VT VT - Lynne Kathryn Schulze, 18, Middlebury, 10 Dec 1971

[carbuff]

I certainly believe LE was acting sincerely and competently, but that wouldn't prevent them from being wrong, unfortunately.

 

[Zephyranth]

Here's the Kaleidoscope from 1972; this link goes to the English and Drama department, but you can page through the whole thing:

The Kaleidoscope 1972 : Middlebury College : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

 

[Zephyranth]

I certainly believe LE was acting sincerely and competently, but that wouldn't prevent them from being wrong, unfortunately.

Out of curiosity, why would it be more logical to guess that the police are wrong?

Their own reputations are on the line; they don't have much incentive to recklessly get this wrong. Police are very, very good at remaining silent vs. making themselves look silly. They've let an entire family live for 40 years in that silence, rather than risk forming conclusions that might prove to wrong and and embarrassing to the department.

Yet in one short summer, police in two states arrested an accused murderer, searched a property, and brought the victim's family in from all over the country; they even apologized for not searching the property when Lynne disappeared. Where is the logic for us to presume this unprecedented new police activity is wrong and meaningless? (I don't mean any of this snarkily; just probing the logic).

By the way--why did Vermont police apologize for not searching Vilner's Ripton property in 1971? Taken at face value, that apology would imply that police should have thought to search it in 1971. Why should they have known to search it then (we've asked this before here)?

This hints that there was something about the property and its connection to Lynne that shouldn't have been missed. Could it be as simple as Vilner owning both the property where Lynne was last seen, and the property in Vermont? Neglecting to search the store owner's second, rural property could constitute a clear oversight.

 

[carbuff]

It would be more correct to say that I consider it unproven than to say I think they're wrong. Three-value logic: yes, no, unknown. And I don't think there was anything reckless or careless about their actions or their investigation. But if there was hard evidence that Lynne died anywhere, especially on that property, she wouldn't still be listed as a missing person.

I agree, I wish we knew why they think they should have connected her to the property in Ripton in 1971. I can think of several scenarios that would completely change my view of the case.

Not long ago you were hot on the theory that her father's profession and political connections had something to do with her disappearance. Did something make you change your mind? Your research is actually what convinced me they had had a major rupture and she left to make her own way.

 

[Zephyranth]

I can definitely go with unproven.

By the way, I can't emphasize how much I appreciate the back-and-forth with everyone here on this case. Multiple perspectives and the fervent discussion they bring are so vital, in my experience, to making progress on a case which has few known facts to work with.

As for Otto Schulze's importance in the nuclear field, I've never thought it too likely that she and he had a disagreement over it, particularly because he would logically have been an industry whistleblower. In other words, if he were the protest-marching type (he wasn't), he'd have been marching with the students.

But a kidnapping to pressure Otto's potential testimony at the Bethesda hearings? I definitely can't overlook the timing here: the first announcement of Lynne's disappearance was withheld for seven weeks, then released 3 days before the hearings began (most were released the day the hearings began). After Lynne's disappearance, Otto allegedly "quite the nuclear industry and went into oil," but I don't necessarily believe that.

<modsnip: not in MSM or per LE>

Putting all of this back in the logic spinner again, then, it's a hard call for me: the nuclear issue was hotter than hot, and whistleblowers in such cases are under incredible pressure (some die). At the same time, logically, a pregnant teen being disappeared by a professor (or his friends) is, sadly, statistically a strong scenario, perhaps statistically stronger than the blackmail of a nuclear industry whistleblower.

I can't escape the possibility of Durst having killed on someone's behalf; if the hearing transcripts prove how Schulze testified (if he did), we might get a better idea of that angle. If Lynne's body is found and she *was* pregnant, I think the pregnancy angle makes it a straightforward case in that direction.

An accidental overdose (or accidental death of some other kind) while hanging out with the professors, Vilner, etc., whereafter they hid her body, is also a possibility to me although no one has suggested Lynne was into drugs.

Just because the body seems to now be thought to be on or near Vilner's rural property doesn't mean he was present for the wrongdoing; perhaps someone just asked him (or didn't ask him) to use the property to hide a body.

Whatever the motive, Lynne's connection to both properties begins in 2012 with someone saying the health food store was her last known location, and takes the next step in 2015 with someone realizing the owner of the health food store owned a property in Ripton. Again, the Israels are the only people to have publicly attempted to connect Durst to both these properties, yet Vilner is the only one with a proven connection to both.

Vilner supports them on the store, but resists them on Robbins Crossroad. Does he have incentive to resist the story of a "serial killer" being on his rural property (perhaps related to someone else's incentive in suggesting a "serial killer" lived on that property?)

