CA CA - Linda Lovell, 25, & Stephen Packard, 18, Westport, 10 June 1974

[burblestein]

Oh, forgot to mention several suspicious deaths. And of course there are some ongoing homicide trials.

 

[burblestein]

Coleraine, I posted the Jerry Sullivan homicide over in Resolved Cases so you would receive credit. Incidentally, I never knew about the Sullivan murder until you found it. He's not one of my 60 cases.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...Vincent-Sullivan-20-Navarro-16-September-1975

 

[kemo]

Mendocino and neighboring Humboldt counties have a certain reputation for murders and disappearances going back to the 1970's. As the lumber industry went into decline, folks associated with the counter culture of the 1960's began moving up there. Marijuana
cultivation became the principle industry. Thieves began targeting the gardens and guns and a reputation for ruthlessness became vital for protecting ones crop. A Wild West atmosphere developed. Law enforcement may not have been particularly motivated to get involved and a certain type of person may have been attracted to the situation: sociopaths. While many of the murders involved "disputes" over pot growing, many didn't. Women hitchhikers were particularly vulnerable. People disappeared, bodies turned up and some arrests and convictions were made but a lot that has gone on in that region is still unsolved.

 

[Coleraine]

I appreciate the information on Mendocino and Humboldt counties. I had heard some of this in the past, but had forgotten it. It provides a disturbing background for the time/place in which Linda and Stephen disappeared.

Another point I forgot to mention in my previous post about the Cold Case Files episode on Jerry Sullivan.... A woman was interviewed who had been questioned by the police after Sullivan was found in 1975. She had been at the Summer Hill School (mentioned in the article on case in the link above), and told police that the composite of the hitchhiker who was with Sullivan resembled a former classmate of hers at the school. The former classmate was Robert Vaughn, the man who confessed to the crime in 2004. If he was described as a "former classmate" in 1975, there's a possibility that he was at the Summer Hill School in 1974. The Summer Hill School was in Caspar, CA which is a little over 30 minutes from Westport. Sullivan's body was found across the street from the Navarro General Store and Stephen's last traveler's check was cashed at the Westport General Store. I'm certainly not convinced that Vaughn had anything to do with Linda and Stephen's disappearance but he might have been in the general area at the that time, frequently hitchhiked while in the area and had a self-confessed tendency toward blackout murderous rages.

 

[burblestein]

As can be seen at https://archive.org/stream/ERIC_ED058499/ERIC_ED058499_djvu.txt Summerhill School was a residential "free school", and appears to have operated somewhat on the lines of Goddard College. That is, student-developed curriculum and a school democratically run by consensus. Linked article says 50 students and nine staff, but that was relatively early in the text. I must confess, I have not yet read the other 90% of said document.

 

[burblestein]

Barry Kirk Pinder 18 June 1974... http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ocino-County-18-June-1974&highlight=Mendocino

Linda and Steve 20 June 1974...

Jerry Sullivan sometime just before 16 September 1975...http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...Vincent-Sullivan-20-Navarro-16-September-1975...

in that same small area of the coast...makes a body wonder, doesn't it?

 

[Ozoner]

I used traveler's checks during the 70s. When you bought your traveler's checks from your bank, you signed every check. Came time to cash in, you had to show ID and counter-sign the check in front of the person cashing it. If the signature didn't match, or the ID was phony or missing, no money. A thief knowing that Linda and Steve had travelers' checks, and knowledgeable of how they worked, would have little incentive to steal the checks. An unknowing thief would find himself stuck with them.

In that situation, a thief would have figured out a way to pass some of them. A fake i.d. and a little practicing of the signature would have done the trick. In fact, he probably could have talked a few store clerks into accepting checks without an i.d., so some of them would have surfaced.
They may have been murdered, but that isn't the only possibility. They could be at the bottom of a pond, in the back seat of a car, along with a driver who picked them up; they could have gone to a solitary stretch of beach and drowned, and their personal effects could have been carried away by the tide; etc. A sleuth has to have something to go on, and in this case there just aren't any promising leads.

 

[Coleraine]

I agree that murder isn't the only possibility. I believe that burblestein mentioned earlier in the thread that they could have been victim to the dangerous northern CA surf while camping by the sea. But I keep coming back to the 11/17/85 Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS) article which notes: "Neither body was ever found, but after a three-month search, police told Packard that the couple was presumed murdered." And I wonder why police would have told Stephen's mother that. What made them believe that the couple was "presumed murdered" instead of a disappearance due to some unknown accident? That's why I have been looking for other events during that time and in that area that might have pushed law enforcement toward their conclusion.

