MD MD - Katheryn Quackenbush, 17, Delmar, 14 July 1981

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

But then again, from the map @SAMS provided, it's about a 2-hour walk from the residence to the bowling alley. Would the dad really have been comfortable just letting her go out and walk 8 miles? Especially when her ride is not even 5 minutes late by that point? Was Katheryn really that headstrong—like, "oh, he's 2 minutes late! I'm just gonna walk!"

Yeah, that's very bizarre to just set out on a 2-hour walk on a humid July evening like that. She would have been dripping sweat. Not something I can visualize most teenage girls wanting to do unless absolutely necessary. You're right, her dad may have needed the car for something. But why would she have not called another of her friends for a ride?

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

But then again, from the map @SAMS provided, it's about a 2-hour walk from the residence to the bowling alley. Would the dad really have been comfortable just letting her go out and walk 8 miles? Especially when her ride is not even 5 minutes late by that point? Was Katheryn really that headstrong—like, "oh, he's 2 minutes late! I'm just gonna walk!"

Yeah, that's very bizarre to just set out on a 2-hour walk on a humid July evening like that. She would have been dripping sweat. Not something I can visualize most teenage girls wanting to do unless absolutely necessary. You're right, her dad may have needed the car for something. But why would she have not called another of her friends for a ride? Doesn't make sense.

 

[SAMS]

I really wish we had clarification on who saw her last. Someone from the bowling alley? Employee? Was she someone that would normally hitchhike? MOO

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

I really wish we had clarification on who saw her last. Someone from the bowling alley? Employee? Was she someone that would normally hitchhike? MOO

Exactly, and LE likely knows. But they are trying to maintain a public view of this case, which I understand too. It's tricky because the police want to put just enough information out there to help give the public an idea of where the missing person was from and what they may look like, but the details surrounding their disappearance are often concealed because that is something only the kidnapper/murderer would know. And they are looking for a jailhouse confession. I get it...

 

[Suglo]

Yeah, that's very bizarre to just set out on a 2-hour walk on a humid July evening like that. She would have been dripping sweat. Not something I can visualize most teenage girls wanting to do unless absolutely necessary. You're right, her dad may have needed the car for something. But why would she have not called another of her friends for a ride? Doesn't make sense.

Maybe she assumed (and her dad did also) that the boyfriend would find her along the route to the bowling alley meaning she wasn’t really considering walking the whole way. She also could have decided to hitchhike without telling her dad.

 

[Teesside]

Exactly, and LE likely knows. But they are trying to maintain a public view of this case, which I understand too. It's tricky because the police want to put just enough information out there to help give the public an idea of where the missing person was from and what they may look like, but the details surrounding their disappearance are often concealed because that is something only the kidnapper/murderer would know. And they are looking for a jailhouse confession. I get it...

Totally agree, but they could clarify which of the 2 somewhat conflicting versions was correct
39 years ago on Tuesday....

 

[ekardh]

Yeah, add me to the list of people confused by the timeline of events. Even if her boyfriend was late collecting her, I don't know why she would begin the long walk to Salisbury. Maybe she was angry with him and went off in a huff?

Would be good if we had more than a fuzzy black & white photo to go on.

Does anyone know if Kathryn's family are investigating her disappearance?
Are her parents and brother still around?

 

[ekardh]

To answer my own question, there a couple of people in the comments of this CharleyProject blog post that claim to be Kathryn's relatives.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

Glad to hear her brother and that uncle of hers are still actively looking for Kitty and keeping their radar up for any news. I wonder how her parents are holding up. An obituary for her grandmother a few years back only mentions her grandsons (incl. Kitty's brother), no granddaughter is mentioned.

Clipping from The Daily Times (newspaper based out of Salisbury, MD), dated April 3, 1985:
Clipping from The Daily Times - Newspapers.com

"Roland Quackenbush said he still hopes his daughter will be found, but is glad Tunney will be talking to Lucas about the case.

Quackenbush said he was not at home when his daughter left to go to the bowling lanes, but found out about it through his son, then 14, who was the last person to see Karen [sic] before she disappeared. Quackenbush said he called the police to report Karen [sic] missing, but wasn't too worried at the time.

'At first I wasn't really upset, but as time went on it got harder and harder,' he said, 'I don't think you ever get used to it. Every day I just have to adjust myself more and more.' He said that he was close to his daughter, who had been living with his ex-wife in Georgia during her school years, but decided to move in with him in May 1981.

'This is about as traumatic as anything that can happen to you,' he said about Karen's [sic] disappearance. 'It's next to having somebody die. The anxiety of not knowing is the worst part,' he said, 'The trip is something that has to be done. It's all I have to go on.'"

 

[ekardh]

It would be great if we could get in touch with one of Kathryn's relatives, in particular her brother, to glean more details from the circumstances behind her disappearance.

For example, how often did Kathryn stay with her father? Was she familiar enough with any of the locals to take a ride?

If not, this does sound like a random roadside abduction.

 

[ekardh]

Bumping for Kathryn

Wish there was more information on this case.

 

[ekardh]

Bumping again for Kitty.

I really wish someone would come forward and shed more light on this case.

 

[ekardh]

Does anyone know if there might have been any serial killers operating in this area when Kitty vanished?

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

Does anyone know if there might have been any serial killers operating in this area when Kitty vanished?

