OR OR - Niki Britten, 15, Albany, 16 July 1969

[faerieskye]

I am thinking she was gone before she was 20. Hope it wasn't the case, but her mother didn't even try looking for her daughter it seems Such a sad life

 

[Richard]

New developments in the John Norman Collins case, FWIW: John Norman Collins: Michigan murders serial killer cases unsolved

Thanks for the link to this article. Sounds like there may be more follow up articles to come.

The article mentions that Collins was the main suspect in 7 Michigan murders and one murder in Salinas California.

One Michigan murder - that of Jane Mixer - it states was later (2004) connected to Gary Leiterman who was tried and convicted of it and given a life sentence. He died in the past year.

The article mentions that some investigators think Collins may have committed other murders as well. This was certainly true at the time frame of 1967-1969 even before Collins was identified as their suspect. There were at least two other murders which were thought to be part of the series, but which were later tied to other individuals (separately).

Collins was only convicted of one murder (Karen Sue Beineman). Although there was much circumstantial evidence and clues which tied him to other murders, it was not as strong and compelling legally. Things like items of one victim being at the site of the next murder tied them together, but not necessarily to Collins.

There is also the question: "Did Collins act entirely alone - or did he have accomplices?"

All of the cases associated with the Michigan Murders, were known murders in which the body was found more or less in the open. What of other possible cases in which a body was NOT found, but the person went missing?

In the case of Roxie Ann Phillips, murdered in Salinas, CA - It is almost certain that Collins killed her and forensic evidence was found in his car upon his Michigan arrest. California authorities requested that Collins be extradited from Michigan, but their request was turned down until after the Michigan trials. Later, after Collins' conviction in Michigan, he was offered to California for trial in Roxie's murder, but California then declined.

My reason for mentioning Collins in this thread on Niki Britten is that Collins and his friend Manuel were at the time in transit by car from California to Michigan, and could have passed thru Oregon while enroute.

 

[theshadow45]

Niki has been missing for 51 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Niki’s birthday.

 

[FOXINBOX]

Runaway... kiss my furry! [Sorry for the language, non-foxes] A real catchall for someone nobody could be bothered about. Let's hope things have improved since the 1960s.

 

[Diane Redfern]

I think that maybe Niki run away, but something happened to her afterwards. There's nothing about the circumstances: Why did she escape from her grandparents' home? Did they have a fight? Did Niki have a boyfriend or a group of friends her grandparents didn't approve? Did she plan to attend a party or something?

We can't forget she was a teenager (from what appears to be an unstructured family) and teens need friends, most of the times teenagers feel closer to their friends than to their families (normal thing, we all have to find our identities out of our family circle). And that's even more important if you don't belong to a very close family or if you are a runaway.

What I want to say is that adults may run away alone, but not teenagers. So... where are the interviews to her friends? It's like there's a huge lack of info about her life. If she escaped, someone knew where she was going, what plans and hobbies she had... I think her group of friends must know something important. I'm not saying they were responsible of her disappearance, but perhaps they suspect what happened to her.

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

"Two months later in September, Niki called some friends of her grandparents thinking they'd be there. When they weren't there, she told these friends that she was working in New York and that things were fine. They never heard from Niki again after that.
A long time after that call (I've never been able to find out exactly when), a letter signed "Niki" was found at the home of her grandparents. The letter seemed disjointed and didn't actually sound like Niki. She wrote not to worry about her and that she had“been to a lot of places” and was living with “some people in a big old house.” She further stated that she "might come home someday but right now I have to what's right for me". Nancy said that the handwriting looked very similar to her mother's, although she pointed out that many of the women in her family have similar styles of penmanship. Still, even to this day, she isn't sure if the note was really from her daughter or if her mother wrote it to comfort herself"
https://www.reddit.com/r/Unresolved...iki_britten_disappeared_in_1969_presumably_a/

The handwritten letter is interesting. Was it typical of Niki to leave notes for her family? In my family, it was normal and no question we would know if the writing was mine or my mom's etc. I also don't understand the whole part about the possibility that the mom wrote it to "comfort herself". That's just weird. Plain and simple, did the Mom write it or not?

