WA WA - Mary Patricia Burns, 30, Bothell, 13 Dec 1977

[Kodiak]

Mary Patricia Burns, 30, disappeared on December 13, 1977 from a boutique store where she worked in Bothell, Washington. Burns worked at the store earlier that day, and was seen talking with a tall man. She was last seen that evening at 6:45 p.m. when she left her sister-in-law’s home to return to the store. Later that night, at 9 p.m., when her sister-in-law arrived to help close the store, Burns was missing. The cash register was empty, and .22 caliber casings were on the floor. Burns' glasses were found in the shop, and her car was still in the parking lot.

On January 4, 1978, South Michigan prison escapee, Robert Elmore Taylor, was arrested in the Seattle area after he robbed a massage parlor, and abducted two female employees. Later that evening, the two females managed to wrestle with Taylor when he had a gun. Taylor was shot twice in the stomach with his own gun, and the women escaped. While recovering from his wounds in the hospital, police searched Taylor’s apartment and found credit cards belonging to Burns' husband, along with clothing and hangers from the Bothell boutique. The F.B.I. also reported to Bothell police that a fiber from his boot matched the carpet in the store.

Before he escaped in June 1977, Taylor was a convicted killer serving a 240 year term for robbery, kidnapping, assault, and the murder of 21 year old, Michigan resident, Valerie Lee Mills. After he was charged with the massage parlor robbery and kidnappings, he was sent to Walla Walla State Penitentiary where he was stabbed to death by an inmate in 1979. At the the time of his death, police said they had all the evidence against Taylor in the disappearance of Burns, everything but a body.

The remains of Mary Patricia Burns have never been found, and her case has remained cold. As of this writing, Burns is not listed on The Doe Network. No identifiable information is known at this time.


Articles on the Disappearance of Burns:

“Police Seeking Man” December 23, 1977
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=2422,1697003&dq=mary+patricia+burns&hl=en


“Man in Custody” January 7, 1978
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...7,303949&dq=robert+elmore+taylor&hl=en’


“Michigan escapee is suspect” January 12, 1978
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=6853,3907902&dq=james+elmore+taylor&hl=en


“Escapee quizzed about missing woman” January 12, 1978
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=2314,3148686&dq=missing+bothell+woman&hl=en


“Police Probe Killer” January 12, 1978
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=6644,2317698&dq=james+elmore+taylor&hl=en


“Murder Mystery Prisoner died with secrets” March 8, 1979
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=6252,4352697&dq=missing+bothell+woman&hl=en


“Case Dies With Con” March 8, 1979
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...qQSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4705,2141374


“Disappearance could remain unsolved” March 8, 1979
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=1539,2621503&dq=james+elmore+taylor&hl=en


"The Human Side of Homicide" By Bruce L. Danto, John Bruhns, Austin H. Kutscher
A 1982 book that gives details into the murder of Valerie Lee Mills and mentions the Mary Patricia Burns crime:
http://books.google.com/books?id=On...age&q="Valerie Mills" Michigan murder&f=false

 

[Kodiak]

Mary Patricia Burns

30 years old at time of disappearance in 1977
Height: 5' 2"
Weight: 115 lbs
Hair: Light Brown
Features: Freckles, wears reading glasses

I did some research in the Seattle Times archives and found the original articles on her case. To date, she has never been found, nor has her remains. There is no missing person report on file from the Doe Network and the Charley Project. I am listing this info in the hopes that her case can be revived and if any unidentified remains of a small female in the Pacific Northwest region are found, they could be hers.

Seattle Times articles from December 1977 to May 1978:

 

[Kodiak]

Emailed the Bothell Police Department asking if they would be willing to submit Burns's case for the Doe Network or NamUs. A Detective was kind enough to respond back saying the case was still open and that open cases cannot be discussed due to department policy, prohibiting giving anyone information on open and active cases.

 

[Kodiak]

If anyone is ever interested in this case, I do have a theory regarding the Burns abduction from reading the Valerie Lee Mills chapter in "The Human Side of Homicide" By Bruce L. Danto, John Bruhns, Austin H. Kutscher. You can contact me via PM.

 

[janet franson]

Kodiak,
I just got the Mary Burns abduction case entered in NamUs. Do you have any documentation - especially newspaper articles, I would like to see them. Would you please email me at janet.franson@unthsc.edu ?
janet

 

[Kodiak]

Hi Janet.

Thank you for entering in Mary Burns' case into NamUs. There is a pdf attachment of my research of documentation in this thread. See Post #2. I also just emailed you about the case as well.

 

[Kodiak]

A big THANK YOU to janet franson for entering Mary Burns into NamUs. And another big THANK YOU to the "nice cop" for looking into Mary's case. Again, thank you to the both of you and for your hard work. I, and everyone here on Websleuths, appreciate it!

