CA CA - Linda Lovell, 25, & Stephen Packard, 18, Westport, 10 June 1974

[Coleraine]

In this Lawrence Journal World (Lawrence, KS) article from Nov. 17, 1985, there is a brief mention of a "three-month search" for Linda and Stephen after which the police told Anne Packard "the couple was presumed murdered." No mention of the locations of the search itself but at least it indicates that the police took their disappearance as non-voluntary, which given the time period, could have been a challenge.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=3OUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3576,4693223&hl=en

 

[burblestein]

Very interesting. I wish the article was specific concerning the police department that advised her they were murdered. If today's policies were in effect back then, I am dubious the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office was the responding agency. The County is 4 times the size of Rhode Island, with only 56 sworn LE personnel, and the Sheriff's office policy seems to be to shrug off as voluntarily missing any cases that are not obvious homicides. This seems especially true of missing "foreigners"--those who enter the county from elsewhere before going missing. Mind you, I have never seen that policy explicitly stated. However, I have researched some dozens of these local cases, and the "foreigners" tend to get the short end of the stick in search efforts.

At the same time, the fact that they cashed no traveler's checks after Westport seems to indicate they did not get far with only $20 to their name.

 

[burblestein]

Coleraine posted an interesting theory in Steve's individual thread, and I am posting it over here because it pertains to both Steve and Linda:

"The fact that the couple supposedly stopped in Stinson Beach and contacted relatives from there intrigues me. Why Stinson Beach? And I continue to wonder about the age difference and how a MT woman meets and begins a relationship with a 17-18 year old in NJ. Just thinking aloud with no reason to believe it might have relevance re: their disappearance, but I wonder if they were fans of the Grateful Dead. The Dead played in NY, NJ, and PA in Sept. 1973, and they also played at the Oakland Coliseum on June 8. 1974. Jerry Garcia lived in Stinson Beach in 1974. Just a thought."

Not a bad bit of speculation. Grateful Dead fans were/are notoriously fanatical about following the band. If Linda and Steve met at an East Coast show in September 1973, they may have then subsequently planned their journey to California. Might I add that in the late '80s, some of the Grateful Dead and their hangers-on lived in Mendocino County? Dunno if they lived there earlier, but there you are.

 

[kemo]

The couple appeared to be traveling north on Hwy 1. About 20 miles north of Westport Hwy 1 links up with Hwy 101, a much heavier traveled road that go parallel to the coast all the way to Washington State. It is an attractive drive with forests and striking coastline and, in the 70's, a good highway to hitchhike on. But, they were on their way to Spokane, which is 300 miles to the East so, at some point, they were going to have to leave 101 and head east. If they were living cheap, they could have made that $20 last for days and there is no telling where they might have ended up.

In the 1970's, there were a lot of woman hitchhikers out on the road, particularly on the west coast. They attracted a number of predators who account for many of the women who have gone missing from that era. A couple were far safer but anything could happen and it could happen along any highway in the country. My guess is that two bodies are buried somewhere in the North-West between Westport and Spokane and after 40 years are unlikely to be found.

 

[burblestein]

Well, in 2016, there are still a lot of hitchhikers up here. Now, they are largely homeless transients who have come north to work on the marijuana grows and to trim the results. They are commonly called "trimmigrants". And they still include occasional lone women. Usually, however, they are couples, trios, or single guys.

I thought of the ten days between Stinson Beach and Westport as camping time for Linda and Steve, as there is ample opportunity along the way. Still, if they were going to get to Spokane and then Missoula in two weeks after 20 June, they were going to have to move faster.

Still, this is all speculation without proof. The mystery still nags.

 

[Coleraine]

They also had quite a bit of money on them that they hadn't used yet which would have made them a target. The purchasing power of $1400 worth of traveler's checks in 1974 is equivalent to $7000 in 2016 and the couple had apparently only used $20 worth.

 

[Alleykins]

Alan Soper was last heard from on June 7th, 1974, when he called home from Sacramento, which is not too far from Stinson Beach. His clothes and wallet were found in 1977 in Needles, California. The cases may not be related, but close proximity and date make me wonder if they are.

 

[burblestein]

While Stephen and Linda did indeed have a great deal of money in traveler's checks, those checks were apparently never cashed. If they were robbed for their traveler's checks after being murdered, it was a fruitless crime.

 

[burblestein]

Sacramento is over a two hour drive from Stinson Beach. They are "close" only in the sense they are both in northern California. I can see no connection between a disappearance in Sacramento, and a couple of victims transiting Stinson Beach. The reader can see for him/herself: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Sac...3b72ec74239ba!2m2!1d-122.6444263!2d37.9004816

 

[Coleraine]

While Stephen and Linda did indeed have a great deal of money in traveler's checks, those checks were apparently never cashed. If they were robbed for their traveler's checks after being murdered, it was a fruitless crime.

I guess the key word is apparently. Given that this was 42 years ago, I'm wondering if they might have been used but the checks were never recorded/verified. In 1974, it might not have been as easy to trace the checks as they were used or if the check numbers were unknown. But since I know very little about traveler's checks and have never used them, I'm just speculating.

 

[Coleraine]

Alan Soper was last heard from on June 7th, 1974, when he called home from Sacramento, which is not too far from Stinson Beach. His clothes and wallet were found in 1977 in Needles, California. The cases may not be related, but close proximity and date make me wonder if they are.

Alleykins, I wondered about the location/date as well, as soon as I read the details of Alan's disappearance.

Also, on the Medocino County Sheriff's Office site in the Missing Persons and Cold Cases section, there is a Barry Kirk Pinder, 21 years old, found murdered on June 18, 1974 in MacKerricher State Park in Ft. Bragg, which is 30 minutes from Westport, CA where Stephen's traveler's check was cashed on June 20th.

