Ann Marie Burr's house

This is Ann Marie Burr's former house.

It is located at 3009 North 14th Street in Tacoma, Washington.

Burr (8) went missing from her home during the early hours of August 31st, 1961.

That morning, her mother, Beverly, woke up early and noticed that she wasn't in her bedroom. After walking downstairs, she saw that the front door was ajar and the living room window was open.

Other than that, there were no obvious signs of a struggle or foul play.

Although the Burr's family dog had been barking during the night, they presumed that it was spooked by a passing rainstorm.

Burr's disappearance sparked a national media frenzy and a large search that included soldiers and members of the National Guard. The police conducted a door-to-door search while helicopters buzzed overhead.

Despite the huge search effort, no trace of the young girl was ever found.

The evidence

A rickety garden bench outside the living room window was overturned. Investigators determined that the bench would not have supported the weight of a fully grown adult.

Nearby, detectives discovered a size six or seven footprint of a tennis shoe. The size of the footprint suggested that the offender was a teenager.

Burr may have known and trusted her killer, as it appears that he initially spoke with her through the living room window, which she would have had to open from the inside. Following a short conversation, he either climbed through the window or convinced her to unlock the bolt and chain on the front door.

Ted Bundy

Much later, it was speculated that the 8-year-old may have been one of the earliest victims of serial killer Ted Bundy.

At the time, Bundy was 14 years old and living with his family in the West End area of Tacoma. Moreover, there has been a persistent but unproven claim that he worked as a paperboy in Burr's neighborhood.

This claim has led to the belief that a young Bundy may have been in the area at the time.

Author Ann Rule, who wrote a biographical book about Bundy, received an email from one of his former classmates in which she claimed that he had once asked her if she would like to see a dead body. Furthermore, this was in the 9th grade, a time when Bundy would have been around 14 or 15.

Bundy denied any involvement in the crime while he was sitting on death row.

In May 1986, Burr's mother, Beverly, wrote to Bundy in prison and implored him to come clean about the incident. One week later, he responded and told her that he had nothing to do with her daughter's disappearance. In his letter, he explained that he would have been a "normal" 14-year-old boy at the time.

Although Bundy is often touted as a person of interest in Burr's case, the detectives who investigated her disappearance believe that someone else was involved.

Their prime suspect was a 17-year-old neighbor named Robert Bruzas, who reportedly displayed an "unusual interest" in the 8-year-old. They also deduced that the girl's abductor was familiar with the family and the layout of their home.

Burr's mother does not remember seeing Bundy in their neighborhood. There is also no substantial evidence that he ever spent time in the area.

Burr's father, Donald, said that he approached a youth at a construction site on the morning of his daughter's disappearance. The boy told him that he hadn't seen his daughter.

Nearly three decades later, in 1989, Donald claimed that the youth resembled Bundy's "likeness." However, the detectives who investigated the case remained adamant that Bundy wasn't a suspect. Other investigators have also expressed skepticism about Donald's alleged sighting of Bundy, as he reportedly changed his story several times.

Although Bundy's parents did live a few blocks away at 3214 North 20th Street, they didn't move to that house until 1968, which was seven years after Burr went missing.

In January 1989, King County detective Robert Keppel interviewed Bundy shortly before his execution. During one of their interviews, Keppel asked him if he was involved in Burr's abduction.

Bundy's response, which we've edited for clarity, was as follows:

"No, absolutely not. And one thing I'd like to do on some of these—I mean, on all of this—if it's possible, and I think it's important. It's important for me. It's important for my credibility because there are so many questions about my credibility. You know, I would like to have a polygraph examination if that can be done for these kinds of things. Do something to enhance my credibility. Not just, you know, specifics—I mean, of the specifics, of course—but of my overall account of these things. Because I want it to be believable. I just don't want it to get into a Henry Lee Lucas kind of deal on my... I have precious little going for me now, but I do have to build some credibility."

Bundy confessed to dozens of murders shortly before his execution. However, he remained adamant that he wasn't involved in Burr's case.

Despite hundreds of interviews and numerous leads, Burr's disappearance remains unsolved.

Following her abduction, her family lived at this address for another six years before eventually moving in 1967.