The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History by Kevin M. Sullivan Read Free Book Online Page B

what she saw: "When I looked, what really got me was that the passenger's seat was gone. That's what really bothered me ... it was gone." Frightened now, Jane dropped the books at his feet. For a split second, the man with the weird eyes just stood there looking at her. Jane Curtis quickly made her escape.'
    Susan Rancourt, however, did not escape. In the minds of the investigators charged with solving these strange cases of missing women (missing only, for now), Susan had been added to the list by her strange absence from Central Washington State College. Thus far, the abductor had done everything correctly and had taken possession of the objects of his desire; and in doing so he became the author of their fate. Now, in the twisted circuitry of his thinking, he had become one with them in a way no one else ever would.
    He was also developing a real contempt for the authorities, who thus far were still stumbling around in investigative darkness. These were motiveless crimes, committed by a stranger against strangers. As any homicide detective will tell you, these are the most difficult murders to solve. Without any real evidence, chances of nabbing someone unless he's caught in the act are not very good. Other stumbling blocks included the separate police jurisdictions, meaning separate cases and the need for different levels of cooperation between departments, and a host of other problems, all of which could produce beneficial results for the perpetrator, something he was in fact counting on. It was time, he believed, to leave the confusion he'd created in Washington State and travel to Oregon.
    Roberta Kathleen Parks, twenty-one, had waist-length hair parted in the middle. Looking at the photograph on a missing person's poster, there is intensity in her guarded smile. There is also an indefinable something present within the eyes that lends itself to the question: What's troubling this girl? Of course, a picture is only a snap-shot framing a microsecond of time, so it must be seen as only a glimpse into a life, and certainly not a defining moment. Still, there is a very real sense of sadness in that penetrating gaze.
    A student at Oregon State University, Kathy was clearly unhappy with school and wasn't at all certain about the overall direction of her life, both personal and academic. That's standard for many college kids, but the tragedy about to befall her gave it meaning. Had she been allowed to continue her journey she no doubt would have found her proper place in both arenas of life. But her world was about to collide with the world of evil, and for Kathy Parks there would be no escape.

    On the morning of May 6, 1974, Kathy's sister, Sharon Kaehler, telephoned from her home in Blackpoint, Nevada, with the news that their father had suffered a heart attack. He was in good hands, she said, so there wasn't any reason to return home to California. She would monitor his progress and keep Kathy up to date on his condition. Later that night, Sharon's husband Paul called to say her dad's condition had improved and stabilized.
    Yet the worry about her father was merely the last of a string of things troubling her. Apparently, her greatest concern was what to do about her boyfriend Christy McPhee, and when to do it. McPhee, a scuba diving instructor from Berwick, Louisiana, was clearly in love with Kathy. Indeed, the two lived together for six months in an apartment above the Oregon Museum Tavern in Corvallis, and it's clear from the letters they exchanged and from what she confided to others, this love was mutual. It was also clear, however, that Kathy did not want to settle down as quickly as Christy, and believed she needed more time prove to herself what she could accomplish in this world. She didn't want to lose him, and didn't want to make a life with him either, at least not yet. She wanted him to wait for her. In fact, on the very day she disappeared she wrote and mailed Christy a letter in which she expressed her