Likely unrelated, too, but it caught my attention.

 

[burblestein]

I will be working up a thread on Pinder. You may indeed be correct that there may be a connection.

Actually, since Stephen and Linda disappeared, there have been a string of criminal events in that tiny little town of Westport (population 60).
Donald Cavanaugh disappeared: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...naugh-63-Ukiah-March-2005&highlight=Mendocino
David Neily also vanished: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...69-Westport-14-April-2006&highlight=Mendocino
Patrick Guzman is a cold case homicide: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...o-County-8-September-2013&highlight=Mendocino
Athena Doyle drove her kids off a Westport cliff: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-cliff-Previously-subject&highlight=Mendocino
Not in a WS thread is the contract murder plot over chairmanship of the local water board which resulted in an attempted murder conviction.

 

[burblestein]

I used traveler's checks during the 70s. When you bought your traveler's checks from your bank, you signed every check. Came time to cash in, you had to show ID and counter-sign the check in front of the person cashing it. If the signature didn't match, or the ID was phony or missing, no money. A thief knowing that Linda and Steve had travelers' checks, and knowledgeable of how they worked, would have little incentive to steal the checks. An unknowing thief would find himself stuck with them.

 

[Alleykins]

I guess the key word is apparently. Given that this was 42 years ago, I'm wondering if they might have been used but the checks were never recorded/verified. In 1974, it might not have been as easy to trace the checks as they were used or if the check numbers were unknown. But since I know very little about traveler's checks and have never used them, I'm just speculating.

From the NYtimes article dated 1977

The New Jersey state police called Mrs. Packard recently to tell her again that American Express had reported, also again, that no new word had been received about the uncashed checks.

So, it appears his investigators had been in touch with American Express about them, at least in the beginning.

 

[burblestein]

There is another Mendocino County cold case in which the homicide investigation overlapped Steve and Linda's disappearance. This is the 18 June 1974 homicide of Barry Kirk Pinder: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...o-County-18-June-1974&p=12859267#post12859267

Two simultaneous homicide investigations in a huge and lightly policed county...must have been madness.

 

[Coleraine]

Thanks for the information on travelers checks. That would certainly discount the robbery theory based on the amount of travelers checks both were carrying.

Also, I never noticed that NY Times article reference to the NJ State Police contacting Anne Packard in 1977 to tell her that there had been "no new word received about the uncashed checks." Still another law enforcement agency involved in the investigation, at least on some level, three years after the disappearance.

 

[burblestein]

Let's see if I can even recall all the jurisdictions involved in this case. Besides three counties in California (Marin, Mendocino, Santa Barbara), reports were filed in Missoula MT, Provincetown MA, Spokane WA, New Jersey.... In any case where I could come up with a case number, or even the date of report, I have mailed inquiry letters.

 

[burblestein]

Letter received from Spokane Police Dept today. They have no 1974 reports on Linda.

Now let's see what the Spokane County Sheriff's Office says.

 

[Coleraine]

I’m apologizing in advance for the length of this post. Burblestein, you’ve noted the high incidence of violent crime in Westport and I’ve been paying more attention to other cases in the general area as I come across them since you pointed that out.

A few days ago I caught an old episode of Cold Case Files which focused on the murder of Gerard Vincent Sullivan, a 20 year old hitchhiker from Long Island found across from the Navarro Store in Navarro, CA (about an hour south of Westport) in Sept. 1975. Thirty years later, the murder was solved. The story is detailed in depth here:

http://theava.com/04/1201-jerrysullivan.html

There are a couple reasons why this case interested me in relation to Linda and Stephen’s disappearance. Just speculation, of course, but not much else to discuss at this point.

First, Jerry was murdered by another hitchhiker he was traveling with. Thirty years later, investigators tracked him down—already in jail for another murder—through his DNA on a cigarette butt found at the crime scene in 1975 and kept in pristine condition for decades. He confessed to Jerry’s murder, claiming remorse and the need to provide closure for Jerry’s family. He explained the killing by saying he had a tendency to “snap” and a substance abuse problem. I wonder if he was ever asked about hitchhiking with Linda and Stephen.

Second, the Cold Case Files episode had 2004 interviews of women who had provided information in 1975 to the original investigators about Jerry and his murderer. In their youth, the women had lived in communes in the area and both spoke of the distrust of law enforcement at that time, particularly in Medocino County where they lived. Ultimately, they did provide the detectives with valuable information, but both said that they had had to overcome their general dislike and distrust to do so. And that makes me wonder if perhaps the investigation of Linda and Stephen’s disappearance was hindered by local hostility toward law enforcement.

According to Anne Packard, she was told, after the 3-month search, that Linda and Stephen had likely been murdered. After reading about some of these other cases, I can understand why investigators might have told her that.

 

[burblestein]

Gee, Coleraine, no apologies needed. Myself, I am not Mr. Brevity on here.

LE investigation in Mendocino County is often met with disinterest, dislike, obstruction, and outright hostility. The rule of law here has been grossly undermined by the illicit marijuana industry. The organized criminal syndicates that infest our wilds with their marijuana plantations are sure not going to help. Logger/cowboy families are notorious for wanting to settle their own problems. And the hippies still abide here, even unto the third or fourth generation, with their dislike of "The Man". Negative attitudes toward LE hamper all investigations here. My personal opinion is that is one reason why we have so many unsolved cold cases up here. I mean, I have collated the cold cases in my files and they cover from 1968 to last year; the county's average population over that span was roughly 60,000. I have about 60 cold case homicides and disappearances in my files. And I am not near the end of my research.