early 1975, same area her wallet was found 3 yrs later, but he’s white, even though he’s been questioned they seem to just take his word for it. He beat the hell out of her while she was pregnant with me. He’s white, she’s native, he always got away with it and has bragged in a drunken stupor to me that he has gotten away with what appears to be murder. Bundy was a suspect and questioned but had already made it to Colorado, not yet to Florida.”

-----
On May 2, 2025, I submitted Lorelee as a potential match to Swamp Mountain Jane Doe 1976. Mary Bell of the Doe Network replied, "Thank you for the suggested match. I don't show any comparison of these having been done so I will have our panel look at it. If [it] is proven to be a positive match, I will contact you further."

On June 13, 2025, I asked Mary Bell about the status of various matches that I had submitted to the Doe Network over the past year. I learned from her response that the possible match of Lorelee Lhotka and Swamp Mountain Jane Doe 1976 has been submitted to law enforcement.

-----
** Note: I am the creator and manager of her FindAGrave profile. **

WRITE-UP COMPLETION DATE: April 26, 2025
LAST UPDATED: June 15, 2025

Cases mentioned above that are also/will be present on this timeline:
Sandy Morden, Swamp Mountain Jane Doe 1976
-----

LUNAR PHASE:
ZODIAC SIGN: capricorn
DAY OF WEEK: Wednesday
EVENTS: New Years Day

Added to timeline:

Date: