Who murdered 17 year old Linda Hutchings in 1979?
In the late summer of 1979, the life of a vibrant and artistic 17-year-old White female from Arvada, Colorado, was tragically cut short. Linda Hutchings, a young woman known for her effervescent personality and love for simple pleasures like stargazing and drawing, vanished on August 15, 1979. She was last seen at a friend's apartment in the nearby city of Lakewood. Clad in white jeans and a white peasant-style top, she left a note in the early morning hours indicating she was heading home. It is believed she intended to hitchhike, a common practice for many young people at the time.
Her family grew frantic when she never arrived. Linda's mother, Carmalina, promptly contacted the Arvada Police Department, but her concerns were initially dismissed with the suggestion that her daughter had likely run away. This was out of character for Linda, who was reliable and excited about her upcoming school classes. The family's own searches at places like truck stops and calls to her friends yielded no clues. For two agonizing weeks, her whereabouts remained a painful mystery.
The grim answer to the family's questions came on September 1, 1979. A family out picking cattails along an embankment near Indiana Street and West 82nd Avenue made a horrifying discovery. It was the body of Linda Hutchings. Investigators determined she had been beaten. The discovery devastated her loved ones and the community, leaving a void where a bright and promising young life had been. The mystery of who could have committed such a brutal act haunted the investigation that followed.
A significant, yet ultimately misleading, development in the case came years later. Professed serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to Linda's murder as part of a string of hundreds of killings he claimed to have committed nationwide. For a time, it seemed as though the case might be solved. However, Lucas's claims were later proven to be false, and he eventually recanted his confession. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office now considers Linda Hutchings' case to be an unsolved cold case. To this day, no credible suspect has been identified, and the question of who she encountered that fateful night remains unanswered, leaving her family without justice.
