WY WY - Lynn Dianne Olson, 16, Green River Lakes, 28 June 1963

[MadMcGoo]

MISSING PERSON
Lynn Dianne Olson


Date of Birth: December 31, 1946
Age: 16
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 130 pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Characters: She has a fair complexion and is reported to have bad eyesight without her glasses.

30 Jul 1963, 2 - Casper Star-Tribune at Newspapers.com


31 Jul 1963, 2 - Rapid City Journal at Newspapers.com


1 Aug 1963, 1 - Casper Morning Star at Newspapers.com


1 Aug 1963, 28 - The Billings Gazette at Newspapers.com


25 Aug 1963, 2 - Casper Star-Tribune at Newspapers.com


25 Aug 1963, Page 20 - Great Falls Tribune at Newspapers.com


25 Aug 1963, 5 - The Missoulian at Newspapers.com


25 Aug 1963, 3 - The Billings Gazette at Newspapers.com


Additional Source: www.ancestry.com

 

[victoriarobinson642]

I hate to be negative but it does seem to me that she succumbed to natural causes of some sort.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I hate to be negative but it does seem to me that she succumbed to natural causes of some sort.

I’m on the fence about this one. What do you make of the comment about a letter written to a Salt Lake City boyfriend found with her clothing? That really stood out me but it wasn’t elaborated on. Just that it didn’t offer any clues to her whereabouts. Was it a Dear John letter? Something she planned to give him or something she thought he might read eventually after her clothes were found?

 

[victoriarobinson642]

I’m on the fence about this one. What do you make of the comment about a letter written to a Salt Lake City boyfriend found with her clothing? That really stood out me but it wasn’t elaborated on. Just that it didn’t offer any clues to her whereabouts. Was it a Dear John letter? Something she planned to give him or something she thought he might read eventually after her clothes were found?

That's definitely bizarre. Maybe something she had in her pocket and planned to send later?

 

[taramarie]

Sublette County Journal

 

[MadMcGoo]

Sublette County Journal

Thank you for sharing this!!

I suppose this explains the letter a little bit. They were visiting their grandparents from Utah, so she was probably writing to a boy back home. Like the article says, knowing how her clothes/glasses were found might hold a clue. It sounds like authorities did quite a bit in the way of searching for her early on. The weather certainly wasn’t on their side.

Also, I invited Dianne’s sister to join the thread if she’d like.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Thinking about you today...

 

[alb1on]

I would certainly assume that she drowned but for one question. Given the intensity of the search (bloodhounds/airplanes/boats/divers/60 men on horseback) what are the chances that such a search missed finding her clothes for a month? Whilst it is possible (and someone with more knowledge of the area may be able to comment) it seems surprising.

 

[Cimatico]

restored image - source 30 Jul 1963, 2 - Casper Star-Tribune at Newspapers.com

 

[MadMcGoo]

restored image - source 30 Jul 1963, 2 - Casper Star-Tribune at Newspapers.com

Very nice! Thank you for doing this!

 

[MadMcGoo]

I am ever so convinced she is Pecos Jane Doe.



TX - TX - Pecos, WhtFem, 17-20, UP13480, found dead in motel swimming pool Jul 66

 

[Bit of hope]

What a peculiar case. To get an idea of the surroundings, here is a map. The GP Bar Ranch (owned by the grandparents?) is on it. From various articles on posted in #1 and Sublette County Journal

Note: I only reflect on old info from the papers etc. It may be that the reporting in the media is poorly worded or that information is not properly presented.

There are a few things that catched my eye.

It was a dude ranch, so there were supposedly also other guests? Did they look into that?

"The time was late June 1963, a time of more innocence than now seems possible. Dianne Olson, just 16 years old, and her twin brother, Mike, were up at their grandparents GP Bar dude ranch at Green River Lakes, a stupendous setting 50 miles northwest of Pinedale."

"Miss Olson was last seen in the Green River Lakes area 54 miles northwest of Pinedale on June 28" So lets say she was approx 4 miles away from the ranch (being 50 miles northwest of Pinedale) According to the info beneath doing the maths (using moderate) she had walked for approx. 1 hour to where she was last seen. (who saw her BTW and are we sure this was a credible sighting?) If you ask me, if she went in northwestern direction (further away from Pinedale), with the ranch as starting point, she wasn't even close to the lake(s). There is the Green River though.

