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Ted Bundy's Issaquah dump site

Crime Scene Location in Issaquah, Washington, United States

This is the Issaquah site where Ted Bundy dumped the bodies of Janice Ann Ott and Denise Marie Naslund.

It is also believed to be the location where he buried the remains of Georgann Hawkins.

In 1974, coeds started disappearing from Seattle and the wider Washington State area at an alarming rate. By the time summer rolled around, it had become blatantly obvious to everyone that a predator was kidnapping young women.

Although the authorities were actively investigating the disappearances, they were hamstrung by the fact that none of the victims' bodies had been found.

However, all of that changed on September 6th, 1974, when two grouse hunters stumbled across skeletal remains at this location on the outskirts of Issaquah.

During an examination of the site, the police discovered a number of human bones, most of which had been spread out over a wide area due to disturbance from local wildlife.

Investigators found a skull, spine, mandible, pelvis, five femurs, and teeth, as well as a number of other bones.

It was soon determined that the skeletal remains belonged to Janice Ann Ott and Denise Marie Naslund, two women that Bundy had abducted from Lake Sammamish on July 14th, 1974.

Bundy also claimed that he buried Georgann Hawkins at Issaquah

During one of his confessions in 1989, Bundy claimed that he also left the remains of 18-year-old Georgann Hawkins at this site in Issaquah. However, investigators were unable to confirm this.

At the time, police typically needed a skull or a mandible (jaw bone) to identify skeletal remains. Because DNA testing did not exist at the time, they often relied on matching teeth against dental records.

Unfortunately, some of the bones that were found at the Issaquah crime scene were cremated by the coroner at a later stage.

The remains were discovered roughly a decade before DNA testing was invented. Furthermore, it was policy to cremate unidentified bones if they had been in storage for too long.

Sadly, this means that we will never know for sure if this was the final resting place of Hawkins.

If we do take Bundy's confession as truth, then it means that her head was buried nearby, "beside a rocky hillside."

It is worth pointing out that Bundy was most likely being honest in this particular case. According to King County detective Robert D. Keppel, the search team collected five femur (thigh) bones from the wooded area. This indicates that there were at least three victims at the site.

The area has undergone a number of changes

The site in question has undergone a significant number of changes over the years.

For example, Highlands Drive and the Swedish Issaquah Campus did not exist at the time. The campus wasn't constructed until more than 30 years later.

Back in 1974, this was a wooded area that could only be accessed via a short and winding dirt track.

This was his second dump site

Although this was the first of Bundy's dump sites to be discovered, it wasn't the first one that he used.

His first dump site was at a nearby location on Taylor Mountain. However, that wasn't uncovered until roughly six months later, in March of 1975.

The find at Issaquah was significant, as it confirmed everyone's suspicions that a predator was murdering women in the Seattle area.

Where was Bundy's Issaquah site?

Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location.

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the site are:

47.535027, -122.018465

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps Link

Address

The full address for this location is:

Highlands Drive NE
Issaquah
Washington
WA 98029
United States

Details about the general area

Issaquah is a small city that lies 15 miles east of Seattle, Washington. Back in 1974, the city was much smaller than it is today. Since the 1970s, the population has increased from 4,500 to roughly 40,000.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

An old map of Issaquah

This map of Issaquah is from 1950. The dump site was just north of an abandoned cabin, on the north side of the railway.

The railway line, which ran through the Olde Town neighborhood of Issaquah, no longer exists. However, we do know the route that it took.

This is because the railway line was replaced by the Rainier and Issaquah-Preston walking trails that exist today.

Please note that the exact location of the site is actually slightly to the left of the red dot.

Then and now

On the left is an older map which pinpoints the exact location of the site. This is from the book "Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline" by Rob Dielenberg. On the right, you can see a recent aerial photograph of the area.

If you look at the red line at the bottom, you can see where the railway bridge used to be. At the top, there is a feint outline of where the railway line curved up to the right. Nowadays, this is a walking trail.

Denise Marie Naslund and Janice Ann Ott

On July 14th, 1974, Bundy abducted Denise Marie Naslund (19) and Janice Ann Ott (23) from Lake Sammamish state park.

That day, he approached multiple women at the beach and asked them if they could help him unload a sailboat.

The abductions of Janice and Denise occurred just four hours apart. Furthermore, they took place in broad daylight.

When police searched the burial site in September of 1974, they found the bones of Janice and Denise scattered across a large area.

Over the eight-week period that followed the women's deaths, it seems as though local wildlife interfered with their remains. This is not surprising, as the area is home to a number of carnivores. For example, coyotes, bobcats, black bears, and cougars all live in the area.

Police photograph

This is a police photograph of the site, which has been labelled. As you can see, Ted left the women's bodies at the clearance just before the trees. Note that the two red dots probably aren't too precise as the remains were scattered around the area by local wildlife.

Bundy's decision to stop using his original site at Taylor Mountain and switch to Issaquah is interesting.

It may indicate that he wanted to "switch things up" in an attempt to impede any future investigations. It is also possible that he had a close call at the other site. For example, a vehicle may have driven by as he was pulling out onto the interstate, leaving him worried that he had been spotted.

It is important to point out that Bundy was an impulsive creature who often found it difficult to keep his urges under control. Therefore, it is also plausible that he selected this new site simply because it was much closer to Seattle.

The search at Issaquah

Once the remains were discovered, an extensive shoulder-to-shoulder search was carried out.

The rocky hillside

During his final confession to King County detective Robert Keppel in 1989, Bundy stated that he buried Georgann Hawkins' head on a rocky hillside near the Issaquah body site.

According to Bundy, he carried her head about 25-50 yards north along the old dirt road. He then turned left and walked through the trees for about 10 yards.

At that point, he came across an area that was "very rocky" and "very hilly."

Sadly, despite a thorough search of the suspected site, investigators were unable to find any trace of Georgann.

Bundy's confession took place nearly 15 years after Hawkins was murdered. He had also been drinking heavily at the time. Consequently, his memory of the crime may have been distorted.

It is also possible that Georgann's remains were disturbed in the decade and a half that followed her disappearance.

Although Bundy was a liar and a manipulator, it is the author's opinion that he was telling the truth in this particular case. At the time of the confession, his execution was just over a week away. He was well aware that he needed to give detectives enough information to try and justify a stay of execution.

Google Earth image

This is a 3D Google Earth image of the dump site at Issaquah.

1977

This USGS aerial photograph of the site was taken in 1977.

The Issaquah site in 1972

This photo was taken in September of 1972—roughly two years before Bundy started using it as a dump site.

Google Street View

This Google Street View image of the site was taken in August of 2022.

Pictured on the left are Georgann Hawkins, Janice Ott, and Denise Naslund—three young women who lost their lives at this location in one of the most brutal ways imaginable.

This location belongs to the following categories:

Crime Scenes Serial Killers Ted Bundy Seattle Locations Ted Bundy Locations