Lynda Ann Healy's house

This is the house where serial killer Ted Bundy abducted his first known murder victim, Lynda Ann Healy.

It is located at 5517 12th Avenue NE in Seattle, Washington.

On the evening of January 31, 1974, Healy and her roommates went for drinks at Dante's Tavern, a popular college bar in the University District.

The group ordered two pitchers but left early because their friend Pete had to catch a 9:41 p.m. bus home.

Healy also needed to be up at 5:30 a.m. the next morning for work.

Disappearance

The next morning, Healy's alarm clock radio went off at 5:30 a.m., but it did not stop as usual.

Healy typically cycled to her job at Northwest Ski Reports on N.E. 45th Street. There, she provided on-air ski reports before attending classes at the University of Washington.

At 6 a.m., her roommate, Karen Skavlem, woke up and realized the radio was still playing. When she checked the room, she saw it was empty and presumed Healy had left for work.

A few hours later, Healy's boss called to ask why one of his most reliable employees had failed to show up that morning.

This caused immediate concern, as the absence was uncharacteristic. Additionally, the bicycle she used to travel around Seattle was still at the house.

For several hours, her roommates waited anxiously, hoping she would return.

When Healy's family members arrived at the house for a planned dinner, the roommates informed them of the situation. Concerned, her mother, Joyce, immediately called the police.

Investigation

When a detective arrived, he searched the basement bedroom. The room appeared neat, and the bed was made. Her roommates noted this was unusual, as Healy rarely made it on mornings she left early for work.

After pulling back the bedspread, the officer discovered blood on the pillow and sheets. He also found a bloodstained nightgown in the closet.

The side door leading to the basement was unlocked, suggesting someone had entered the house and attacked Healy while she slept.

Discovery of remains

Despite a thorough investigation involving 65 interviews and a neighborhood search, investigators were unable to identify a suspect or find any trace of Healy.

Her whereabouts remained unknown for the next 13 months.

In March 1975, two forestry students found a human skull in the woods on Taylor Mountain. During a search of the site, police discovered the partial remains of four women.

Among these remains was Healy's mandible (jawbone), which police identified using her dental records.

Investigators were aware that a predator was targeting women in the Seattle area, but they lacked solid leads on his identity.

Bundy became a prime suspect only after his arrest in November 1975 for the attempted abduction of Carol DaRonch.

Insights into the attack

Bundy provided third-person "speculation" about the details of Healy's abduction during death row interviews with journalists Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth.

The blood on the bed and nightgown indicated that he incapacitated Healy by striking her on the head.

Knowing her roommates would eventually check the room, he cleaned the area to buy himself time. Before taking her from the house, he made the bed and hung her bloody nightgown in the closet. He also took her clothes to make it appear she had left voluntarily.

A pillowcase was missing, which investigators theorized Bundy used to cover Healy's head to prevent blood transfer.

After staging the crime scene, he put Healy in his Volkswagen Beetle and drove to a forested site near Taylor Mountain, an area where he frequently hiked.

Bundy's clean-up strategy proved to be effective, as police initially treated Healy as a potential runaway case.

Bundy's proximity to Healy

In one of Bundy's third-person "confessions," he speculated that "the killer" checked the exterior doors while prowling the area. After discovering an unlocked door, he decided to leave and return once the occupants were asleep.

At the time of the abduction, Bundy lived at 4143 12th Avenue. The apartment was just 0.8 miles from Healy's home, a distance that takes 15 minutes to walk or five minutes to drive. His girlfriend, Liz Kloepfer, also lived nearby, approximately half a mile from the house.

Kloepfer later recalled that by 1974, Bundy often walked back to his apartment late at night rather than staying over. Bundy had a documented history of voyeuristic behavior. In prison interviews, he spoke about walking streets at night while intoxicated, searching for undraped windows to observe women undressing or "whatever could be seen."

In his third-person narratives, he framed voyeurism as a "viable alternative" to his violent impulses. This voyeuristic behavior escalated until he began postponing events so that he could engage in the activity.

On the night of the abduction, one of Healy's roommates saw a moving shadow outside the house but dismissed it as paranoia. Although there is no direct evidence placing Bundy outside at that time, his behavior and his proximity to the residence suggest it was a possibility.

Lynda Ann Healy

Healy was the daughter of James Russell Healy and Joyce Ann Strickland Healy. At the time of her abduction, she was a senior psychology student at the University of Washington who was due to graduate in a few months.

Healy was focused on helping young people with intellectual disabilities. Before moving to the University District for college, she lived in the Newport Hills area of Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle.

Friends and family noted that she had a talented singing voice. She also loved photography and brought her camera everywhere.

Healy had two siblings, Laura and Robert.

Healy's father, James, died in 1998 at the age of 72. Her mother, Joyce, passed away on December 27, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19.