Hoe lang duurt het om afstanden te lopen van een mijl naar een marathon? - Wandelen - 2020
Average duration walking.
Fast: 7 minutes per kilometer or 11 minutes per mile.
Moderate: 10 minutes per kilometer or 15 minutes per mile.
Easy: 12.5 minutes per kilometer or 20 minutes per mile.

Other paper clipping says her brother Mike saw her walk over a footbridge over one of the lakes. I only could find a footbridge on the outlet of the lakes over the Green River....but it were the 60's, maybe totally different.
Green River Lakes footbridge - Pinedale Online News, Wyoming

An exhaustive search of the primitive area failed to turn up any clues in her disappearance. They also used bloodhounds. You would think they did a search with bloodhounds with the ranch as starting point.... but
surprisingly:

"Then a month later on Monday, July 29, 1963, an incredible clue appeared. Family members found Dianne's clothing and glasses about 200 yards (182.88 meters) northwest of the GP Bar lodge, up toward the lake. Apart from the fact that her clothes were found that close, a month later (there is't anything known in what state the the clothes were but family found it?) I don't see that northwest of GP bar lodge is up toward the lake... How come her clothes weren't found much earlier on? If the search was so intense....

Other reports say that the clothes were found by family 100 yards away from the shore of the Green River Lakes.....which one, there a two?

 

[Bit of hope]

I am ever so convinced she is Pecos Jane Doe.

View attachment 269427

TX - TX - Pecos, WhtFem, 17-20, UP13480, found dead in motel swimming pool Jul 66

Didn't have Pecos Jane Doe an olive skin and Dianne a fair complexion?

 

[Bit of hope]

I hate to be negative but could she have been taken by a bear?

 

[MadMcGoo]

Didn't have Pecos Jane Doe an olive skin and Dianne a fair complexion?

Thank you for looking up all those locations! I left reading those articles with a lot of the same questions you have. The clothing in particular.

I first found out about Lynn through Facebook. I happened to come across an unrelated post by her sister whom mentioned that she’d never been found. Very few details, so I had to do some sleuthing myself. Which is how I found the newspaper articles. I also tried to find any additional information about her on Facebook. I couldn’t find anything on her sister’s page (what is/was public), nor any place else.

To answer your question though, I did see photos of other female family members, on FB and Ancestry, that in my opinion more closely resembled PJD than the newspaper photo of Lynn. Something tells me her skin tone could be darker and/or more olive than what the poor quality photo we have of her portrays. I reached out to her sister and provided her a link to this thread...I do hope someday she’ll join in! At least she’ll know others are thinking of Lynn!

 

[nicoleco89]

This was my fathers sister. He has passed now. He was about 6 or 7 when this happened.

 

[SimsGuy67]

This was my fathers sister. He has passed now. He was about 6 or 7 when this happened.

So sorry for your loss... I assume this means she's still missing. Is a missing persons case opened with LE?

 

[Meitsyeah]

Didn't have Pecos Jane Doe an olive skin and Dianne a fair complexion?

The girl became known as the "Pecos Jane Doe" until DNA testing was conducted in 2020. A year later, the body was confirmed to be that of then-17-year-old Jolaine Hemmy of Celina, KS. It was because of a DNA sample given by one of Hemmy's surviving sisters that investigators were able to finally give her a name. Of her sister's reaction, Pecos Police Chief Lisa Tarango said:

 

[MangoCove]

I found this interesting news story about Dianne's birth. Born on December 31st of 1946 her twin brother, Michael was born the next day, but the following year, on New Years Day of 1947.

Also, because her parents were living at the remote GP Bar Ranch at the time of her birth, the article details her first trip up to the Green River Lakes, the location of her eventual disappearance. It is a harrowing homecoming for the newborn twins trying to scale the mountains midwinter. Facing airplane trouble and subzero temperatures, her parents had an unbelievable challenge just to get home.

Lynn Dianne Olson Birth and brother Michael Mother Naomi Decker Olson and Father Perry Olson

Clipping found in Jackson's Hole Courier published in Jackson, Wyoming on 1/9/1947. Lynn Dianne Olson Birth and brother Michael Mother Naomi Decker Olson and Father Perry Olson

www.newspapers.com

 

[doublestop]

A girl who has very bad vision would be unlikely to leave her glasses behind voluntarily. I wonder if her clothes were folded and stacked, or scattered. I'd be wondering who else was staying at the dude ranch.