 

[burblestein]

Indeed there are no promising leads YET. And there is no shortage of ways to end up deceased on the Mendocino coast. However, I am not yet at a dead end on this case.

 

[kemo]

When two people who are traveling together disappear, the are many explanations that fall into the realm of the "possible", but considering the time and place, being murdered is the most likely. This reminds me of the case of Mitchel Weiser and Bonita “Bonnie” Bickwit who disappeared while hitchhiking a year earlier in New York State.

Most likely they were killed by someone who picked them up rather than a fellow hitchhiker, because it would be near impossible to disappear two bodies without a vehicle. It would be interesting to know where Vaughn was in June '74 and if he had a car.

Hitchhiking was were common and drivers were often glad to pick them up back in that era. The increasing awareness of the number of hitchhikers and drivers who became victims greatly reduced the practice by the end of the decade.

Women traveling alone were the classic target of sexual predators but some high profile serial killers targeted young men as well. Many young people in the missing persons data bases from that era were know to hitchhike but no one knows the circumstances of their disappearance. In some respects, hitchhiking sets up a perfect crime. The perpetrator has no ties to the victim, the victim enters the vehicle voluntarily and the perpetrator is able control the crime scene and the dump site, and be long gone before a body is found. Usually no real effort is made conceal the bodies. Sometimes, in remote area with heavy vegetation, bodies dumped near a roadway are not found for years, if ever.

 

[burblestein]

All that you say, Kemo, is very true. However, you missed a very plausible possibility. The bluffs at Westport are a sheer drop into violent and tricky surf breaking against those rocky cliffs. They are high enough the drop would probably kill a person; if not, the surf would finish the job. Occasionally, a body will wash up again on the Mendocino Coast, but usually it's a case of out to sea they go.

A little appreciated hazard of this coast is the sleeper wave. Some poor innocent is situated a nice "safe" spot 10 feet or so above the wave line when a ginormous wave rears up out of nowhere and whisks them out to sea.

 

[Coleraine]

In researching Robert Vaughan, I came across a fascinating--although lengthy and rambling--account of his life titled "My Testimony". It's located on a website sponsored by the Wesley Institute of Bible and Ministry. Some key details: he says he was born in Nov. 1955 and was in CA State Prison from 1972-1977, which conflicts with the timing of the Jerry Sullivan murder which he confessed to and witnesses who placed him at the Summer Hill School sometime before 1975. In 2013, he stated he was in prison in San Diego. Over his lifetime, he has been accused of many murders although provides details on none. In "My Testimony," he states "At present, I am under investigation for more than 40 other murders--it doesn't matter one bit if I did them or not (although I likely did some, I do not remember).

I really can't do "My Testimony" justice; it has to be read, although I confess to speed-reading over much of it.

http://www.lolministry.org/index.php/articles/other-authors/robert-vaughan

 

[Coleraine]

When two people who are traveling together disappear, the are many explanations that fall into the realm of the "possible", but considering the time and place, being murdered is the most likely. This reminds me of the case of Mitchel Weiser and Bonita “Bonnie” Bickwit who disappeared while hitchhiking a year earlier in New York State.

Most likely they were killed by someone who picked them up rather than a fellow hitchhiker, because it would be near impossible to disappear two bodies without a vehicle. It would be interesting to know where Vaughn was in June '74 and if he had a car.

Hitchhiking was were common and drivers were often glad to pick them up back in that era. The increasing awareness of the number of hitchhikers and drivers who became victims greatly reduced the practice by the end of the decade.

Women traveling alone were the classic target of sexual predators but some high profile serial killers targeted young men as well. Many young people in the missing persons data bases from that era were know to hitchhike but no one knows the circumstances of their disappearance. In some respects, hitchhiking sets up a perfect crime. The perpetrator has no ties to the victim, the victim enters the vehicle voluntarily and the perpetrator is able control the crime scene and the dump site, and be long gone before a body is found. Usually no real effort is made conceal the bodies. Sometimes, in remote area with heavy vegetation, bodies dumped near a roadway are not found for years, if ever.

