NM NM - Guadalupe Co, WhtFem 17-25, UP17089, Killed on BD (11-Jul-78) by RLanphear, Jul'78

NamUs UP 17089

***GRAPHIC POST MORTEM IMAGE AT LINK***

Unidentified White Female
Found July 11, 1978 in Guadalupe County, NM
Body Condition: Recognizable face
Probable year of death: 1978 to 1978
Estimated postmortem interval: Days

Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 25 (Adult - Pre 20)
Approximate Height: 68 estimate.
Approximate Weight: 145 estimate.
Hair Color: Blond/Strawberry
Eye Color: Blue
Scars and marks: Pierced ears, 3 times on the left, twice on the right

Clothing & Accessories
Clothing: Pierced ears, 3 times on the left, twice on the right; Dark brown moccasins; Blue denim Levi cutoffs; White and navy vest/halter-top type shir
Jewerly: nothing
Footwear: nothing
Accessories: nothing

Identifiers
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is not available
Dentals: Dental information / charting is available and will be entered
DNA: Sample available - not yet submitted

Case History: The deceased was found beside Highway 219 at the junction of I-40 and US 84 by a NM Highway Department foreman. It appeared that she had been shot multiple times and there were .22 shells present at the scene

<mod note: replaced broken link and added graphic warning>

This is a case that was discovered by AddysMom7610 while researching old newspaper articles looking for possible perpetrators in the Rancho Cucamonga Jane Doe case. She found an article about Ronald E. Lanphear, who along with his pregnant girlfriend Diana Geisinger, went on a cross country murder spree resulting in the death of three people.

One of the victims was this female hitchhiker who, according to the most recent available articles, was still unidentified.

AddysMom7610 contacted the State of New Mexico Coroner's Investigator's office, and they verified that the girl was still unidentified.

But she wasn't listed in any public UID listing. So she contacted NamUs Regional Administrator Melissa Gregory, and Ms. Gregory contacted the state of New Mexico and arranged for the unidentified girl to be listed in NamUs.

This is a unique case in that although we don't know who the victim was, we do know her Date of Birth. According to Geisinger, the victim had stated that it was her 17th birthday on the day that she was killed (July 11, 1978), so the girl's DOB was July 11, 1961. However, Geisinger could not remember the girl's name.

Lanphear disposed of her possessions, including her birth certificate after killing her. Also not stated in the NamUs casefile was that the victim had a guitar with her when she was picked up hitchhiking.

NamUs UP # 17089 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Unidentified White Female
Found July 11, 1978 at Hwy 219, junction of I-40/US 84 in Guadalupe County, New Mexico

Vital Stats

Condition

Clothing and Accessories


Circumstances of death

Identifiers

Thank you for making a thread for our girl! I'm sure Carl will merge the two together!!!

Thanks Carl!!

A few other things not posted in the Namus profile.

Ron Lanphear picked up this girl near a rest stop in Perry, OK. She said she had just gotten out of a truck trailer and was looking for another ride. So she wasnt from Perry, thats just where the person who was driving her stopped and let her out.

She stated she was traveling to California to see her mother and at one point she asked if they could pull over at a rest stop so she could call her mother because it was her birthday and she always called home to her mom on her birthday.

A few more facts about the guitar. They stole the guitar from this girl after Ron killed her and he took it to a pawn shop in Henderson, NV and had it pawned. According to a news article, the police recovered the guitar. But no one in the NM OMI has verified that. They wont even verify that it was her birthday. Not sure why. Maybe because its being taken from the word of a serial killer.

A few other misc details I have found in various old newspaper articles was that she was a runaway and that the trio possibly stopped at a coffee shop and a bar before Ron killed her.

Great find, Addysmom! Has anyone tried a reverse DOB search? It's kind of a big job but we could start by narrowing it to California.

From https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/26/814.html

"Diana testified that on the second day of the journey, after a four-or five-hour rest at a motel in Perry, Oklahoma, they proceeded toward New Mexico, where about 10 p.m. at a rest stop they agreed to give a ride to a young girl carrying a guitar case. The trio rode together for several hours, briefly conversing about guitars and money (the hitchhiker "bragged" about the money she had spent on the guitar and on her trip), and stopping at a coffee shop and then a bar. At some point Diana told defendant to let the hitchhiker out. Although she and defendant had not discussed it, Diana knew when defendant went over a viaduct off the highway that "he was going to get rid of her there." All three were in the front seat. Defendant got out, opened the passenger door, and asked Diana if she wanted out. She responded affirmatively so the hitchhiker got out first. The girl was shot in the back of the head. Defendant straddled her body and searched her pockets. Diana then observed defendant take the gun from his belt area; she looked away as the hitchhiker was shot a second time. Defendant threw the gun in the car and rolled the girl's body down the cliff. Diana, who was still in the car, was instructed to go through the hitchhiker's belongings. Drugs and papers were thrown away; they kept the guitar, which was later sold, and a coin purse containing $1.50.

Defendant denied involvement in the killing of the hitchhiker. He testified that after leaving the motel in Perry, Oklahoma, he decided to get out of the car and hitchhike to Arizona. He arranged to meet Diana at a bus station in Glendale, Arizona, and did meet her two days later on the evening of July 12. Defendant testified that he did not notice the guitar in the Camaro, saw it for the first time in the trunk of the Matador, assumed it was Diana's, and pawned it on her instructions."

AddysMom7610 said:

Thanks Carl!!

A few other things not posted in the Namus profile.

Ron Lanphear picked up this girl near a rest stop in Perry, OK. She said she had just gotten out of a truck trailer and was looking for another ride. So she wasnt from Perry, thats just where the person who was driving her stopped and let her out.

