Did Ted Bundy murder his first victim when he was just 14 years old?
The investigation into the 1961 murder of an 8-year-old girl has led some to ask that question. Bundy and the victim, Ann Marie Burr, grew up just a few miles apart in Tacoma.
Now a podcast is exploring the connection between Bundy and Burr's murder. "True Crime Chronicles," a podcast by VAULT Studios, will release an episode Monday that takes a look back at the cold case with true crime author Rebecca Morris and KING 5 Senior Producer Tess Wagner.
You can download and subscribe to "True Crime Chronicles" on any podcast platform, including Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts. You also can listen to the latest episode in the player below when it is released on Monday.
Burr vanished from her home from near the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma on Aug. 31, 1961, just before Labor Day weekend. Her mother, Beverly Burr, found her daughter's bed empty that morning — but there were no signs of a struggle.
“There was a living room window that had been opened, and outside a garden bench had been pulled up to the window,” said Morris, author of "Ted and Ann: The Mystery of a Missing Child and her Neighbor Ted Bundy."
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Family searched frantically and the Tacoma Police investigated the young girl’s disappearance, but detectives lacked the resources that they have today.
“Evidence collected at the scene is limited due to the resources and methods of crime scene investigation during that era of law enforcement," Tacoma Police told KING 5 in a statement.
Ann’s body was never found. Her mother penned a letter to Bundy while he sat on death row in Florida. Bundy responded to her letter by denying that he killed her oldest daughter. He was executed in 1989.
“I think he did it, I do," Morris said. "Nothing adds up like it does for Ted.”
Bundy has not been ruled out as a suspect, Tacoma Police said. Several others also are considered suspects in Ann’s case.
If you have any information about Ann Marie Burr’s disappearance, contact the Tacoma Police Department, at (253) 798-4721.