Yeah, Henry Lee Lucas. He was responsible for a murder in Texas earlier that year but I believe he was known to be traveling around the East Coast at that time and was employed still with a roofing company in Florida(?) that year, which is why he was questioned on his knowledge of her disappearance. It is not an incredibly far drive from Florida just up the interstate to the area where she vanished from. I am unaware of any murders he was convicted on where the victim was from the mid-Atlantic area... I'm not an expert on Lucas. It's my understanding he had only like three murders he could definitely be linked to as having committed, but that there are as many as 100 murders he could've committed all over the United States. He seemed to mainly operate and travel around locations east of the Mississippi River, living in southern states like Texas and Florida, and Maryland is not a stretch. He was born in Virginia so it makes sense he had familiarity of the major roads and highways in the mid-Atlantic and could've been heading up there in the summer of 1981 to commit murders. Hardly no way of knowing now since he is deceased.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

Kathryn's father, Roland, is turning 78 soon. As per public records, he's lived at various addresses and appears to have moved around a lot, residing in a few different states in the years following his daughter's disappearance. Probably had painful memories of his home in Delmar because that's where she was last seen. He now resides in a town only about 15 miles away from Delmar. What adds insult to injury is that Mr. Quackenbush has a professional background in law enforcement, in addition to serving in the US Army. I'm sure with his background, it's maddening on so many levels wondering what happened that night... he probably wonders if the person next to him getting milk at the grocery store is the one who kidnapped and killed his daughter. I couldn't imagine the restlessness and paranoia, not knowing if it's a local or some psycho passing through, etc.

 

[ekardh]

Bumping for Kitty.

I have tried to reach out to her extended family but hit a brick wall. I hope someone is still thinking of her somewhere.

 

[chaddylex]

Katheryn's NamUs profile was last modified on 5/19/20https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/1840/details?nav
She currently has 15 rule outs listed
UP6279 12/18/1996 Fairfax VA
UP15630 07/03/1984 Cuyahoga OH
UP8419 01/16/2001 Isle of Wight VA
UP6629 02/03/1991 Frederick VA
UP12683 06/06/2014 Newport News VA
UP6661 02/03/1991 Stafford VA
UP6642 08/07/1986 Chesterfield VA
UP6796 11/18/1985 Alleghany VA
UP1567 06/01/1987 Knox TN
UP8493 12/06/1993 Fairfax VA
UP1513 07/15/1982 Warren NJ
UP1582 10/21/1981 Cheatham TN
UP8427 07/17/1982 Washoe NV
UP4768 04/19/1990 Licking OH
UP6485 02/11/1982 Prince William VA

 

[Thewop356]

Yeah, Henry Lee Lucas. He was responsible for a murder in Texas earlier that year but I believe he was known to be traveling around the East Coast at that time and was employed still with a roofing company in Florida(?) that year, which is why he was questioned on his knowledge of her disappearance. It is not an incredibly far drive from Florida just up the interstate to the area where she vanished from. I am unaware of any murders he was convicted on where the victim was from the mid-Atlantic area... I'm not an expert on Lucas. It's my understanding he had only like three murders he could definitely be linked to as having committed, but that there are as many as 100 murders he could've committed all over the United States. He seemed to mainly operate and travel around locations east of the Mississippi River, living in southern states like Texas and Florida, and Maryland is not a stretch. He was born in Virginia so it makes sense he had familiarity of the major roads and highways in the mid-Atlantic and could've been heading up there in the summer of 1981 to commit murders. Hardly no way of knowing now since he is

Yeah, Henry Lee Lucas. He was responsible for a murder in Texas earlier that year but I believe he was known to be traveling around the East Coast at that time and was employed still with a roofing company in Florida(?) that year, which is why he was questioned on his knowledge of her disappearance. It is not an incredibly far drive from Florida just up the interstate to the area where she vanished from. I am unaware of any murders he was convicted on where the victim was from the mid-Atlantic area... I'm not an expert on Lucas. It's my understanding he had only like three murders he could definitely be linked to as having committed, but that there are as many as 100 murders he could've committed all over the United States. He seemed to mainly operate and travel around locations east of the Mississippi River, living in southern states like Texas and Florida, and Maryland is not a stretch. He was born in Virginia so it makes sense he had familiarity of the major roads and highways in the mid-Atlantic and could've been heading up there in the summer of 1981 to commit murders. Hardly no way of knowing now since he is deceased.

Henry Lee Lucas was definitely questioned about this disappearance. What he said about it am unsure of, but what I am 100% sure of is that the police in the state of Delaware ran 2 separate NCIC checks on Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole in June and July 1981...so both of those creeps were in the area when Kathryn went missing, which is why Lucas was officially questioned. I know that he was also questioned about an unsolved murder in New Castle, DE of Linda O'Day and I think it was in that same summer (not sure about that though). Lucas definitely used US RT13 and knew it well. If you can dig up the Lucas Report done by Vic Feazell, you will get a verified timeliness of where they definitively knew where Lucas was from like 1975 til his arrest and they even mention during that timeline when they couldn't verify his location. He was DEFINITELY around the area of Kathryn in the summer or 1981 and that is verified.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Kathryn Mae Quackenbush – The Charley Project

 

[ARTEMIS1759]

Sadly, I may have the answer, but unable to prove it. Follow with me. My late wife (cremated) always claimed she had been kidnapped and had ties to Geogia and Maryland. Her birth cert said Anne Annundrel hospital in MD but her social would bring up a dead person when she was younger when she tried to get her card. She was brought into a family that lived in Colorado, Illinois and Montana. Claiming she knew they had killed their daughter who looked very similar to her in looks. They moved around a lot. When I saw the pic of kitty, as crappy as it is, they could have almost been twins. Caity went by Cat and had switched her name that was on her birth cert from Dody to Caitlyn in 1991 or 1992 to make sure someone could not track her that meant harm. I did an overlay of her pic and Kathryn's pic and yeah, it is damn close. But, she passed In 2018 and I have no DNA.