For any WS members interested in this case, Mary Burns is NamUs MP #22715:
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/22715/1/

 

[Merry]

Woah. I never knew there was any missing people out of the small town I currently live in even though this is from four decades ago. I doubt her remains would be located in Bothell. The only forested area there is left here in Bothell now adays is North Creek, which my boyfriend is one of many people getting all worked up and paranoid about the forest being torn down for housing divisions or business lots since there has been a lot of construction going on in town. One small town over in Kenmore there is a huge field and trail at this one park. How does this case not have more attention and work done apron it? JMO and :twocents:

 

[Kodiak]

Woah. I never knew there was any missing people out of the small town I currently live in even though this is from four decades ago. I doubt her remains would be located in Bothell. The only forested area there is left here in Bothell now adays is North Creek, which my boyfriend is one of many people getting all worked up and paranoid about the forest being torn down for housing divisions or business lots since there has been a lot of construction going on in town. One small town over in Kenmore there is a huge field and trail at this one park. How does this case not have more attention and work done apron it? JMO and :twocents:

I'm local, too. This is a big step forward for this case! A case that has sadly fallen through the cracks of time and went cold, and was forgotten quickly. I have a feeling that this case it now going to get the exposure it deserves in helping to find the remains of Mary Burns. I do not think her abductor kept her in the Bothell area after he took her. There are many things in this crime that parallels to his murder of Valerie Lee Mills a few years before and she was not found near the area where he abducted her... which was inside the lobby of a Howard Johnson motel where she worked.

 

[Kodiak]

I did some more compiling of research on this case and came across a newspaper article that I had not found before. According to this article, Robert Elmore Taylor shared a house in Bothell. I know the locale of where the boutique store was... and I wonder how far he lived from the store?

See article:

Theft-Assult Nets 240 Years

Also, this is a *correction* to my original post (#1) from 2010. Robert Taylor had escaped from the Michigan prison while serving a "life sentence" for the murder of Valerie Lee Mills. The 240 year sentence was for the Seattle massage parlor crimes that did not include the Mary Burns case. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Mary was added to Charley Project - http://charleyproject.org/cases/b/burns_mary.html

 

[Kodiak]

Mary was added to Charley Project - http://charleyproject.org/cases/b/burns_mary.html

This more great news!

Thank you, SheWhoMustNotBeNamed.

And thank you to the Charley Project for creating a listing for Mary's case!

It makes me so happy that Mary's case is being brought back into the light after sitting in darkness the last few decades. I really appreciate all the work and effort lately from everyone. Wow, last week was NamUs and now the Charley Project. I never would have thought this case would ever see light again. And all it took was just a little research and some prodding from my mother... who remembered it very well when it happened in 1977.

 

[Kodiak]

Because this cold case is being brought back to life, I am downloading my notes regarding the similarities and theories between the Valerie Lee Mills and Mary Burns cases. These notes are based from research from the book, "The Human Side of Homicide," and several newspaper reports on both crimes.

 

[rosario]

Bumping

 

[Kodiak]

Bump!

In memory of Mary Patricia Burns, who disappeared on this date, upon this night, 36 years ago.

 

[Merry]

Bump. NamUs still says Samples Submitted - Tests not complete. I wonder where Mary's remains would be found. The Charley Project said the two female massage parlor employees abducted by Robert Elmore Taylor at gunpoint were also in Bothell. Doubting she'll be found nearby though. JMO

 

[Kodiak]

Bump. NamUs still says Samples Submitted - Tests not complete. I wonder where Mary's remains would be found. The Charley Project said the two female massage parlor employees abducted by Robert Elmore Taylor at gunpoint were also in Bothell. Doubting she'll be found nearby though. JMO

Yeah, and another article stated that Taylor lived in Bothell, too... a house he rented with two other roommates. But, then again, there are other articles stating he lived near Seattle and the massage parlor was in Seattle, too. And those articles were local here from the Seattle Times. So, I'm not sure what might be correct or not. Sounds like they have received DNA from a family member, perhaps her son, and they are not complete. Until the results are complete, for all we know, Mary could already be found and LE just doesn't know yet.

As for her being found nearby, see post #13.

 

[Merry]

I guess they are saying Bothell, because of it being a suburb of Seattle at the time. Well, now that Kenmore is it's own town, which has actually a higher population, Bothell is no longer a suburb of Seattle. Kenmore did not become it's own town until like 1998, is right next to Seattle, and before was part of Bothell. Matter of fact, Bothell is pretty much equally apart from Everett and Seattle. I personally feel Bothell is more in the Everett metropolitan area. JMO

 

[Kodiak]

BUMP!


The NamUs DNA status of Mary Patricia Burns is now: Sample submitted - Tests complete

 

[Kodiak]

I'm really hoping that Mary's case will be added to The Doe Network some time in the near future. She's already on NamUs. Please add Mary.

The Doe Network Missing Person Case Submission:

http://www.doenetwork.org/forms/index.php?sid=57874&lang=en