Lynette Dawn Culver

Case Details

Lynette was last seen in Pocatello, Idaho on May 6, 1975. She left Alameda Junior High School for her lunch break and never returned. That afternoon, she boarded a bus at Hawthorne Junior High School, bound for Fort Hall. She has never been heard from again. Investigators initially believed she ran away, perhaps to a nearby Native American reservation, but they began to suspect foul play as time passed and nobody saw or heard from her. Serial killer Theodore Robert “Ted” Bundy confessed to Lynette’s murder shortly before his 1989 execution. A photo of Bundy is posted with this case summary. He claimed he abducted Lynette and took her to a room at a Holiday Inn, where he raped her, drowned her in the bathtub and dumped her body in the Snake River. Bundy reportedly provided personal details about Lynette’s life in his confession, but authorities have not entirely accepted his statement. They believe Lynette’s disappearance could have been connected to four other cases in the late 1970s and early 1980s where Pocatello girls were abducted and killed, cases which Bundy could not have been responsible for. Lynette was the first of the girls to go missing, three months before Bundy’s arrest. In July 1978, 12-year-old Tina Anderson and 15-year-old Patricia Campbell disappeared. Their bodies were found in Oneida County, Idaho in October 1981. 14-year-old Linda Smith disappeared in June 1981, and her body was found in May 1982. The last murder was that of 14-year-old Cindy Bringhurst, who disappeared in June 1983 and was found a month later, south of Pocatello. All these cases remain unsolved and investigators haven’t definitively linked them, but they note that it would be unusual for five girls in that age group to disappear from a relatively small city within an eight-year span. Police are hoping that with new forensic technologies, they will be able to solve the murders and find Lynette’s body. Bundy is a suspect in many disappearances, including those of Nancy Baird, Ann Marie Burr, Julie Cunningham, Susan Curtis, Georgeann Hawkins, Vicki Hollar, Rita Jolly, Donna Manson, Denise Oliverson, Nancy Wilcox, and many other girls and young women. The women continue to be listed as missing persons. Their remains have never been recovered. Lynette was the youngest of three children, one of whom died before she was born. She was born in Washington and moved to Idaho in 1967; she lived with her family on Fairbanks Street. She had a good relationship with her family in 1975. She was in the seventh grade, was a good student and was considered a normal preteen, although she did have some problems with school truancy. She remains listed as a missing person. Investigating Agency Pocatello Police Department Source Information The Idaho State Journal The Crime Library The Stranger Beside Me Wikipedia The Bundy Murders: a Comprehensive History KSL Idaho Bureau of Criminal Investigation Lynnette Culver Memorial Bench LYNETTE CULVER victim of ted bundy of 12 years Updated 6 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 23, 2019; four pictures added.