IN IN - Renee Bruhl, Patricia Blough & Ann Miller, Indiana Dunes SP, 2 July 1966

[Cincinnati Kid]

I watched the video and it's an interesting theory. I just don't agree that the three girls would voluntarily leave their belongings behind at the beach particularly if they knew they would be away for a period of time. Say what you will, but whether it was 1966 or 2010, I don't think girls would do that of their own choice.

I would like to hear more information given by the persons from Indianapolis who were at the beach and saw the boat and the person who was operating it.

 

[Spud]

If there is one accepted fact in this case it is that all 3 women left their blanket and belongings to escape 95 degree temperatures and got on a boat. There is little question about this fact . This was witnessed by dozens of people. What happened after that is a mystery. ..... An abortion takes 5 and 20 minutes with a recovery time of 1/2 hour to 1 hour for first trimester abortions so the girls could have expected to be back on their blankets by 2 or 3p.m. ....... I would like to know :What if any research did Wylie do to dismiss Silas Jayne and / or Richard Speck ?...... Are there any police reports or witness testimony available to substantiate the existence of offshore abortion clinics? ....... Who were the pregnant girls? Rumors have previously named Ann Miller. Who was the other pregnant woman and how does Wylie know ? Is his book a journal of an intensive investigation or an interesting work of fiction based on real events?

 

[kline]

Very interesting case.....ive never bought the theory that this was some kind of 'hit' to silence one of the girls involving the shady character with the horse stables.
I mean surely there was a less unwieldy way to accomplish that then concoct some kind of amphibias abduction in broad daylight in front of dozens of witneses if that were the case.
I would say it was more likely they got into a boat with some drunk bad apples and possibly things got way out of hand past the point of return.

 

[Spud]

There are at least 4 different tv programs that deal with vanishings or missing persons and this case never gets the publicity that may clear this thing up . My belief and the belief of a C.P.D. Detective on the Speck case has always been that Speck was somehow responsible . He was in port and this happened only 11 days before he murdered 8 nurses only 40 miles away. However, this scenario leaves very little opportunity for verification as Speck is quite dead. I would like to know if his family and old boyfriends in prison were properly questioned on this case......... Like Kline, i never believed that a premeditated out of state contract killing was really possible by Silas Jayne or that these 3 very young women could know enough to make them such a target but proponents of this theory argued that their theory generated some discussion that might actually lead to a guilty party and conviction if true. ......... Without knowing how Dick Wylie came to form his hypothesis of the abortion gone wrong on a boat, i must say that it is a plausible scenario and at the least a worthy plot for a good mystery writer. More importantly , this theory needs to see the light of day with a book and more tv clips like we saw . Perhaps we should badger these missing persons shows to do a report on this case. It is very possible that there are surviving women who had successful procedures that could shed light on offshore abortion clinics.

 

[MaryLiz]

This coming Saturday, July 2nd, will be the 45th anniversary of the disappearance of these ladies from the Indiana Dunes State Park. Sure wish we had some answers by now...

 

[MaryLiz]

Bumping for the 45th anniversary of the disappearance of Patricia Blough, Ann Miller and Renee Blough. No news articles have been written to mark the anniversary that I could find.

I finally did locate a copy of the book Dick Wylie wrote called Life and Death, Thru the Lens. Apparently he wrote extensively about this case in his book. I had been looking for it and couldn't find it. Apparently it was published in 2004. I found a used copy at amazon.com for $199! Unfortunately, I can't afford that, but I would love to read the book.

Amazon.com: Life And Death, Thru The Lens (9780615126289): Dick Wylie: Books

 

[Bargle]

Try your local library. If they don't have it, they may be able to get it for you through an interlibrary loan. My system has gotten me many books this way.

 

[MaryLiz]

Try your local library. If they don't have it, they may be able to get it for you through an interlibrary loan. My system has gotten me many books this way.

I did that years ago when I was reading about another case, but it's been so long I had forgotten about interlibrary loan. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[STANDREID]

I know they've tried to pin this on Speck or the Horse Mafia but I always wondered where Ted Bundy was on this date.

 

[MaryLiz]

I know they've tried to pin this on Speck or the Horse Mafia but I always wondered where Ted Bundy was on this date.

