On the evening of March 12, 1974, nineteen-year-old Donna Gail Manson, a student at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, told her roommate she was going to a jazz concert on campus. She was last seen walking from her dormitory towards the library, a short two-minute walk across campus. Donna, who was described as 5 feet tall and 100 pounds with long brown hair and blue eyes, was wearing a red, orange, and green striped shirt, blue or green slacks, and a fuzzy black full-length coat.
At the time of her disappearance, she was reportedly experiencing a period of depression. Because she was known to occasionally hitchhike and travel for a few days without notice, she was not reported as a missing person for six days. Her friends and family initially thought she might have decided to travel without informing anyone. When her room was searched, all of her personal belongings were still there, indicating she had not planned to be gone for an extended period.
The investigation into Donna's disappearance was slow to start, and by the time it was active, the college was on spring break, with many potential witnesses having left campus. Her case was one of several disappearances of young women in the area, which were believed to be connected. A man named 'Ted' who wore his arm in a sling had been seen in the vicinity around the time of some of the disappearances. Before his execution in 1989, serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to Donna's murder. He provided varying accounts of where he had disposed of her body, including in the mountains, the Cascades, and specifically at Taylor Mountain where other victims' remains were found. Bundy also made a disturbing claim that he had burned her skull in his girlfriend's fireplace. Despite his confession, his statements were never officially confirmed.
Over the years, there have been moments of potential discovery, though none have brought conclusive answers. In August 1978, a human skull was found by fishermen near Eatonville, Washington, in the foothills of Mount Rainier. Searches of the area uncovered more bones and a multi-colored shirt similar to the one Donna was wearing when she vanished. However, authorities at the time believed the remains were placed there after 1974. A forensic dentist ruled out seven other missing persons, leaving Donna as a possible match, but a conclusive identification was never made. Tragically, these remains and related evidence were later lost or destroyed during a routine purge of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office's property room in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The case was briefly revived in the 1990s when details about the mishandled evidence came to light, but no new information was uncovered. Donna Gail Manson's case officially remains that of a missing person, a haunting and unresolved consequence of a notorious killer's crimes.Last Seen: Mar 12, 1974
