WA WA - Heidi Peterson, 4, Seattle, 21 Feb 1974

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From my research into her case a few years ago, it appears her killer was never identified, nor were any strong suspects.

Heidi was 4 when she disappeared from the front yard of her Capitol Hill home near Seattle in February of '74. She and her younger brother were playing in front of the house while her mother went to a local store. When her father went outside some 15 minutes later, her brother, sitting on his bike, simply said "Heidi go".
11 months later, her remains were found in a garbage can near a scenic overlook, only a block from her home. Searchers were dumbfounded, as the area had been thoroughly searched many times in the weeks following her disappearance.
 
I found this site after Googling Heidi's name. I was wondering if anyone was ever arrested in her murder. She and I were about the same age and I remember that year so well - between her abduction and murder and the Bundy killings, it was very scary in the Seattle area.

With all the cold cases the SPD has solved recently, I hope they can find the person who killed Heidi.
 
In the early 1974 I was almost kidnapped by a young man in front of my house in Seattle Wa. He tried to take me from my front yard. At the time the police were called and they thought it might be related to the Heidi Peterson kidnapping. This is what happened that morning:
I was six years old. I went outside in the morning time and went across the street to see if my friend could come out and play. His mother told me - no, and that he would be out in a little bit.
So I walked back over to my house and began playing with some rocks or grass in my yard close to the side walk.
A man walked up to the side of me and said, hi, then he asked what I was doing and I told him. He then asked me if I wanted to go meet Jesus. I told him, yeah, and then he held out his hand and helped me to my feet. He did not say anything more to me after that.
We had walked just past my house and were in front of my next door neighbor's house, when my friend's mother called out to me, Jeanie - where are you going? I turned slightly to answer her and the man let go of my hand abruptly and took off running into the Navy woods. This place was connected to Fircrest Hospital.
My friend's mother came over and scolded me for leaving with a stranger. Then she took me into my mother. They called the police. When the police came, they started asking me about it. At some point the name Heidi Peterson came up. My mom and my friend's mother asked, do you think this has anything to do with that? The police said they were going to check it out. They spent a long time talking to me about the man and drew a picture from my description. I remember the man was thin. He had medium brown hair. He was not tall, I think looking back on it now that he was probably in the 5'6 to 5'7 range. I feel this because they asked if he was as tall as my dad and I said, no - shorter. My dad was 5'11. I knew he was taller than my mom though. She was 5'2. His hair was curly, but they were large round curls. They asked me what color he was, and I could not figure it out at first. He was not black, white, Asian or brown. Then they showed me pictures of skin tones and I picked out what was called swarthy. His voice was very soft but he did not have an accent. He seemed the way he spoke to be very safe at the time. Obviously because he talked me into walking away with him. I remember his face and the sound of his voice to this day. I believe that if I was shown mug shots of something from back in the time period that I could still pick him out with no problem. I hope this helps.
 
jpacker said:
In the early 1974 I was almost kidnapped by a young man in front of my house in Seattle Wa. He tried to take me from my front yard. At the time the police were called and they thought it might be related to the Heidi Peterson kidnapping. This is what happened that morning:
I was six years old. I went outside in the morning time and went across the street to see if my friend could come out and play. His mother told me - no, and that he would be out in a little bit.
So I walked back over to my house and began playing with some rocks or grass in my yard close to the side walk.
A man walked up to the side of me and said, hi, then he asked what I was doing and I told him. He then asked me if I wanted to go meet Jesus. I told him, yeah, and then he held out his hand and helped me to my feet. He did not say anything more to me after that.
We had walked just past my house and were in front of my next door neighbor's house, when my friend's mother called out to me, Jeanie - where are you going? I turned slightly to answer her and the man let go of my hand abruptly and took off running into the Navy woods. This place was connected to Fircrest Hospital.
My friend's mother came over and scolded me for leaving with a stranger. Then she took me into my mother. They called the police. When the police came, they started asking me about it. At some point the name Heidi Peterson came up. My mom and my friend's mother asked, do you think this has anything to do with that? The police said they were going to check it out. They spent a long time talking to me about the man and drew a picture from my description. I remember the man was thin. He had medium brown hair. He was not tall, I think looking back on it now that he was probably in the 5'6 to 5'7 range. I feel this because they asked if he was as tall as my dad and I said, no - shorter. My dad was 5'11. I knew he was taller than my mom though. She was 5'2. His hair was curly, but they were large round curls. They asked me what color he was, and I could not figure it out at first. He was not black, white, Asian or brown. Then they showed me pictures of skin tones and I picked out what was called swarthy. His voice was very soft but he did not have an accent. He seemed the way he spoke to be very safe at the time. Obviously because he talked me into walking away with him. I remember his face and the sound of his voice to this day. I believe that if I was shown mug shots of something from back in the time period that I could still pick him out with no problem. I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

BBM

Whaaat the.....?

