The Sandpiper Tavern

On September 26th, 1969, Ted Bundy and Elizabeth Kloepfer met at this bar in the University District of Seattle.

At the time, it was called the Sandpiper Tavern. Later, it became the Rainbow Tavern and the Fusion Ultra Lounge.

In March of 2015, the owners of the Fusion Ultra Lounge decided to permanently close their doors after a shooting at their nightclub left two teenagers in the hospital.

Since then, the property has been refurbished and cleaned up. These days, it is home to a brewery and taproom called Ladd & Lass Brewing.

Liz meets Ted

On that Friday night in September of 1969, Liz and her friend, Marylynne Chino, were having drinks in the Sandpiper Tavern on 45th Street. 

It was Liz's first night out in Seattle since she moved to the city with her 3-year-old daughter, Molly.

At some point in the evening, Marylynne noticed that a man on the other side of the bar was glancing over at Liz.

The man in question was Ted Bundy.

Later that night, Ted approached Liz and asked her to dance. Feeling flattered, she said yes. After the dance, Ted went back to sitting at the bar by himself.

For a while, Liz waited for Ted to approach her again. However, after some time passed and he failed to do so, she decided to walk across the bar and strike up a conversation with him.

They begin dating

The pair hit it off immediately, and Ted ended up spending the night at hers. However, his stay that night was "platonic" as Liz was so drunk that she fell asleep with her clothes on.

The next morning, she woke up to find Ted making breakfast with her daughter, Molly.

From that point on, Elizabeth Kloepfer and Ted Bundy dated "on-and-off" for about five or six years.

Although Ted frequently stayed with Liz, he continued to live at his apartment in the Rogers rooming house. He also saw other women at certain points. For example, Liz told detectives that Bundy dated a coworker from the Mental Health Center for a couple of weeks in 1972. 

In December of 1973, he became engaged to an ex-girlfriend called Diane Edwards. This engagement occurred while he was still in a relationship with Liz.

In 1974, the couple's relationship started to fall apart. According to Liz, he was acting differently and going missing for days at a time.

This was also the year when young women started to disappear from the streets of Seattle. During the summer of 1974, Liz noticed that Ted's sex drive was non-existent and accused him of having an affair.

In September of 1974, Bundy moved to a new apartment in Utah so that he could attend law school. Although the couple "officially" remained together, their relationship was strained. During his stay in Utah, Bundy had a "casual relationship" with a female tenant at his rooming house. At the same time, Liz was also beginning to suspect that Ted was involved in the disappearances of local women.

In 1975, while Bundy was awaiting trial for the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch, he briefly moved back in with Liz. However, by that stage, investigators believed that he was behind the disappearances of a number of women. As a result, Liz's house was kept under constant police surveillance.

Photos

Photos of the bar and other related images.

---