WA WA - Heidi Peterson, 4, Seattle, 21 Feb 1974

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Betty P said:
Here are some archived newspaper articles about Heidi. It sounds as though her disappearance made the national news. I don't recall it at the time, but was in college, busy with other things, and of course there was no 24 hr news reporting.

Acording to this article, her clothing was found with her remains. I wonder if police kept any of the evidence, if it could be tested for DNA?
http://news.google.com/newspapers/u...tz04R0RyBSnSI8UcrDcHKLsMA&source=gbs_pub_info
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The reports are suspiciously different.
 
<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
So if the suspect/s were identified as early as 1975, one has to wonder why there have been no arrests. Several generations of law enforcement must know their names. Is there no compelling evidence? Have they died? Or, are they protected?
 
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OddOneOut said:
Was her body or skull ever found? One post says her body (and possibly her clothes) was found in a trash can. Another says only her skull was found in a vacant lot among black berries bushes. Does anyone have a way to check the original paperwork from the police?
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Here's a link to a newspaper article with a photo of the area. The location where she was found was actually in a city park, on a hillside in a brushy area. It looks very steep, its below a scenic bluff.

"Park Dept. employees retrieving a garbage can from a hill below a scenic bluff found bones of a child and clothing matching that of the missing girl Thursday afternoon."
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The assistant police chief is quoted as saying the area was thoroughly searched several times by police and volunteers the previous year. Heidi's body was found Jan 23, 1975, not quite a year from the date she went missing. The article and quotes from LE very much indicate they don't think her body was placed there after her death.

Let me know if you can't read it and I'll upload a photo of the news clip.

The Bellingham Herald 24 Jan 1975, page 10 - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Bellingham Herald dated 24 Jan 1975, page 10.
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
 
Betty P said:
This article and the two linked above both state that Heidi's remains were found with the clothing she was wearing that day.

Jan 24, 1975, page 1 - Longview Daily News at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Longview Daily News dated Jan 24, 1975, page 1.
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
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Betty P, thank you for your research. And isn’t it odd the differing reports? No clothes were found to clothes were found. I just pray that justice prevails and the killer will be caught. Growing up near there, this case has haunted me for decades. Thanks again for posting the articles.
 
Blueskiesunshine said:
Betty P, thank you for your research. And isn’t it odd the differing reports? No clothes were found to clothes were found. I just pray that justice prevails and the killer will be caught. Growing up near there, this case has haunted me for decades. Thanks again for posting the articles.
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Yes, I'm from that area and remember the Heidi posters.
 
Blueskiesunshine said:
Betty P, thank you for your research. And isn’t it odd the differing reports? No clothes were found to clothes were found. I just pray that justice prevails and the killer will be caught. Growing up near there, this case has haunted me for decades. Thanks again for posting the articles.
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I believe the multiple news reports stating that the clothes were found with her remains. They were written by reporters who were there at the scene the day she was found, who had talked with LE and the park employees who found them.

If it was Ann Rule who alleged they weren't found with Heidi, she did occasionally get facts wrong.
 
Betty P said:
This article and the two linked above both state that Heidi's remains were found with the clothing she was wearing that day.

Jan 24, 1975, page 1 - Longview Daily News at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Longview Daily News dated Jan 24, 1975, page 1.
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
Click to expand...
Yes, her bones were in her coat
Betty P said:
View attachment 482464
Another view of the hillside in the park where Heidi's remains were found. The area is to the left of the stairs.
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would be interesting to know if the detectives and / or the crime lab still have the clothes. Couldn’t they do DNA testing?
 
Blueskiesunshine said:
Yes, her bones were in her coat

would be interesting to know if the detectives and / or the crime lab still have the clothes. Couldn’t they do DNA testing?
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They might. I can't find any recent news articles about her case, but they may have saved some of her clothes. Seattle PD were sure on a learning curve that year. Searching these articles about Heidi, I ran across so many articles about missing women - mostly all victims of Ted Bundy. They were trying to find Ted at the same time.
 
scottagain said:
Remembering Heidi today, 50 years after that tragic day. You left an impression on me as a 7 year old boy. I always hoped, and still do, that you will have justice. You are not forgotten!
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Same here. Her disappearance, her murder, change the fabric of feeling safe to be outside in your yard playing. For her family, for so many I hope that the killer will be found.
 
I was a child when Heidi Peterson was kidnapped living not even a mile away on Capitol Hill. My father and many many area fathers went looking for Heidi down in the Ronoake area. The police divided up the areas near by to search. My father was given a section - his was the area where Heidi’s body would later be discovered nearly a year after her kidnapping. I heard my father say over and over “I combed that area - she was NOT there.” So whoever the crazy nut who said ‘I told them where she was and that’s where they found her a year later’ is full of *advertiser censored*. My Dad - a father of many children was certain that he checked every inch of the area. There was an article in The Capitol Hill Times that had a priest from nearby St. Patrick’s, a Rabi and other faith leaders asking whoever took Heidi to come in and speak with them as they must be in pain. I heard a rumor that someone went in and confessed.
 
Cascadia Mount said:
I can't see how her body could possibly have been there all along just covered with blackberry bushes. The dogs would have found her and if not there would have been a decomposition smell.
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You are correct. See the note I just wrote. My Dad and many other Capitol Hill Dads searched the entire area. They divided up all of the overgrown bushy areas near the freeway, around the neighborhood and my Dad’s section was where they ended up finding her nearly a year later. “I combed the entire area - she was NOT there” my Dad said someone put her there much later.
 
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