Denise Lynn Oliverson's abduction location

Crime Scene Location in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States

On April 6th, 1975, Denise Lynn Oliverson disappeared from the city of Grand Junction, Colorado.

The following day, her yellow bicycle and sandals were discovered underneath this overpass on South 5th Street.

Since then, there has been no trace of the missing 24-year-old.

Ted Bundy confessed to murdering Denise Lynn Oliverson

Shortly before his execution in 1989, serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to abducting and murdering a woman in Grand Junction.

This confession was supported by gas receipts, which showed that he was in the city on the exact same day that Oliverson went missing.

According to Bundy, he lured the young woman into his car and then strangled her to death. Afterwards, he reportedly dumped her body in the Colorado River.

Husband

On the day of her disappearance, Oliverson had a heated argument with her husband, Joe.

Following the argument, she decided to leave their small one-bedroom home on LaVeta Street and cycle to her parents' house on the other side of the Colorado River.

When she failed to return home, her husband presumed that she had decided to spend the night with her parents, as that was something she often did whenever they were experiencing a rough patch.

However, when he called her parents' house the following day to ask when she was coming home, he was informed that she had never visited them.

At that point, it became immediately clear that something was wrong. Consequently, Oliverson's parents contacted the police and reported her missing.

Oliverson's items are discovered

On the same day that she was reported missing, a railroad employee happened across her yellow 10-speed bicycle and wine-colored sandals underneath this overpass on South 5th Street.

Although this discovery led police to suspect foul play, there were no other leads in the case. From their perspective, it seemed as though the 24-year-old had simply vanished into thin air.

It wasn't until Bundy confessed in 1989 that the truth became known.

On that fateful day in April of 1975, he had somehow lured the young woman to his Volkswagen Bug, which he had strategically parked underneath the bridge. Once she was close enough, it is likely that he struck her over the head, raped her, and then strangled her to death.

Following the murder, he drove west for five miles before he eventually pulled over to dump her body in the Colorado River.

Sadly, no trace of Denise Oliverson has ever been found. Like many of Bundy's victims, she remains listed as a missing person.

Denise Lynn Oliverson crime scene

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

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the site are:

39.060627, -108.564173

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:

South 5th Street Bridge
Grand Junction
Colorado
CO 81501
United States

Directions

This location is accessible via 4th Avenue, which is a small road that runs underneath the overpass. The entrance to 4th Avenue is on South 7th Street.

Details about the general area

Grand Junction is a small city in the west of Colorado. It is close to the state line with Utah.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

1619 LaVeta Street

On the date of her disappearance, Oliverson was living with her husband at this small house on LaVeta Street.

Whenever the couple had an argument, she would often leave the house and go cycling.

In many cases, she would cycle across the bridge to her parents' house and then stay there for a while.

Coordinates: 39.051627, -108.563853

Google Maps Link

Bundy was in Grand Junction at the time

According to gas receipts, Bundy was in Grand Junction on the day that Oliverson disappeared.

1. On April 4th, 1975, he purchased gas in Golden, Colorado.

2. On April 5th, he was at a gas station in Silverthorne.

3. Then, on April 6th, he visited Grand Junction, which was the exact same day that the 24-year-old went missing.

This evidence, coupled with his confession in 1989, led investigators to conclude that Bundy was almost certainly behind the disappearance.

Bundy's frequent stops at gas stations make a lot of sense when you consider the distance involved. During his five-day-long "road trip" across the state of Colorado, he traveled at least 1,035 miles.

During his trip to Golden, it is likely that he returned to the body of Julie Cunningham, whom he had murdered twenty days earlier.

Pathway

This is a Google Street View image of the small pathway that slopes down on the eastern side of the bridge.

In 1975, this area would have looked slightly different. However, the current pathway does follow a similar course.

Coordinates: 39.059617, -108.564065

Google Maps Link

How did Bundy abduct Oliverson?

This aerial photograph shows the route that Oliverson was planning on taking that day. It is likely that she avoided the bridge and took the pathway on the right.

It seems as though Bundy managed to intercept her before she could turn right and continue her journey northward.

Because she was on a bicycle, it would not have made sense for him to offer her a ride. Instead, it is likely that he flagged her down and asked for help.

It is the author's opinion that Bundy used one of two ruses here:

1. He pretended to be experiencing car troubles.

2. He approached Oliverson using crutches or a fake cast and then asked her to help him carry something to his vehicle.

A number of online commentators have posited the theory that she may have run into mechanical issues with her bicycle and that Bundy eventually came to her "assistance".

However, this seems unlikely. According to GJPD detective Doug Rushing, the yellow 10-speed bicycle was completely undamaged when it was discovered.

The most obvious conclusion is that Bundy's Volkswagen Bug was parked in a strategic spot underneath this overpass. According to investigators, the area underneath the bridge would have been pretty secluded at the time.

Therefore, it would have been relatively easy for him to quickly strike her over the head with a crowbar and incapacitate her without anyone witnessing the act.

The fact that Oliverson's sandals were discovered at the scene suggests that she may have been struck over the head before she entered the vehicle.

Wedding day

This is a colorized photograph of Denise and Joe Oliverson on their wedding day. According to reports, they were going through a rough patch in 1975 and were planning on divorcing.

Sandals

Image source: hiimted.blog

These are police photographs of the wine-colored sandals that were found at the scene.

According to former GJPD detectives Doug Rushing and Jim Fromm, other items belonging to Oliverson were also discovered beneath the viaduct. These items included a purse and a belt.

However, they never made it into the evidence locker because another officer reportedly gifted them to his girlfriend.

Route

This aerial map shows the route that Oliverson took on April 6th, 1975. As you can see, her house was situated on the southern side of the Colorado River.

Detectives believe that the young woman may have been cycling down a small pathway on the eastern side of the bridge when she encountered Bundy.