The Case of Susan Elaine Rancourt

Susan Elaine Rancourt, 18, disappeared from Central Washington State College in Ellensburg on 17 April 1974 after attending an evening advisors' meeting. Ted Bundy later confessed to her murder, and portions of her remains were recovered at Taylor Mountain in 1975 alongside those of three other victims.

Susan was an 18-year-old freshman at Central Washington State College, now Central Washington University. She was originally from Anchorage, Alaska, and was studying biology at the college. On the evening of 17 April 1974, Susan attended a meeting on campus. At approximately 10:00 p.m., she left the meeting and began walking toward her living quarters. She was never seen alive again. Her disappearance was considered highly unusual because she left behind her personal belongings, including her glasses, contact lenses, identification, money and clothing. Investigators quickly suspected foul play.

Susan disappeared while walking across the Central Washington State College campus in Ellensburg. Two female students later reported encounters with a man wearing an arm sling who had been asking for help carrying books to a Volkswagen Beetle. One of those encounters occurred on the night Susan disappeared and another three nights earlier. Her remains were later found at Taylor Mountain in Washington. Her skull and mandible were among the remains recovered from the site in March 1975.

Susan's disappearance was initially investigated by Central Washington State College campus police. Her case was soon recognised as being similar to the disappearances of Lynda Ann Healy, Donna Gail Manson and Roberta Kathleen Parks. Investigators eventually connected the disappearances to Ted Bundy. Bundy had been using an arm sling as part of a ruse to gain assistance from women around college campuses, allowing him to approach potential victims without immediately arousing suspicion. Bundy later confessed to killing Susan. Her remains were among four sets of remains recovered from Taylor Mountain, together with those of Lynda Healy, Roberta Parks and Brenda Ball.

Ted Bundy was never separately tried or convicted for Susan Rancourt's murder, but he confessed to killing her before his execution in 1989. The discovery of Susan's remains at Taylor Mountain provided physical confirmation of her fate and ended the long-standing mystery surrounding her disappearance.

Susan's disappearance was one of a series of seemingly connected disappearances of young college women across the Pacific Northwest during the spring of 1974.