 

[Mysteries1974]

It would be more correct to say that I consider it unproven than to say I think they're wrong. Three-value logic: yes, no, unknown. And I don't think there was anything reckless or careless about their actions or their investigation. But if there was hard evidence that Lynne died anywhere, especially on that property, she wouldn't still be listed as a missing person.

I agree, I wish we knew why they think they should have connected her to the property in Ripton in 1971. I can think of several scenarios that would completely change my view of the case.

Not long ago you were hot on the theory that her father's profession and political connections had something to do with her disappearance. Did something make you change your mind? Your research is actually what convinced me they had had a major rupture and she left to make her own way.

If Lynne’s DNA was found on the property or naything else then she is still considered missing solely due to the fact that her body wasn’t found.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Here's the Kaleidoscope from 1972; this link goes to the English and Drama department, but you can page through the whole thing:

The Kaleidoscope 1972 : Middlebury College : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Lynne isn’t in this I’m assuming

 

[Mysteries1974]

I can definitely go with unproven.

By the way, I can't emphasize how much I appreciate the back-and-forth with everyone here on this case. Multiple perspectives and the fervent discussion they bring are so vital, in my experience, to making progress on a case which has few known facts to work with.

As for Otto Schulze's importance in the nuclear field, I've never thought it too likely that she and he had a disagreement over it, particularly because he would logically have been an industry whistleblower. In other words, if he were the protest-marching type (he wasn't), he'd have been marching with the students.

But a kidnapping to pressure Otto's potential testimony at the Bethesda hearings? I definitely can't overlook the timing here: the first announcement of Lynne's disappearance was withheld for seven weeks, then released 3 days before the hearings began (most were released the day the hearings began). After Lynne's disappearance, Otto allegedly "quite the nuclear industry and went into oil," but I don't necessarily believe that.

<modsnip: not in MSM or per LE>

Putting all of this back in the logic spinner again, then, it's a hard call for me: the nuclear issue was hotter than hot, and whistleblowers in such cases are under incredible pressure (some die). At the same time, logically, a pregnant teen being disappeared by a professor (or his friends) is, sadly, statistically a strong scenario, perhaps statistically stronger than the blackmail of a nuclear industry whistleblower.

I can't escape the possibility of Durst having killed on someone's behalf; if the hearing transcripts prove how Schulze testified (if he did), we might get a better idea of that angle. If Lynne's body is found and she *was* pregnant, I think the pregnancy angle makes it a straightforward case in that direction.

An accidental overdose (or accidental death of some other kind) while hanging out with the professors, Vilner, etc., whereafter they hid her body, is also a possibility to me although no one has suggested Lynne was into drugs.

Just because the body seems to now be thought to be on or near Vilner's rural property doesn't mean he was present for the wrongdoing; perhaps someone just asked him (or didn't ask him) to use the property to hide a body.

Whatever the motive, Lynne's connection to both properties begins in 2012 with someone saying the health food store was her last known location, and takes the next step in 2015 with someone realizing the owner of the health food store owned a property in Ripton. Again, the Israels are the only people to have publicly attempted to connect Durst to both these properties, yet Vilner is the only one with a proven connection to both.

Vilner supports them on the store, but resists them on Robbins Crossroad. Does he have incentive to resist the story of a "serial killer" being on his rural property (perhaps related to someone else's incentive in suggesting a "serial killer" lived on that property?)

If you have read recent articles on Durst you would be able to recognize the one piece of evidence that could connect Durst to Lynne’s disappearance. In the articles his wife who vanished in 1982 and husbands friends and other people described Durst as having a “Homicidal” side to him. They believe that Durst killed before his wife’s disappearance. They think he could’ve killed people randomly. Do remember that durst is a suspect in the 1997 disappearance of a California girl.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-20180418-story.html?outputType=amp

Kathleen Durst – The Charley Project

Karen Marie Mitchell – The Charley Project

Lynne Kathryn Schulze – The Charley Project

 

[carbuff]

If Lynne’s DNA was found on the property or naything else then she is still considered missing solely due to the fact that her body wasn’t found.

Okay, that's true, but they usually phrase it differently. So it might not mean anything.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Okay, that's true, but they usually phrase it differently. So it might not mean anything.

Hmmm your probably right but we really don’t know and not much publicity has been brought to Lynne’s case besides the Durst link.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Lynne’s disappearance will turn 47 years old on December 10th this year and I was hoping it would be solved by now.

 

[carbuff]

Lynne’s disappearance will turn 47 years old on December 10th this year and I was hoping it would be solved by now.

Totally agree with you there.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Totally agree with you there.

Yeah. The likelihood of Lynne matching any UIDs is low because she either ran away from her life or she’s buried somewhere in Vermont.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Does she have DNA now? It’s says that a smalle hasn’t not been submitted according to the doe network.

