VA VA - Brenda Joi Bancroft, 20, Murdered, Norfolk, 24 Dec 1979

[Richard]

Brenda Joi Bancroft, age 20
Murdered 24 December 1979

On Monday evening, December 24, 1979, Brenda Bancroft was last seen by her family in the 4100 block of Thalia Drive. She had left her parent’s home driving her 1978 orange Datsun B-210 sedan and was due home later the same evening. She attended a Christmas Party at Admiral Nicks Restaurant located in the 8100 block of Shore Drive in Norfolk, VA.

A missing persons report was filed by family members. On Friday, December 28, 1979, Ms. Bancroft’s deceased body was found in the 500 block of Spring Lake Crescent which is a short distance from her home. Her body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office where the cause of death was determined to be suffocation. As a result, Brenda’s death was ruled a homicide.

Brenda was a 20 year old white female who had light brown hair, blue eyes, 5’ 5’’ tall weighing 153 pounds. When Brenda did not wear her contacts, she wore prescription glasses.

LINKS:

Brenda Joi Bancroft :: VBgov.com - City of Virginia Beach

https://www.reddit.com/r/Unresolved...erial_killer_from_my_hometown_virginia_beach/

Brenda Joi Bancroft - Virginia Beach Crime Solvers

Brenda Joi Bancroft (1959-1979) - Find a Grave...

 

[Richard]

Brenda Joi Bancroft
BIRTH 28 Sep 1959
DEATH 25 Dec 1979 (aged 20)
Virginia Beach City, Virginia, USA
BURIAL
Rosewood Memorial Park
Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach City, Virginia, USA

VIRGINIA BEACH - A funeral for Miss Brenda Joi Bancroft, 20, of 1151 Pine Song Place, Apt. 102, will be held Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in Rosewood Memorial Park by the Rev. Samuel D. Austin.

Miss Bancroft's body was found in her automobile Friday night on the grounds of the apartment building where she lived. She had been missing since last Monday night, when she was last seen at a Christmas party.

A graduate of Princess Anne High School, she was assistant director of personnel at First Virginia Bank, Norfolk, and also was a part-time employee of Domino's Pizza restaurant in Virginia Beach. She was a member of Bow Creek Presbyterian Church.

Survivors include her parents, William Walker Bancroft and Mrs. JoAnn Swain Bancroft; a sister, Mrs. Bobbi Jo Votz; and a nephew, Nicholas Brandon Volz, all of Virginia Beach; and her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Rebie M. Bancroft of Webster Springs, W.Va.

Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Lynnhaven Chapel, Malibu, is handling arrangements. The family will be at the funeral home tonight from 6 to 8.

The Virginian-Pilot, page C2, Monday, December 31, 1979

LINK:

Brenda Joi Bancroft (1959-1979) - Find a Grave...

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping

 

[Richard]

It is a good possibility that Brenda met her attacker at the 25 December 1979 Christmas party.

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

Her sister posted in a Facebook group so I'm bumping here.

 

[Richard]

There were a number of murders of young women in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area in the late 70's and early 80's.

Dennis Bowman was a serial killer who was convicted only a few years ago of murdering a young Navy wife in 1980. He should be considered as a possible suspect in the murder of Brenda Joi Bancroft as well.j

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“The last thing I told her was ‘Be careful,’ because she was by herself,” said Bill Bancroft, Brenda’s father.

That was the last time that Bill, his wife, JoAnn, and the couple’s oldest daughter, Bobbi Jo, saw her. Her body was found stuffed upside down on the passenger side of her bright orange Datsun B-20, after the car mysteriously showed up at her apartment complex four days later. A medical examiner determined Brenda died of asphyxiation and ruled her death a homicide.

In a Dec. 8, 1980, story in the Virginian-Pilot, police said they believed they knew who was responsible for Brenda Bancroft’s death but didn’t have the evidence to prove it. The suspect was a college student who knew her through Domino’s and was at the Christmas Eve party, the story said. The Bancroft family also suspects he was responsible.

The young man hired famed attorney Dick G. Brydges to represent him. Brydges, who died in 2005, told the Pilot that police had asked his client to take a polygraph test, but he advised him not to.

Brydges said his client was so drunk the night Brenda disappeared, he didn’t remember anything from about 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., when he found himself hitching a ride at the intersection of Independence and Virginia Beach boulevards. He remembered being in a car in a Norfolk restaurant parking lot with a girl and several others who were all smoking marijuana and going back to the Domino’s party, but not much else, Brydges said.

45 years ago, a Virginia Beach woman was killed. Her family is still waiting for answers.

Her death is one of 62 unresolved cases listed on the Virginia Beach Police Department’s cold case homicide webpage.

dailyprogress.com