WA WA - Julie Weflen, 28, Spokane, 16 Sept 1987

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Investigators search storage unit in '87 cold case

Tuesday Spokane Detectives investigated their first big lead in years in a mysterious cold case dating back 24 years.

[snip]

They pulled the contents of Weflen's locker at the BPA substation in North Spokane County. It is unclear why was not done 24 years ago.

[snip]

The locker was opened years ago when the BPA substation was remodeled. Why employees didn't notify detectives remains a mystery.

Detectives say it could be a week or more before they'll say what was in the locker and if it was helpful to the case.

They are also looking into how the locker went overlooked for so many years.

More: http://www.krem.com/home/Investigators-search-storage-unit-in-cold-case-disappearnce-134340633.html
 
....How on God's green Earth could the contents of her locker have sat there for this many years without anyone bothering to go through it looking for leads?
A work locker is very likely to have the most up to date tid bits reciepts,phone numbers,notes...add to this she was abducted on the freaking job.....
Un-Believable.
And knowing Spokane no one will hear another word about this for years.
 
WOW, I never thought I would see a new post about anything of evidence about Julie. I really hope they get a lead on this. Thank you so much for posting this. I was thinking about this case the other day.
 
flightlevel said:
Could anyone outside of Bonneville power employees possibly have heard any radio dispatches about her going alone to the remote substation?
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I have thought about that myself. If a truck was just passing by, would they have known she was a woman given the job and uniform she was wearing? I don't think she had time to even exit the truck, before they approached her, given how things were found. But if I was passing by, given the distance of the road to where she was, I wouldn't have know it was a female worker, alone in that truck. Either someone knew she was going there, or they saw her on the road, up close and followed her. I think someone knew where she was headed.
 
Bern said:
I have thought about that myself. If a truck was just passing by, would they have known she was a woman given the job and uniform she was wearing? I don't think she had time to even exit the truck, before they approached her, given how things were found. But if I was passing by, given the distance of the road to where she was, I wouldn't have know it was a female worker, alone in that truck. Either someone knew she was going there, or they saw her on the road, up close and followed her. I think someone knew where she was headed.
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Its just agut feeling but ive never felt that this was case of someone just happening upon her.
We may never know but I wouldnt be surprised if this isnt someone who had a case for her and had been waiting for a chance to get her alone and somehow managed to take advantage of the window of opportunity her call at the station provided.
Ive seen first hand in the past situations where an atractive capable woman working a job traditionally dominated by men can stir up some real intense emotions with some .
I have no way of knowing whether that in anyway applies to this case though.
 
Would someone have gotten a promotion if she disappeared? Surely they have checked out this angle more thoroughly than they did that locker.

I wonder what the odds are of a rapist/ serial killer just driving around in a remote area and randomly deciding to abduct someone spur of the moment are? (Yes, I know it has happened) This case feels more like a stalker or opportunist who knew where she was headed. As far as rape goes this would have bee a perfect opportunity. Why not rape and just leave it at that if that were the motive? Why abduct and murder?* A serial killer specifically plans to kill without remorse for thrills. Another reason for a non-serial killer murder would be to shut someone up who could identify you as someone they know. Rape being the original intent and murder out of necessity to save your *advertiser censored*. These are just my random thoughts at 1:30 am. This case has bugged me since I first read about it. *(just assuming she was murdered).
 
After following some of the cases here, I think she knew who killed her. Serial killers don't hide the body as well as someone who may be connected to you. They don't have to, there is no link to the victim, but someone who knew her, doesn't want her found, there may be a connection and without a body, no one makes that tie in.

The shear fact that this locker went unreported for all these years is hinky to me. Why? This was well known that she was missing, no one reported this when the plant was redone? No one thought to look in her locker and get her stuff three decades ago? I really hope they start over with the investagation and look again at people in her life and around her.. I don't mean her husband either.
 
Serial killers don't hide the body as well as someone who may be connected to you.
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Great point. It appears somebody definetely didn't want her found. Still unbelievable that nobody thought to look in that locker. This case should be looked at with a fresh set of eyes from the ground up.
 
flightlevel said:
Great point. It appears somebody definetely didn't want her found. Still unbelievable that nobody thought to look in that locker. This case should be looked at with a fresh set of eyes from the ground up.
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Absolutely.I realize checking out her friends a coworkers when she first was abducted would have been a touchy issue especially with so many well meaning folks trying to help find her.
But I agree theren is a reason she is in someone's basement or garage floor instead of laying in a ditch somewhere.
I just dont feel someone was driving around and went 'Oh look! A victim!'.
Going back and re-interviewing folks who have had a couple of decades to talk and think about the circumstances of her disappearence and the milieu she lived and worked in leading up to her abduction could be most productive.
 
