A 21 year old woman is found dead in a construction zone in a Washington park On the day before Christmas in 1977, the life of 21-year-old Terri Foster was tragically cut short in Vancouver, Washington. A Caucasian female, her partially clothed body was discovered around 12:30 p.m. on December 24th in a corner of David Douglas Park, which was under construction at the time. The discovery was made by a man and his son who were looking over a new baseball field in the southwest area of the park located off North Garrison Road.
An autopsy revealed the cause of death
to be cerebral edema and hypermia, secondary to strangulation. The examination also found contusions on her scalp, left orbit, and nose, suggesting she had been struck in the face. Evidence of sexual assault was also present. Investigators determined that the apparent rape and murder likely occurred sometime after 2:00 a.m. that morning. The case was officially ruled a homicide.
During the investigation, detectives identified a person of interest. A man named Dennis Allen David was questioned after it was learned that an individual identifying himself as "Dennis" had stopped by the home where Foster was on the night she was last seen. A composite sketch was created based on witness descriptions, which was later matched to photos of David. Polygraph examinations were administered to David on December 28th and 29th, 1977. His answers to questions about seeing Foster on the night of December 23rd and being involved in her death showed responses consistent with deception. Despite this, the murder of Terri Foster remains one of Vancouver's unsolved homicides.