She stated she was traveling to California to see her mother and at one point she asked if they could pull over at a rest stop so she could call her mother because it was her birthday and she always called home to her mom on her birthday.

A few more facts about the guitar. They stole the guitar from this girl after Ron killed her and he took it to a pawn shop in Henderson, NV and had it pawned. According to a news article, the police recovered the guitar. But no one in the NM OMI has verified that. They wont even verify that it was her birthday. Not sure why. Maybe because its being taken from the word of a serial killer.

A few other misc details I have found in various old newspaper articles was that she was a runaway and that the trio possibly stopped at a coffee shop and a bar before Ron killed her.

Click to expand...

I don't see why they'd lie about details like where they picked her up, her birthday, etc. Assuming the details are true, beside the birthday, the fact that her mother was living in California could be important. The birthday seems like a reasonable thing to tell people you're hitching with. I'd think her mother was in Southern California if she was hitching rides on I-40.

Ancestry lists 609 Females born in California on 11-Jul-1961



A lot of them can be easily eliminated based on additional records on the same person (e.g., marriage, death, etc).

There is a PM photo of her now on her NamUs page.

Yvonne Reglar doesn't resemble this Doe very much at all. But her DOB is July 11, 1960 (off by one year) so I have to mention her.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2475dfoh.html

And Eva Marie Ridall has a different DOB, but aside from the tattoo, I think she looks like this Doe (and was said to be traveling to CA).

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3586dffl.html

I saw on a google search that the killer Lanphear has been up for parole a few times, I can't locate information on whether he was approved or not.

It looks like DNA is available but not yet submitted. Is there a reason they wouldn't run her DNA through yet?

Ok guys. Carl and I have discussed this but I really would like some third and fourth opinions to ease my mind. I cannot determine her definite date of death (which would also be her DOB). So there are different "facts" stated by reporters in the newspaper articles. I cant even seem to find which day he actually broke out of prison! There are so many different stories out there. *insert eye roll here*
So he escaped from Elk Point, SD prison on either July 8 or 9. He drives to Diane Geisinger's house and picks her up. She lives a half hour away in Sioux City, Iowa. She borrows a car from someone and they travel to Emporia, KS. She stated they were making their way to TX because Ronald had found work there. So from Sioux City to Emporia its about a 5 hour drive. Some papers said the attendant in KS was killed on the 9th and some say the 10th. *insert another eye roll* Then they headed to Perry, OK where they rested in a motel for about 5 hours, according to Diane. Then as they were leaving they picked up our Jane Doe. They had enough time to stop at a coffee house and a bar before making their way to Santa Rosa, NM where he killed her on the side of the road. From Perry, OK to Santa Rosa its roughly a 7 hour drive.

Now we need to remember that Diane was 7 months pregnant and if any of yall have ever been that pregnant on that long of a drive, you know its VERY uncomfortable and you have to pee A LOT! So if we factor in many restroom breaks, does that get us to July 11 or was she killed on the 10th?

Namus says when she was found, she had been dead for "days". Again, I do not know FOR SURE what day she was found. I found an article saying she was found on the 12th but Namus says July 11.

Anyway, just hoping for some feedback. Thanks guys <3

LucyOso said:

It looks like DNA is available but not yet submitted. Is there a reason they wouldn't run her DNA through yet?

Click to expand...

It came back today as "insufficient for profiling." All they have are her dentals.

Gourami Watcher said:

It came back today as "insufficient for profiling." All they have are her dentals.

Click to expand...

It may be insufficient now but DNA technology is improving all the time, especially with regard to the amplification of tiny or incomplete samples. They need to keep reviewing the possibility of obtaining a viable sample from time to time.

I just have to leave this here. Someone suggested her on FB and I'm pretty blown away, although Carl doesn't agree.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2475dfoh.html

Same birthday, 5'10, minus the swelling on the does face. Went missing in 77.

????

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Yvonne & doe. Also exact same eyebrows.

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FiveFelines said:

Yvonne Reglar doesn't resemble this Doe very much at all. But her DOB is July 11, 1960 (off by one year) so I have to mention her.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2475dfoh.html

Click to expand...

In addition it says she was wearing denim cut-off shorts. So was JD.

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Hi! I think many girls were wearing cut-off shorts at that time. Plus, JD had her purse with her, whereas Yvonne Reglar left her purse and cigarettes behind.
What I find surprising is that she had her birth certificate with her. Did she drop out of school and look for a job somewhere else? Or did she have a summer job? Why didn't her mother go to the police when her daughter didn't show up a few days later? Or did she go to the police and wasn't taken seriously? Plus, the girl had only 1.50$ in her purse - enough money for maybe one or two days. So she must have been confident to arrive at her mom's or at a friend's house in less than two days.

Another thing: Spending all her hard earned money on one object sounds like something I'd have done after a summer job. Either she was into music (recently?) or she was buying it for a brother/friend. The Rolling Stones went on a summer tour in 1978, maybe she bought a guitar after she went to one of their concerts?

Maybe someone remembers her from the July 4th festivities in the place she stayed at that time? She might have helped out in a summer camp and her colleagues just thought that she didn't want to stay in touch if they hadn't heard from her again. She was a tall girl, and quite independent for her age, so no one would immediately think that something bad happened to her.

What all these cases teach me is to never go hitchhiking!
I hope she will be identified sooner or later.

EDIT: Google singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell - She had the same hairdo as our JD in 1978! Before that, she had straight blonde hair. I bet our JD was a Joni Mitchell fan