I agree with you on just about all of the above, but I'm thinking Vaughan could have surprised Linda and Stephen in their sleep as it appears he did Jerry Sullivan and he wouldn't have needed a car for that. Depending on how remote the area in which he might have left them, then they might never be found, or they may be found eventually but not be able to be identified. Again, I'm just speculating in the absence of anything else. I find this case haunting, and it reminds me, too, of the Weiser/Bickwit disappearance in NYS.

 

[Alleykins]

Are there any articles/interviews out there with Linda's family?

 

[Coleraine]

Are there any articles/interviews out there with Linda's family?

\

Not that I’ve been able to find. Her uncle did comment on her profile on the missingin.org site and offered to answer questions about Linda and, I’m assuming, her disappearance. I know that burblestein was trying to post there to try to get in contact with him, but I haven’t seen any posts other than the original 3 on Linda’s profile from 2014. I’m thinking the site might not be monitored any longer.

 

[kemo]

I read "My Testimony"; see # 52 above. Vaughn is a piece of work. He is a strong argument for Life w/o Parole. He says he was in state prison 1972 to 1977 but he had escaped in 1975 and that is when he killed Jerry Sullivan. Was he locked up in June of 1974? Anyone have sources for that kind of information.

People do get get caught in the surf in Northern Calif and sometimes the bodies do not turn up. I'm not sure what the probability might be but I would place it higher on my list than "Alien abduction" but lower than Murdered while Hitchhiking. You can't really quantify these things.

I hitchhiked throughout California and to the East Cost and back During my University days 1968-1974. I met a lot of sketchy characters but never had any trouble and never felt in any danger. I was probably a little lucky but the odds were in my favor. I correctly figured that most folks were basically Good. The problem was and is that "most" doesn't mean "all" and sometimes your luck doesn't hold. I am pretty sure this is what happened to Linda&Stephen, Mitch&Boonie and many others who disappeared or were found dead during those times.

 

[Alleykins]

\

Not that I’ve been able to find. Her uncle did comment on her profile on the missingin.org site and offered to answer questions about Linda and, I’m assuming, her disappearance. I know that burblestein was trying to post there to try to get in contact with him, but I haven’t seen any posts other than the original 3 on Linda’s profile from 2014. I’m thinking the site might not be monitored any longer.

I'd like to learn more about her. How she met Stephen, what their relationship was like, what her education was, her personality, etc. I'm not trying to judge here, but something just doesn't seem right to me about a 24 year old woman hooking up with a 17 year old boy. (I would feel the same way if it were a 24 yr old man and a 17 year old girl, no double standard here). She was definitely the "adult" in that relationship. I wonder whose idea it was to hitchhike across the country?

 

[Coleraine]

I completely missed the part where he discusses Jerry Sullivan's murder and the fact that he was a prison escapee in 1975. I just couldn't get through all of it! My husband did a lot of hitchhiking in the late 60's and early 70's too, including one trip cross country. No problems either, but the peace and love era was definitely over. I hitchhiked once in the early 70's from my college to home, only a distance of 300 miles and I was with a male friend and that was it for me. Never again.

I am still curious if any investigators have brought up Linda and Stephen to Vaughan, but obviously if he was in prison they wouldn't have reason to.

 

[Coleraine]

I'd like to learn more about her. How she met Stephen, what their relationship was like, what her education was, her personality, etc. I'm not trying to judge here, but something just doesn't seem right to me about a 24 year old woman hooking up with a 17 year old boy. (I would feel the same way if it were a 24 yr old man and a 17 year old girl, no double standard here). She was definitely the "adult" in that relationship. I wonder whose idea it was to hitchhike across the country?

One of the early articles I found about the Packard family noted: ”Mystery and fascination surrounded them…[they] were like old-fashioned outlaws. They had energy, flair, bravado, charm; and they were generous and kindly and sexy, in part because they created their own laws, their own society.” Allowing for some creative license on the author’s part, it seems that Stephen Packard was likely raised in a rather unconventional family that might have challenged social “rules”. He was also a big guy; in one of his photos he looks older than a teen to me and he was well over 6 feet. I guess I can see the age difference not being a problem for them, but I, too, wonder what could have brought them together. According to his mother, he had graduated from an Outward Bound program and was interested in becoming a forester. I wonder if Stephen had visited Missoula, MT (absolutely beautiful area--forests, mountains, rivers, etc) and met Linda there.

 

[burblestein]

I just received a negative reply from the Marin County Sheriff's Office. They have no 1974 records for either Linda or Steve.