Account
Jul 15, 2009
Apr 27, 2021
Elizabeth
Lande
74
21
50 inches
54 inches
110 lbs
120 lbs
White / Caucasian
Female
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a 21-year-old woman named Elizabeth Ann Lande vanished under troubling circumstances in the winter of 1971. The evening of Saturday, December 11th, began quietly for Elizabeth, known to her friends as Liz. With her parents away on a week-long cruise, she spent the evening at her home with two girlfriends, talking and watching television. The night took a pivotal turn around midnight when Liz received a phone call from her boyfriend, Robert "Bobby" Nauss, who was a member of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club. He asked her to come spend the weekend with him. Aware of Nauss's reputation and worried about the late hour, Liz's friends pleaded with her not to go, but their concerns were to no avail. After her friends departed, a neighbor living across the street was awakened by a noise at approximately 1:50 a.m. on December 12th. Looking out his window, he witnessed Liz walking out of her front door and getting into a gold-colored Toronado that was waiting at the curb. It was the last time she was verifiably seen. The hope of Elizabeth's safe return was shattered just a day later. In the early hours of Monday, December 13th, an associate of Bobby Nauss allegedly witnessed a horrific scene. He saw Elizabeth's body in a garage located behind his own apartment building. According to this individual's later testimony, he was coerced into helping Nauss dispose of her body. They reportedly drove her remains to the dense, remote woodlands of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. For years, the specific location remained a secret, and Elizabeth's family was left with no answers, only the pain of her absence and the terrifying accounts of what may have happened to her. Her disappearance was a sudden and devastating void in the lives of those who knew and loved her. Years passed without any resolution until a significant break in the case occurred in the summer of 1977. On July 12th, nearly six years after Liz vanished, the friend who claimed to have helped bury her became a witness for law enforcement. He attempted to guide investigators to the burial site near Williamstown, New Jersey, about sixteen miles from Philadelphia. However, the landscape had drastically changed over the years. The once heavily wooded area he remembered had been cleared and replaced with housing subdivisions, making it nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact location. The witness identified several potential spots, and authorities excavated each one, but their exhaustive efforts were fruitless; they did not find Elizabeth's remains. Despite this, based on the witness testimony, Robert Nauss was convicted for the murder of Elizabeth Lande on December 9, 1977. The case is a tragic one, marked by a conviction but lacking finality. Although a person was held responsible for her death, Elizabeth Lande has never been found, leaving her family without the closure of bringing her home for a proper burial.
Dec 12, 1971
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia County
No
7467
Philadelphia Police Department
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia County
19125
Viviana Reyes
Detective
300 East Hunting Park Avenue, Pennsylvania
2156863093
Local
Law Enforcement
Philadelphia Police Department
6439
Blond/Strawberry
Green
Green
05/17/2026
