The campus where Roberta Kathleen Parks was abducted
Crime Scene Location in Corvallis, Oregon
This is the location where serial killer Ted Bundy abducted Roberta Kathleen Parks.
It is called Oregon State University, and it is located at 2501 SW Jefferson Way in Corvallis, Oregon.
On the night of May 6th, 1974, "Kathy" Parks left her dorm at Sackett Hall and walked eastward toward the Memorial Union building on the OSU campus.
A female student who stopped to talk with her on Jefferson Way said that Parks intended on visiting the cafeteria in the union building to purchase a hot fudge sundae.
After some light conversation, the two bid farewell and continued on their separate paths.
This was the last time anyone saw the 20-year-old alive. Roughly nine months later, her skull was discovered at Bundy's dump site on Taylor Mountain.
Parks was experiencing mental health issues at the time of her disappearance. She was also going through relationship problems with her boyfriend.
To make matters even worse, her father had recently suffered a heart attack.
All in all, it appears as though she was going through an extremely tough time.
Her doctors said that she was depressed, capable of running away, and at risk of suicide. Due to these evaluations, it was initially presumed that she had disappeared of her own accord.
Although it was known that young women were going missing from Washington, the closest victim, Donna Manson, had vanished from a campus that was more than 200 miles north of Corvallis. At the time, it seemed unlikely that the predator who was targeting co-eds in the Seattle area would venture so far south.
The discovery of Parks' skull at Taylor Mountain came as a big surprise to investigators.
Its presence among the remains of Lynda Ann Healy, Susan Rancourt, and Brenda Ball left no doubt that her case was related to the other killings.
The young woman had been abducted, murdered, and then dumped in a forested area that was a four-hour drive away from the OSU campus.
It appears that Bundy approached her shortly after she had parted ways with her friend. After introducing himself, he somehow managed to lure Parks back to his vehicle.
Once she was close enough to his Volkswagen, it is likely that he ambushed her by striking her over the head with a tire iron.
Parks was not the first victim to fall into one of Bundy's traps.
Sadly, Bundy claimed seventeen more lives before he was eventually arrested for the final time in 1978.
Roberta Kathleen Parks crime scene location
The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:
Address
2501 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, Oregon, OR 97331, USA
GPS coordinates
The latitude and longitude coordinates for the campus are:
44.565183, -123.278914
Directions
The Memorial Union building is situated on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis.
Photos
Photos of the campus and other related images.
The corner where Parks was last seen
This is a Google Street View image of the corner of Jefferson Way and 26th Street. The blue arrow illustrates the general area where Parks was last seen. The Memorial Union building was just a few yards away.
After saying goodbye to Lorraine Fargo, Parks would have turned left onto 26th Street.
During a conversation about what Parks' killer "might" have done, Bundy "speculated" that he approached the 20-year-old in the cafeteria and convinced her to accompany him to a local bar. He then drove to a remote location before carrying out his attack.
However, several questions hang over this story.
The first problem is that it wasn't a genuine confession. At the time, Bundy was still adamant that he was an innocent man who had been wrongly convicted of murder. As a result, his "theories" about what the killer "might have done" were almost certainly filled with falsehoods.
Bundy was well aware that investigators would try to scrutinize his interviews with author Stephen Michaud for clues. Therefore, it is likely that he deliberately attempted to mislead them at certain points.
The second problem with this "confession" is that there were no sightings of Parks at the cafeteria.
Last but not least, the commons area in the Memorial Union building was reportedly closed at 11 p.m. on Mondays. Because Parks left her dorm at around 11 p.m., there was very little time for her to buy a hot fudge sundae, sit down, and then be approached.
The most likely scenario is that Bundy approached Parks outside of the Memorial Union building.
During the abductions of Susan Rancourt and Georgann Hawkins, we know that he feigned an injury and asked them to help him carry something back to his car.
In both of those cases, he strategically parked his Volkswagen Bug in secluded parking lots that were within walking distance.
He also used a fake injury ruse during the abductions of Janice Ott and Denise Naslund at Lake Sammamish.
Therefore, it stands to reason that he employed a similar modus operandi with Parks.
Coordinates: 44.564581, -123.279954
Memorial Union building
This is an aerial image of the northern side of the Memorial Union building.
After speaking to Lorraine, Parks would have walked up College Way and turned to her right.
It is plausible that Bundy was hanging around this area at the time. If so, it is likely that he was wearing a fake sling or using crutches.
Sackett Hall
At the time of her disappearance, Parks was living in one of the dorm rooms at Sackett Hall.
Inset is a photograph of her boyfriend, Christy McPhee.
McPhee was reportedly pushing for more commitment in their relationship. However, she wasn't ready and was planning on ending things with him.
Coordinates: 44.564975, -123.283527
Oregon State University
This aerial photograph of Oregon State University was taken in August 1977.
As you can see, there were a number of parking lots in the area.
Parks was from Lafayette, California
Parks was from Lafayette, California. She was born in Lakewood, Ohio, on February 27th, 1954.
Newspaper reports from the time show that she lived at 1117 Rahara Drive.
The property no longer belongs to her family, as it has been sold twice in the past 30 years.
Her parents were Charles E. and Katherine Wilks Parks. Charles passed away in 1986. Her mother, Katherine, died in November 2009.
She had two sisters called Susan and Sharon.
When Roberta first went missing, her parents believed that she may have been upset due to her father's heart attack. After offering $1,500 for information about her whereabouts, they expressed their hopes that she would eventually return home.
Coordinates: 37.899102, -122.152841
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This location belongs to the following categories:
Crime ScenesSerial KillersTed Bundy Seattle LocationsTed Bundy LocationsClosest Locations
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