 

[carbuff]

Does she have DNA now? It’s says that a smalle hasn’t not been submitted according to the doe network.

One of the 2012 articles said they had DNA at that point. I suspect that for whatever reason it's being held by local LE rather than uploaded to CODIS or another shared database.

 

[Mysteries1974]

One of the 2012 articles said they had DNA at that point. I suspect that for whatever reason it's being held by local LE rather than uploaded to CODIS or another shared database.

Well it would help to have her DNA entered into the databases.

 

[Mysteries1974]

I honestly think that Durst killed Lynne along with other people and they covered up the whole crime. I think I’ll look at social media outlets to see if Lynne could be on one of them.

 

[carbuff]

Well it would help to have her DNA entered into the databases.

Of course it would. I don't know what the agencies that don't upload DNA are thinking. Maybe there's a reason (DNA quality or something) that makes a hand comparison necessary.

It's possible the DNA is uploaded but the information hasn't been updated.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Of course it would. I don't know what the agencies that don't upload DNA are thinking. Maybe there's a reason (DNA quality or something) that makes a hand comparison necessary.

It's possible the DNA is uploaded but the information hasn't been updated.

Yeah I was think the update thing too.

 

[Zephyranth]

Here's one of the very earliest articles - I couldn't find a text version of it, so thought it might be useful to type and add to this thread. Still trying to find the author's name - a scan is here.

Burlington Free Press

January 21, 1972

Missing Coed’s Parents Ask Aid

MIDDLEBURY – A Middlebury College freshman girl has not been heard from since Friday afternoon, Dec. 10. Miss Lynne Schulze, 17, was last seen walking (or hitchhiking) on U.S. 7 a short distance south of Middlebury village. She vanished without a word of explanation to her parents, college, authorities, friends or close associates in Battell dormitory where she lived. Lynne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto A. Schulze of Simsbury, Conn., left behind all her clothing except what she was wearing, her hiking backpack, ID card and checkbook reported Mrs. Erica Wonnacott, dean of students.

Little concern was felt at first over the absence of the dark blonde, 5-foot-3, 113-pound freshman, who was described by Mrs. Wonnacott as “an independent girl.” Her 18th birthday will be Feb. 9. Many students leave college to go home or to visit friends over the weekends, explained Mrs. Wonnacott on Thursday as she disclosed details of Lynne’s mysterious disappearance at the author’s request in the hope some clues would turn up.

Alarm is now being felt by the girl’s parents for her safety, although there is no evidence of foul play – only the continued silence. Lynne’s disappearance came just before exam time at Middlebury, but the college attaches no particular significance to this fact. While she may not have been living quite up to the promises contained in her Simsbury High scholastic record, like so many first-year college students, said Mrs. Wonnacott, Lynne was “far from failing.” When she failed to show up for her English exam on the following Tuesday, an exam for which “she had studied,” according to her dorm associates, her absence became disturbing.

Middlebury College authorities called her parents in Simsbury to find out if Lynne was home. When Mr. and Mrs. Schulze expressed surprise and concern, Middlebury village and state police were notified and a description given of the girl. At the time of her disappearance, police were told Lynne was wearing blue jeans, brown nylon ski parka, navy blue pullover sweater and hiking boots.

At the parents request of no publicity for fear of frightening their daughter, there has been no public announcement to this puzzling case. A quiet search began, aided by Lynne’s college associates who “went everywhere in running down possible leas,” related Mrs. Wonnacott.

On the latest of a number of trips Schulze has made to Middlebury since mid-December, the father authorized removal of the secrecy lid he clamped on his daughter’s disappearance and appealed to the public for help in locating Lynne. He has also notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but expects little help from this quarter unless it can be shown interstate movement is involved. To date, state police, who issued a general missing person’s broadcast when first notified, have uncovered no new leads, reported the Middlebury station. Middlebury College authorities reported they have no evidence of any mental depression or of boyfriends in the case.

Lynne has two sisters, one a University of Wisconsin student and the other in high school, and two brothers, ages 14 and 12. Her father is a business executive [sic], and her mother teaches.

Recalls Paula Weldon

MIDDLEBURY – The mysterious disappearance of 17-year-old Lynne Schulze, Middlebury College freshman, recalls the much publicized vanishing of Paul Weldon from Bennington College 25 years ago.

Paula was never found. Her parents lived in Stamford, Conn.

On Dec 1, 1946, Paula, 18, donned sneakers, dungarees and a red parka, and went for a walk. She left the Bennington College campus and was last seen headed up the Long Trail toward rugged Glastonbury Mountain. That was the last anyone ever saw of her. She was a quiet girl, deeply interested in botany – with a good record in her studies and no known worries.
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