Lynne Kathryn Schulze
Lynne, circa 1971
- Missing Since 12/10/1971
- Missing From Middlebury, Vermont
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 02/09/1953 (67)
- Age 18 years old
- Height and Weight 5'3, 115 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A navy blue pullover sweater, a brown nylon ski parka, blue jeans and hiking boots.
- Medical Conditions Lynne may have been mildly depressed at the time of her disappearance.
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, blue eyes. Lynne had severe acne at the time of her disappearance.
Details of Disappearance
Lynne was last seen leaving her dormitory on the Middlebury College campus in Middlebury, Vermont on December 10, 1971, the first day of final exams before Christmas break started. She apparently stopped at a local health food store, All the Good Things, and bought dried prunes, and was seen eating them outside the store at 12:30 p.m. She said she was going to take a bus to New York, but the bus had already left.
Lynne returned to campus and was seen in her dormitory. She left her room at 12:55 p.m. She was on her way with her friends to take a final exam in her English Drama class when she said she had forgotten her favorite pen and was going to go back to get it. The exam was scheduled for 1:00 p.m.; she never showed up.
At 2:15 p.m., Lynne was seen standing on Court Street, across the street from All the Good Things and the bus stop where she'd been earlier. This is the last time anyone ever saw or heard from her.
She left her identification, checkbook and all her personal belongings behind when she vanished. She may have been carrying $30 in cash with her. Campus security was alerted to her disappearance two days after she was last seen, but her parents were not notified for a week.
Lynne had mentioned the idea of faking her own death and starting life anew prior to her disappearance, but her friends did not take her seriously. In the letters she wrote frequently to family and friends back home, she admitted she felt homesick and had considered withdrawing from school. However, she never indicated she was planning on dropping out of sight or leaving college before the autumn term was over, and she did register for spring semester classes.
Her relatives don't believe she was unusually distressed. She took her English Drama class seriously, had perfect attendance and studied hard for the final exam she never attended. Although her academic performance at Middlebury wasn't as good as it had been in high school, she wasn't failing any classes.
There were several possible sightings of Lynne after her disappearance, but none of them were confirmed. Several people made confessions of involvement in her case, but all of their statements turned out to be false.
Little evidence is available as to her fate, but Lynne's disappearance is considered suspicious and her family believes she died shortly after she was last seen.
She was a freshman at Middlebury in 1971, and lived in Simsbury, Connecticut when she was not at college. Lynne enjoyed writing at the time of her disappearance and had kept a journal during her senior year of high school.
In 2015, authorities announced they were looking at Robert Durst as a possible suspect in Lynne's disappearance. He and his wife, Kathleen, owned All the Good Things in 1971.
Kathleen Durst disappeared from New York City in 1982, and Robert is considered the prime suspect in her case, but he has never faced charges connected to it. A photo of him is posted with this case summary.
Investigators have ruled him out as a suspect in the 1997 disappearance of
Kristen Modafferi from San Francisco, California, but he's being considered in the disappearance of
Karen Mitchell from Eureka, California that same year.
Robert was charged with the 2001 Texas homicide of Morris Black. He claimed he murdered Black in self-defense, and was acquitted in 2003. In 2015, he was charged with murder in the 2000 shooting death of Susan Berman.
Both of Lynne's parents died in the 1990s, but her sister is still alive and hopes for a resolution in her disappearance. Her case is unsolved.
Investigating Agency
- Middlebury Police Department 802-388-3191
Source Information