Back then, people didn't do background checks on employees and there was no internet to log sex offenders, so you could have been sharing space with them at work and never know it. Also, no DNA, lots of rapes and murders went unsolved. Maybe a look into "where are they now?" as in tracking past employees and friends. I know that sounds like a witch hunt, but if the person was close to her, knew she was going on that unexpected call, or had to drive past that area to get home, and spotted her, what is to say they didn't offend later on; even in another state? Looking back is a good thing.
 
Bern said:
Back then, people didn't do background checks on employees and there was no internet to log sex offenders, so you could have been sharing space with them at work and never know it. Also, no DNA, lots of rapes and murders went unsolved. Maybe a look into "where are they now?" as in tracking past employees and friends. I know that sounds like a witch hunt, but if the person was close to her, knew she was going on that unexpected call, or had to drive past that area to get home, and spotted her, what is to say they didn't offend later on; even in another state? Looking back is a good thing.
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yeah time can add perspective.
Something may have been said by someone 5 years later that might cast them in an entirely new light to other co -workers or someones life close to the case could have taken some strange turns in intervening years that might make some stop and think.
You know the topic has to have come up over the years among Julie's former co-workers.
May be things that didnt seem relevant at the time but now years later might look alot different.
They really need to go back to square one and re-interview these folks again.
 
I can not believe the locker was just discovered! I remember this case. I feel so bad that the mom, husband and family never got the answers. I hope they solve this case for Julie! I always felt sick when thinking about her just doing her job and being abducted like that. So awful :(.
 
I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the notion that her work locker could sit there for decades and never be looked at by the folks investigating her disappearence....it defies explanation.
 
kline said:
I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the notion that her work locker could sit there for decades and never be looked at by the folks investigating her disappearence....it defies explanation.
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It really does! I believe they removed the contents of the locker in November as evidence but I can't find anything discussing it now. I have no idea if they found something pertinent or if it was useless to the case. I wish they'd update it.
 
I doubt we wil hear anything of importance. This is a very old, cold case, but someone will hav to work it, but it takes time. Time has given the murderers a huge head start, but you never know, this case may be solved if the right people come forward.
 
The year before, two women disappeared from nearby Coeur d'Alene, Id. (Deborah Jean Swanson & Sally Anne Stone) The abductions were similar. Like the Weflen case, the bodies were never found. As someone pointed out earlier, this is unusual for a sexual predator/serial killer. In both of the Idaho cases, it appears the victim was abducted upon leaving their car. The abduction sites did not suggest an "opportunistic" situation. In both cases, the Perp either anticipated the woman's destination (perhaps by studying their daily pattern of activities), or more likely, just followed them by car. Both sites allowed the abduction to occur unseen but they were not in isolated areas and any screams or sounds of a struggle would have attracted attention. My suspicion is that Perp used a firearm to quickly restrain the victim and force her into his car.

There is nothing about the Weflen abduction that is inconsistent with the other two.
 
kemo said:
The year before, two women disappeared from nearby Coeur d'Alene, Id. (Deborah Jean Swanson & Sally Anne Stone) The abductions were similar. Like the Weflen case, the bodies were never found. As someone pointed out earlier, this is unusual for a sexual predator/serial killer. In both of the Idaho cases, it appears the victim was abducted upon leaving their car. The abduction sites did not suggest an "opportunistic" situation. In both cases, the Perp either anticipated the woman's destination (perhaps by studying their daily pattern of activities), or more likely, just followed them by car. Both sites allowed the abduction to occur unseen but they were not in isolated areas and any screams or sounds of a struggle would have attracted attention. My suspicion is that Perp used a firearm to quickly restrain the victim and force her into his car.

There is nothing about the Weflen abduction that is inconsistent with the other two.
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It wouldnt surprise me a bit if the cases were connected.
Of course Spokane itself has a hugely disproportunate number of cold case homicides for its size.
There is a map on the Spokesman Review site that shows the location of everyone of them over the last 20 years or so. Its ridiculous.
One would have to conclude Spokane is an extremely hazardous place to be an attractive female.
 
summer_breeze said:
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...f/2012/04/amateur_sleuth_says_case_of_mi.html

Published: Saturday, April 21, 2012, 12:00 PM
By Richard Cockle, The Oregonian

<snipped>
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I sure hope something comes of this.
If I was a betting man I would still wager her abductor was someone who knew her.
I completly agree the fact that no body has been found indicates this.
That and where she was abducted.
How would someone who just happened on her at the substation know for sure that she was alone and no one else was there inside one of the sheds or something?
I think someone knew she would be alone there and that she was going to be there.
 
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