WA WA - Laurie Partridge, 17, Spokane, 4 Dec 1974

[ADKGemini]

Laurie Lynn Partridge was a young woman who went missing after walking home from school in 1974. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance, which was initially treated as a runaway case.

Case
It is possible that a green station wagon was seen following Laurie when she disappeared. Laurie and her 20-year-old fiance planned to select a ring on the day she vanished but he was never considered a suspect, although three others have been named.

Contents of her purse were found in a wooded area, two days after she disappeared, indicating foul play.

It has been suggested that Ted Bundy may have been involved in her disappearance, yet her family no longer supports this theory.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[JrzyGirl70]

Some additional information:

More Questions than Answers Nearly 42 Years after Washington Teen Vanishes

 

[Richard]

Laurie Lynn Partridge

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Laurie, circa 1974; Age-progression to age 53 (circa 2010)

• Missing Since 12/04/1974
• Missing From Spokane, Washington
• Classification Non-Family Abduction
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 05/13/1957 (62)
• Age 17 years old
• Height and Weight 5'0, 110 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A long hooded navy blue coat similar to a monk's robe, a tan sweater, tan plaid pants and blue denim shoes with crepe soles. Carrying a brown leather purse with a blue flower design and a braided shoulder strap.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Laurie has a brown mole on her right cheek.

Details of Disappearance
Laurie left her classes at Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington at 12:30 p.m. on December 4, 1974, because she felt was suffering from menstrual cramps. She was unable to find a ride and decided to walk the two miles to her home in the 5400 block of south Custer Street.

She was last seen walking south on Havana Street near 37th Avenue. There were reports that a green Pinto station wagon was in the area at the time, possibly following her.

Laurie never arrived home and has never been heard from again. Her parents reported her missing when she failed to report for work at the Lincoln Heights Theater.

Laurie's father had bought her tickets to a Beach Boys concert which took place after disappearance, and the police went to the concert to see if she would arrive there. They did not see her.

It was later determined that Laurie's tickets were in fact used, but authorities were unable to find out who used them. The contents of her purse were located in the area where she was last seen on December 6, 1974, two days following her disappearance.

Authorities initially believed Laurie left of her own accord, but her family never believed this, and police have since revised their opinion; they now think she was taken against her will. She and her 20-year-old boyfriend were hoping to marry and were planning to select an engagement ring on the day of her disappearance.

She worked for her high school newspaper and was on the school drill team. Laurie is the oldest of five siblings. She had moved to Spokane from California just a few months before her disappearance, and had said she would like to return.

In 2011, investigators announced they had a new witness who may have seen Partridge during her walk home. Authorities haven't disclosed the witness's identity, but stated the person allegedly saw Laurie at 4:15 p.m., several hours after the last confirmed sighting of her. A Caucasian male in his forties or fifties, as well as a white truck with a dark-colored door and a van back end, were nearby.

Three suspects have been questioned in Laurie's case over the years, but no one has been charged in her case. Her boyfriend was questioned extensively but never named as a suspect. Her parents got a divorce after her disappearance, but later reconciled and remarried each other more than ten years later.

Laurie's mother died in 2004, but her father is still alive. Her case remains unsolved.

Source:

Laurie Lynn Partridge – The Charley Project

 

[skybluesea]

Bump

 

[ekardh]

Anyone else think it's a creepy detail that her concert tickets were used? I mean, the perpetrator might have sold them or gave them away but still.

 

[dotr]

Anyone else think it's a creepy detail that her concert tickets were used? I mean, the perpetrator might have sold them or gave them away but still.

Way creepy!

 

[Richard]

Could Laurie's disappearance have had anything to do with the 1974 World's Fair? Although it officially ended on 3 November 1974, there was a tremendous effort underway to remove exhibits, rides, temporary buildings, etc. for months afterward. This meant that there were many out-of-town workers and transients in the area for a long time.

Expo '74, Spokane's World's Fair, was an international exposition held from May 4 to November 3, 1974, in Spokane. With a population of only 170,000, Spokane was the smallest city ever to hold a world's fair, yet it attracted almost 5.2 million visitors.

The theme was the environment. Ten countries, including the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States, along with many states and corporations, hosted pavilions on the 100-acre site. The original impetus of the fair was to clean up and reclaim the land alongside the mighty falls of the Spokane River, which for decades had been clogged with railroad tracks, trestles, and warehouses.