One of the most chilling things I've ever heard!
You are very lucky, and very brave to tell us your story.
 
Wow. I grew up just across the pond in Bremerton and for the longest time, I wondered whatever became of this case. I never could remember Heidi's last name and didn't even know if it was a local story or national. I just remember the adults talking about Heidi a lot, and being a bit more watchful over kids. I had just turned 10 when the abduction happened. :(
 
I was 6 and my brother, 2. I remember Heidi Peterson well. I saw her posters hanging in Freemont. I lived off of 70th and dibble. One day me and my brother took my doll or a walk down to the corner in a doll stroller. While I stood there on the corner I looked back up the street and saw a car on 73rd and dibble heading toward us. this sounds strange but when I first saw the car I had sort of a tunnel vision and just knew something was wrong. I Forgot quickly, then the same car stopped at the corner, there was a woman driving the car, she must had been in late 50-60, she looked hagered, messy hair, also at the time seemed nervous or just in a hurry. The passenger window was rolled down and she leaned over a bit and said "Do you kids need a ride?' I pushed my brother behind me, in an effort to hide him and said "NO" Then she said "are you sure I could put your stroller in the trunk?" I felt very scared, I took a step back pushing my brother back and said "NO" she then drove off, thank god. I believe it was a green older square 4 door car
 
jpacker said:
In the early 1974 I was almost kidnapped by a young man in front of my house in Seattle Wa. He tried to take me from my front yard. At the time the police were called and they thought it might be related to the Heidi Peterson kidnapping. This is what happened that morning:
I was six years old. I went outside in the morning time and went across the street to see if my friend could come out and play. His mother told me - no, and that he would be out in a little bit.
So I walked back over to my house and began playing with some rocks or grass in my yard close to the side walk.
A man walked up to the side of me and said, hi, then he asked what I was doing and I told him. He then asked me if I wanted to go meet Jesus. I told him, yeah, and then he held out his hand and helped me to my feet. He did not say anything more to me after that.
We had walked just past my house and were in front of my next door neighbor's house, when my friend's mother called out to me, Jeanie - where are you going? I turned slightly to answer her and the man let go of my hand abruptly and took off running into the Navy woods. This place was connected to Fircrest Hospital.
My friend's mother came over and scolded me for leaving with a stranger. Then she took me into my mother. They called the police. When the police came, they started asking me about it. At some point the name Heidi Peterson came up. My mom and my friend's mother asked, do you think this has anything to do with that? The police said they were going to check it out. They spent a long time talking to me about the man and drew a picture from my description. I remember the man was thin. He had medium brown hair. He was not tall, I think looking back on it now that he was probably in the 5'6 to 5'7 range. I feel this because they asked if he was as tall as my dad and I said, no - shorter. My dad was 5'11. I knew he was taller than my mom though. She was 5'2. His hair was curly, but they were large round curls. They asked me what color he was, and I could not figure it out at first. He was not black, white, Asian or brown. Then they showed me pictures of skin tones and I picked out what was called swarthy. His voice was very soft but he did not have an accent. He seemed the way he spoke to be very safe at the time. Obviously because he talked me into walking away with him. I remember his face and the sound of his voice to this day. I believe that if I was shown mug shots of something from back in the time period that I could still pick him out with no problem. I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Do you know about what this guy's age was? Westley Allen Dodd was a pedophile serial killer in Washington although he would have only been 13-years-old at the time (there have been serial killers at least that young e.g. Mary Flora Bell). The Wicki article says that he did begin abusing children when he was 13 and exposed himself to both boys and girls. His three known murder victims were boys but pedophile serial killers often don't really care about the sex of their prey that much. Have you (although he's then an adult) ever taken a look at his picture? I know when I was 6 and a first grader that 13-year-old eighth graders looked like grown-ups to me.
 
