The hotel where Lynette Culver was murdered

Crime Scene Location in Pocatello, Idaho

This is the hotel where serial killer Ted Bundy murdered 12-year-old Lynette Dawn Culver.

It is located at 1399 Bench Road in Pocatello, Idaho.

At the time, it was a Holiday Inn. These days, it is called Peak Extended Stay.

This Google Street View image was taken in July 2019, when it was called the Clarion Inn. Since then, it has been rebranded as Peak Extended Stay.

On May 5th, 1975, Bundy drove to Pocatello and checked into this hotel using an alias.

After being given a room at the back, he immediately set out to find his next victim.

One month previously, he had abducted and murdered Denise Lynn Oliverson in Grand Junction, Colorado. However, four weeks had passed since that attack, and he was now growing anxious to satisfy his fantasies.

It was unseasonably cold when Bundy arrived in the Gem State. Historical weather data for May 5th, 1975, shows that the temperature in Pocatello ranged between 38°F and 42°F (3-5°C). There were also frequent rain and sleet showers.

The unfavorable weather, combined with his lack of knowledge of the area, made it extremely difficult for him to troll for a victim. Although he reportedly approached several women, these abduction attempts did not progress far enough to raise any kind of suspicion. Instead, it seems as though his requests for "help" were quickly turned down.

Consequently, his first day ended in failure, and he was forced to return to the Holiday Inn empty-handed.

On his first day in Pocatello, Bundy went looking for a victim around the Turner Hall dormitory building. However, the cold, wet weather made it difficult to meet potential targets and lure them back to his vehicle. Credit: Google Maps.

Turner Hall Pocatello — At the time, Turner Hall was a women's dormitory, and men were not allowed inside without permission. When Bundy attempted to enter the building, an authority figure spotted him and ordered him to leave. The icy weather may have been a factor in his decision to enter the dorm. Because it was cold and wet, many women opted to stay inside. The potential victims that he did encounter outside were evidently in no mood to brave the elements and follow a stranger back to his car.

The following day, on May 6th, 1975, Bundy parked his Volkswagen Bug outside Alameda Junior High School on McKinley Avenue. After noticing Culver walking by herself, he decided to approach her and strike up a conversation.

At that point, he somehow lured her back to his vehicle.

Judging by his other crimes, it is likely that Bundy convinced Culver to accompany him by using one of his various ruses. For example, he may have pretended to be a police officer or family friend who had been sent to pick her up from school.

After she got into his Volkswagen, the pair made small talk as Bundy drove towards the Holiday Inn.

Lynette Culver — This aerial image shows the route that Bundy would have taken after picking up Culver. The distance between Alameda Junior High School and the Holiday Inn hotel was exactly 1.7 miles. It would have taken him roughly seven minutes to drive between these two locations.

Little is known about what happened afterwards.

Bundy did not tell investigators how he lured Culver into his room.

The most plausible scenario is that he concocted a story that made sense to the young girl.

For instance, he may have claimed that he needed to collect something or that someone she knew was waiting inside. If she did sense that something was off, she may have felt hesitant to speak up.

False leads — The officers who investigated her disappearance were initially misled by reports that she had taken a bus to the Indian reservation at Fort Hall, which is just north of Pocatello. However, it seems as though this information was either false or inconsequential to the case.

Shortly before his execution in 1989, Bundy confessed to murdering Culver. Although he did not provide many details, he did say that he drowned her in the bathtub in his hotel room.

Afterwards, he placed her remains in the trunk of his car and drove north, where he eventually stopped to dump her body in the Snake River.

Bundy was able to provide details about Culver's personal life that weren't known to the general public.

This proved that he had been speaking to the victim.

Confession — Although Bundy claimed that he dumped Culver's body in the Snake River, he was unable to give investigator Russ Reneau an exact location. As a result, the authorities did not have enough information to warrant a search.

Culver has never been found. To this day, she remains listed as a missing person.

Although she was Bundy's first preteen victim, she was not his last. Almost three years later, he abducted 12-year-old Kimberly Leach from her school in Lake City, Florida.