In the winter of 1975, 26-year-old Julie Cunningham, a white female, was living in the picturesque ski town of Vail, Colorado. She was working at a local ski shop and also as a part-time ski instructor. On the evening of March 15, she left her apartment in the Apollo Park neighborhood, intending to walk to a nearby tavern. She never arrived, and was never heard from again.
At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a brown suede jacket, blue jeans, a ski cap, and boots.
For years, Julie's disappearance remained a mystery, one of several unsolved cases of missing young women in the region. No suspects were immediately identified, and no arrests were made in connection with her case. The truth would not begin to surface until years later, with the confessions of one of America's most infamous serial killers, Ted Bundy. Before his execution in Florida in 1989, Bundy admitted to the abduction and murder of numerous women across several states, including Julie Cunningham. Though he was never formally charged in her case, his detailed confession provided the only explanation for her fate.
According to Bundy, he was in Vail on March 15, 1975. He used a familiar tactic, feigning an injury by using crutches and asking for help carrying his ski boots to his car. Julie, a kind and helpful young woman, reportedly offered her assistance. Once they reached his vehicle, Bundy knocked her unconscious, handcuffed her, and drove her to a remote, desolate area approximately 80 to 90 miles west of Vail, near the town of Rifle.
In this secluded location, Bundy stated he sexually assaulted her. He claimed that at some point, she regained consciousness and attempted to escape, but he caught her and strangled her to death. Bundy then said he buried her body in a shallow grave in the high desert. He even admitted to returning to the burial site weeks later. Despite his confession and providing a general description of the gravesite—a high desert area with a circular drive and some large trees—extensive searches, including one with a bloodhound in April 1989, have never located Julie Cunningham's remains. Her case officially remains an endangered missing person case, and she is one of many victims whose final resting place is known only to her killer.
