heartanium
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Not on Namus or the Oregon State Missing Persons Clearinghouse. Going to try to get her added.
Hilda Victoria “Vicki” Brown
D.L.C: February 9, 1976
Location: Rainer, Columbia County, Oregon
D.O.B: June 12, 1950
Race: White/Caucasian
Age: 25
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 140lbs
Eye Color: Unknown
Hair Color: Blonde, long
Clothing: Blue and green flannel shirt, Blue jeans, zip up Green hip-hugger jacket, tan shoes with thick rubber soles and several eyelets.
Circumstances of Disappearance:
Hilda Victoria “Vicki” Brown was a bus driver for Rainier High School in Rainier, Oregon. She had worked there since 1971. She was last seen driving Bus 21 on February 9, 1976 at approximately 6:30pm. She was dropping off students who were concluding their after school activities. She was reported missing when she failed to turn up for work the next day.
When police arrived at the scene, they discovered the school’s bus garage unlocked and the bus that Vicki had been driving the previous night parked inside. The bus door was found left open, and not padlocked as it should have been. On the back of bus investigators found blood. Blood was also found on the exterior of the bus, along with two other buses. Blood consistent with a firearm being fired at close range was also found on the wall of the bus garage. Nearby investigators also found a golden tooth crown that Vicki's dentist later claimed identified was hers. Hair similar to Brown's was found at the scene. Brown’s purse was found behind the bus garage in a pond.
Evidence was gathered but officers were unable to determine who the blood belonged to. The blood was tested and was concluded to be type O, and Brown’s blood type was unknown.
Extensive searches of rural Columbia county were conducted while looking for Vicki, but no trace of her was ever found.
Victoria’s husband, Robin Eugene Brown, had been at the Dammasch State Hospital since January of 1976. They had separated 3 years prior. She had a daughter with him who was 8 at the time of her disappearance.
A 24 year old man named Stephen L. Helfin was accused, and eventually charged, of her murder. He worked as a mechanic for the same bus garage that Vicki was employed as a driver at. He originally was the one who "found" her missing purse and reported it to the police. Bloody clothing was found at his home and he owned a .44 magnum revolver believed to be the murder weapon. He was seen with the revolver the afternoon that Vicki disappeared. He was convicted without a body and was sentenced to life in prison and served time at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon.
Case Media:
12 February 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 1.
16 February 1987, The Capital Journal, pg 14
19 February 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 8
23 February 1976, The Tri-City Herald, pg 3
7 April 1976, The Capital Journal, pg 28
8 April 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 1.
17 September 1976, The Capital Journal, pg 19.
15 October 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 21.
Hilda Victoria “Vicki” Brown
D.L.C: February 9, 1976
Location: Rainer, Columbia County, Oregon
D.O.B: June 12, 1950
Race: White/Caucasian
Age: 25
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 140lbs
Eye Color: Unknown
Hair Color: Blonde, long
Clothing: Blue and green flannel shirt, Blue jeans, zip up Green hip-hugger jacket, tan shoes with thick rubber soles and several eyelets.
Circumstances of Disappearance:
Hilda Victoria “Vicki” Brown was a bus driver for Rainier High School in Rainier, Oregon. She had worked there since 1971. She was last seen driving Bus 21 on February 9, 1976 at approximately 6:30pm. She was dropping off students who were concluding their after school activities. She was reported missing when she failed to turn up for work the next day.
When police arrived at the scene, they discovered the school’s bus garage unlocked and the bus that Vicki had been driving the previous night parked inside. The bus door was found left open, and not padlocked as it should have been. On the back of bus investigators found blood. Blood was also found on the exterior of the bus, along with two other buses. Blood consistent with a firearm being fired at close range was also found on the wall of the bus garage. Nearby investigators also found a golden tooth crown that Vicki's dentist later claimed identified was hers. Hair similar to Brown's was found at the scene. Brown’s purse was found behind the bus garage in a pond.
Evidence was gathered but officers were unable to determine who the blood belonged to. The blood was tested and was concluded to be type O, and Brown’s blood type was unknown.
Extensive searches of rural Columbia county were conducted while looking for Vicki, but no trace of her was ever found.
Victoria’s husband, Robin Eugene Brown, had been at the Dammasch State Hospital since January of 1976. They had separated 3 years prior. She had a daughter with him who was 8 at the time of her disappearance.
A 24 year old man named Stephen L. Helfin was accused, and eventually charged, of her murder. He worked as a mechanic for the same bus garage that Vicki was employed as a driver at. He originally was the one who "found" her missing purse and reported it to the police. Bloody clothing was found at his home and he owned a .44 magnum revolver believed to be the murder weapon. He was seen with the revolver the afternoon that Vicki disappeared. He was convicted without a body and was sentenced to life in prison and served time at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon.
Case Media:
12 February 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 1.
16 February 1987, The Capital Journal, pg 14
19 February 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 8
23 February 1976, The Tri-City Herald, pg 3
7 April 1976, The Capital Journal, pg 28
8 April 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 1.
17 September 1976, The Capital Journal, pg 19.
15 October 1976, The Longview Daily News, pg 21.
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