Niki allegedly made a phone call to the grandparent's friends prior to the note being found. She didn't try to reach her own mother and grandparents at any point? Perhaps this could be because it wasn't her that called and the family would have known it wasn't her. The caller said she was working in New York. What would a 15 year old be doing for work in New York? And why NY? How did she get there from Oregon? Did she have friends who could drive? Did she hitchhike? Take a bus? Could she have known people there?

The note is also really vague, almost as if someone else wrote it. If you took a moment to leave a note for your family- especially if you were a regular note writer, wouldn't you provide more details? "Hey I'm going to visit my friend Janine in Rochester, New York. I'll be home next week". The phone call and the note just seem purposefully random and vague. If it really was Niki, then it seems she really didn't care nor want to be found. Did she really make the trek back to Oregon to place a note and then turn around and leave?

But if it was someone else, the question is why and who would go through all the trouble to cover their tracks making it look like Niki willingly took off. Another young female friend of hers seems logical. Who else would know to leave a note and to phone not the mom nor grandparents, but the grandparents friends.

It's important to know if it was typical of her to leave notes. Someone went back to plant a note. So who was it?

 

[theshadow45]

Niki has been missing for 52 years today.

 

[StarrChance]

Niki had a history of running away from 13 years old, there are quite a few newspapers articles but this one stood out to me, she was only 13 yet claiming another identity. By 15 (one week from 16) she could have had the street smarts to change her name.

Oct 66

 

[StarrChance]

Try again

Apologies the article won’t post. Basically when she ran away at thirteen she gave the name Diane Debbie Deylon and was in juvenile detention for a few days also claimed she couldn’t remember where she had been.

 

[fred&edna]

Try again

Keep trying. I hope the link will eventually work. Thanks for research!

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Niki's birthday.

 

[Clandestine]

How sure are we that Niki really made that phone call to her grandparents's friends in September 1969? Could she have tried to hitchhike to LA and been murdered en route?

Is it possible that Niki could be Castaic Jane Doe?

Namus
Doe Network

Height and hair color matches but age range is off. Niki was 15 when she went missing, and the lower range for this Doe is 19.

 

[Diane Redfern]

"When Niki was 13, she was last seen on a Monday morning, when she left her home to go to school. Her books and eyeglasses were found at Bryant Park, with no sign of Niki. Searches of the area were conducted to no avail. Two days later, Niki was picked up near a Sears store, and questioned. She told police her name was Diane Debbie Deylon, and did not admit to her true identity until her parents were brought to the police station to identify her.
After admitting she was Niki, she insisted that she did not remember where she had been in the time she was missing."
Source: Niki Britten
This is very interesting. I think Niki remembered where she spent those two days, but refused to reveal it... so she could have a safe place to run away. And, what was she doing in Sears? Did she steal food or something? Was Niki hungry or thirsty? If she wasn't, clearly she spent that time in a home with someone, probably an adult, or hidden in a place where someone brought her food and water.

 

[HopeRains]

From Newspapers.com Greater Oregon, 21 Oct 66, pg 4

 

[FOXINBOX]

From Newspapers.com Greater Oregon, 21 Oct 66, pg 4
View attachment 351642

This sounds very much like a seizure, possibly brought about by stress.

 

[theshadow45]

Niki has been missing for 53 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Niki’s birthday.

 

[StarrChance]

This sounds very much like a seizure, possibly brought about by stress.

“Did not appear to recognise some relatives “
Hadn’t thought about a medical issue, interesting.

 

[Palisades]

If she has a history of running away, and one time she tried to claim another identity, any chance she is Ledyard Jane Doe? She seems close to her grandparents, and Ledyard Jane Doe has a 1917 class ring.