Under the leadership of King Cole (1922-2010), a veteran of urban renewal projects, Spokane made the audacious decision to host a world's fair and then convert the downtown site into a public park.

After the fair closed, the site was revamped to become Riverfront Park, today the city's downtown showcase and gathering spot. David H. Rodgers (b. 1923) Spokane's mayor at the time, said, "Reduced to its essentials, we gave a great big party and the rest of the world came and paid the bill" ...

LINK:
Expo '74: Spokane World's Fair - HistoryLink.org

 

[Ozoner]

Anyone else think it's a creepy detail that her concert tickets were used? I mean, the perpetrator might have sold them or gave them away but still.

That detail makes me thing that she was killed by someone in her own age group or a little older. Using the concert tickets seems like something a young person would do.

 

[ekardh]

That detail makes me thing that she was killed by someone in her own age group or a little older. Using the concert tickets seems like something a young person would do.

Possibly. Although like I said, he might have easily given the tickets away or sold them.

 

[Seratonin]

That detail makes me thing that she was killed by someone in her own age group or a little older. Using the concert tickets seems like something a young person would do.

Or maybe a father with children who is a rapist/ murderer gave them to his children.

do u think they can ask the public to go into their time capsule and come forward if a mother or children remembers their father giving them those tickets spontaneously/ or a girl remembering her boyfriend surprising them with those tickets. Then u can continue a search from there for the people who come forward.

 

[Richard]

Laurie Lynn Partridge

17 years old
Missing since 4 December 1974

 

[Deenie1963]

I found out about a decade ago that Washington Serial Killer Stanley Bernsen worked at a fruit & vegetable store exactly 4 blocks away from the area where Laurie Partridge was last spotted at the time of her disappearance in Spokane in 1974. And Bernsen’s previous victims looked so similar to Laurie too. Adolescent females with blonde hair. I think Bernsen probably also has more victims than are actually attributed to him.

 

[ekardh]

I found out about a decade ago that Washington Serial Killer Stanley Bernsen worked at a fruit & vegetable store exactly 4 blocks away from the area where Laurie Partridge was last spotted at the time of her disappearance in Spokane in 1974. And Bernsen’s previous victims looked so similar to Laurie too. Adolescent females with blonde hair. I think Bernsen probably also has more victims than are actually attributed to him.

Apparently, Stanley Bernsen and Ted Bundy were both questioned by investigators about Laurie's disappearance.

The 1974 Disappearance of my Aunt Laurie Partridge

 

[Deenie1963]

Apparently, Stanley Bernsen and Ted Bundy were both questioned by investigators about Laurie's disappearance.

The 1974 Disappearance of my Aunt Laurie Partridge

Bundy was cleared fairly early on. Bernsen was only talked to once in the past 5-6 years as far as Cameo and I know. But Bernsen should have been interviewed decades ago. He was a serial killer in that area at the time won was in prison for killing girls that looked eerily similar to Laurie. So frustrating.

 

[Ozoner]

Bundy was cleared fairly early on. Bernsen was only talked to once in the past 5-6 years as far as Cameo and I know. But Bernsen should have been interviewed decades ago. He was a serial killer in that area at the time won was in prison for killing girls that looked eerily similar to Laurie. So frustrating.

What did Bernsen do with his victims? How did he dispose of their bodies? Is it thought that all of his other victims were found? He has to be at the top of the list of suspects.

 

[Deenie1963]

What did Bernsen do with his victims? How did he dispose of their bodies? Is it thought that all of his other victims were found? He has to be at the top of the list of suspects.

Bernsen wasn’t a suspect unto the past decade as far as we know. He buried his victims in a shallow grave. I think he had four victims but that’s off the top of my head but I do a lot of research so I could easily be wrong. I will look for the info again and share it on this thread. Still unbelievable to me that the Bernsen dots were not connected decades earlier though. And so frustrating. ‍

 

[SolVic]

I’m pretty sure Bundy did it. Just my opinion, however.

 

[Ozoner]

I’m pretty sure Bundy did it. Just my opinion, however.

Was he in the area? Did he have access to a green station wagon?

 

[SolVic]

Was he in the area? Did he have access to a green station wagon?

I don’t know. But if my memory serves, he was pulled over and questioned by police not long after her abduction.

 

[SolVic]

I’m pretty sure Bundy did it. Just my opinion, however.

I take that back. Maybe he did it, but now I’m not so sure.