Here are some archived newspaper articles about Heidi. It sounds as though her disappearance made the national news. I don't recall it at the time, but was in college, busy with other things, and of course there was no 24 hr news reporting.

Acording to this article, her clothing was found with her remains. I wonder if police kept any of the evidence, if it could be tested for DNA?
http://news.google.com/newspapers/u...tz04R0RyBSnSI8UcrDcHKLsMA&source=gbs_pub_info
 
I was reading about the Emery Brothers recent investigation into abduction and murder of young girls. That led me to the name of Heidi Peterson and this website. I hope, and assume police are looking into their cold cases, now that they are beginning to uncover these grisly men's lives. http://www.newsweek.com/brothers-se...r censored*-murder-rape-kidnap-seattle-653692
 
jpacker said:
In the early 1974 I was almost kidnapped by a young man in front of my house in Seattle Wa. He tried to take me from my front yard. At the time the police were called and they thought it might be related to the Heidi Peterson kidnapping. This is what happened that morning:
I was six years old. I went outside in the morning time and went across the street to see if my friend could come out and play. His mother told me - no, and that he would be out in a little bit.
So I walked back over to my house and began playing with some rocks or grass in my yard close to the side walk.
A man walked up to the side of me and said, hi, then he asked what I was doing and I told him. He then asked me if I wanted to go meet Jesus. I told him, yeah, and then he held out his hand and helped me to my feet. He did not say anything more to me after that.
We had walked just past my house and were in front of my next door neighbor's house, when my friend's mother called out to me, Jeanie - where are you going? I turned slightly to answer her and the man let go of my hand abruptly and took off running into the Navy woods. This place was connected to Fircrest Hospital.
My friend's mother came over and scolded me for leaving with a stranger. Then she took me into my mother. They called the police. When the police came, they started asking me about it. At some point the name Heidi Peterson came up. My mom and my friend's mother asked, do you think this has anything to do with that? The police said they were going to check it out. They spent a long time talking to me about the man and drew a picture from my description. I remember the man was thin. He had medium brown hair. He was not tall, I think looking back on it now that he was probably in the 5'6 to 5'7 range. I feel this because they asked if he was as tall as my dad and I said, no - shorter. My dad was 5'11. I knew he was taller than my mom though. She was 5'2. His hair was curly, but they were large round curls. They asked me what color he was, and I could not figure it out at first. He was not black, white, Asian or brown. Then they showed me pictures of skin tones and I picked out what was called swarthy. His voice was very soft but he did not have an accent. He seemed the way he spoke to be very safe at the time. Obviously because he talked me into walking away with him. I remember his face and the sound of his voice to this day. I believe that if I was shown mug shots of something from back in the time period that I could still pick him out with no problem. I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Linda Anne O’Keef on this forum page two...composite sketch done of a POI in her case..similar?
 
My family lived in the house just before the Peterson family moved in. My oldest sister said it was a shock when Heidi went missing and was found in the berry bushes where we picked berries.
The bushes were dense but we didn't access the berries from the freeway but from behind the neighborhood.
 
Seattle1961 said:
My family lived in the house just before the Peterson family moved in. My oldest sister said it was a shock when Heidi went missing and was found in the berry bushes where we picked berries.
The bushes were dense but we didn't access the berries from the freeway but from behind the neighborhood.
Click to expand...
Do you remember Heidi?
 
I remember this case vividly as a 10 year old kid in Seattle at that time, and never quite understood why, after being in the media for so long and so continuously, it suddenly dropped off the radar. So I did some research into the newspaper archives of the Seattle TImes and found an article from Sept 20, 1975. A suspect was identified "early in the case" and police and prosecutors were trying to build a case against the suspect and gathering information about the suspect, however there was not enough evidence according to the article, to bring charges. Remember this was in the dark ages of forensic science in crime investigations. Nothing was ever mentioned again directly about the case.
My own gut feeling is that the police knew who did it, didn't have enough evidence, and over time the case was put in a back file and forgotten. <modsnip>
So there was a prime suspect, who that suspect might have been and why the case against the suspect never proceeded, only the Seattle Police Department and the King County Prosecutor's Office can answer.
 

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