On a summer day, August 2, 1974, the life of 18-year-old Carol Louise Valenzuela, a young female, took a tragic and mysterious turn. After a disagreement with her husband in their Washington home, she set out to a friend's house, deciding to hitchhike from Camas to Vancouver. Witnesses confirmed she reached Vancouver and was seen at a welfare office that morning. A caseworker had asked her to come back at 1 p.m. to pick up food stamps, but Carol never returned.
Two days later, her husband reported her missing. This was the last time her family ever saw her alive. She was a mother to 10-month-old twins.
For two months, uncertainty surrounded her disappearance until a grim discovery was made in October 1974. A deer hunter in a wooded area in Dole Valley, about 14 miles northeast of Vancouver, came across skeletal remains that were later identified through dental records as belonging to Carol Valenzuela. The tragic finding came with a chilling clue; just 100 feet away lay a second set of remains. For decades, the second victim remained unidentified, but in 2015, she was confirmed to be Martha Morrison, a 17-year-old who had also vanished in 1974. Investigators determined that both young women had been victims of homicide.
The investigation into the deaths of Carol Valenzuela and Martha Morrison pointed towards a pattern of violence against young women in the area, many of whom were hitchhiking. Over the years, several individuals were considered persons of interest, including notorious serial killers Ted Bundy and Randall Woodfield. However, investigators soon focused on a Clark County Parks Department employee named Warren Leslie Forrest. Forrest had access to remote areas and a history of violent crimes. A significant breakthrough occurred in October 1974 when another woman miraculously survived an attack by Forrest at Lacamas Lake Park. She had been kidnapped, assaulted, and left for dead in a shallow grave but managed to crawl to a road for help and identified Forrest as her attacker, leading to his arrest.
Warren Forrest was subsequently convicted for the murder of another woman, Christa Blake, in 1974. For decades, he remained the primary suspect in Carol's case. In a major step forward, advancements in DNA technology in 2019 linked blood evidence on an air pistol belonging to Forrest to Martha Morrison. In 2023, he was convicted of Morrison's murder and received another life sentence. Investigators believe they are now very close to formally charging Forrest with the murder of Carol Valenzuela. They are currently awaiting the results of DNA tests on hairs found in his van, which could provide the final piece of evidence needed to secure a conviction and bring a half-century-long case to a close. It was also noted that Forrest had taken a half-day off from work on the very day Carol disappeared.