According to the website at the link below, he registered at the University of Puget Sound in the fall of 1965, and remained there until the spring of 1966. In the fall of 1966, he registered at the University of Washington. I can't find any info on where he was between May and September of 1966. Somehow I can't imagine him turning up in Indiana that July, but with predators like him, you never know!

http://tedbundy.150m.com/timeline.html

 

[STANDREID]

Thanks Mary. I know it's a long shot but this is a Bundy type murder or at least could have been and some think that he had already killed by this time. The description of the man last seen talking to the women also sounded quite like Bundy. Just thought I'd throw this into the mix.

 

[MaryLiz]

Thanks Mary. I know it's a long shot but this is a Bundy type murder or at least could have been and some think that he had already killed by this time. The description of the man last seen talking to the women also sounded quite like Bundy. Just thought I'd throw this into the mix.

I thought the same thing when you brought up Bundy's name...that he matched the description of the guy they were seen talking to on the boat; in his early 20s, tanned complexion with dark, wavy hair! It's not really so far-fetched when you consider that Bundy didn't care who he killed and he could have turned up anywhere.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Ted Bundy was 19 years old in the summer of 1966. You wonder about someone that age driving the far distance from the norhwest although we all know now that when he was older, Bundy drove many miles to commit his murders. The other doubt I have is would he have taken on three women at once? Depending on the layout of the boat, a lone assailant might deal with them in various locations one-on-one, but even for someone like Bundy that seems like a difficult task in such a small area given that his usual method of killing was the use of a blunt instrument. Some might point out his rampage at the Florida State sorority house came against multiple women, but it might be remembered that he carried out that mayhem while those women were asleep. You never know, though, given the murderous mind of Bundy. Even now, there is re-newed talk of him being responsible for the killing of eight-year old Ann Marie Burr when he was just 14 years old.

 

[dashamarie]

Accordng to what I can find, Speck was not in port in Indiana that weekend. He was staying with his sister's family in Chicago and didn't go to board a ship in East Chicago, Indiana until July 12th. He had no transportation and relied on friends, family, and the union to drive him around.

 

[websurfer]

Two other women went missing from Florida the same year.
But a killer supposedly confessed to their murder.
I was thinking maybe he killed the 3 women from Indiana as well?
He could have rented a boat ?

 

[marie-chantal]

Two other women went missing from Florida the same year.
But a killer supposedly confessed to their murder.
I was thinking maybe he killed the 3 women from Indiana as well?
He could have rented a boat ?

Or maybe he was someone who worked on marinas? Could he have been an employee? Where was the nearest marina/boat launch/boat fueling dock?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I still feel this was the work of more than one individual especially since there were three women. I'm still intrigued by the report that someone using a movie camera appeas to have filmed the boat in question along with the girls and others on board. Is that film still being held by authorities and with all of the modern computerized methods that can be done, could it provide more clues now?

 

[Richard]

Just a thought for consideration. John Norman Collins was a college student in Michigan at the time that this disappearance occurred. He and his roomate/partner in crime, Andrew J. Manuel (a man of numerous aliases) might have been involved in it - when you consider their subsequent crimes and behavior.

Collins is believed to be a serial killer who murdered several women in Michigan, as well as some in California and Canada between 1967 and 1969, when he was arrested and charged with the abduction/murder of Karen Sue Beineman from Ypsilanti, MI in July 1969.

Although he was only convicted of Karen's murder, he is believed to have killed many others. He is now in his 43rd year of a life sentence in Michigan's Marquette Prison.

I do not know if Collins or Manuel knew how to operate a boat, but it would certainly not be out of character for them to have stolen one.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I may have read about John Norman Collins if he was the person written about in the book, "Michigan Murders". I bought that in paperback and, as I recall, it had no photographs. Collins and Manuel seem to be possibilities even at those young ages. You tend to think that a person or persons who would have killed the three women at Indiana Dunes State Park could have killed again.

 

[marie-chantal]

I know that the type of boat was mentioned earlier in the thread, but I'm not terribly familiar with boats. Does anyone know if there were any marinas in the area where people could rent boats? If there were, then does anyone know if that particular type of boat was the same as the type that could be rented?