Terrence Rodger Demildenhall, a 22-year-old white male, was found before dawn on September 2, 1986, lying in his sleeping bag beside the west seawall of the Willamette River in Portland’s Waterfront Park, roughly a hundred yards north of the Morrison Bridge. He had been seen alive around 12:30 a.m., asleep in the same spot. When officers reached him later that morning, he had been shot to death, a quiet, precise act of violence carried out while he slept in the open.
The contours of the crime would echo months later. On February 27, 1987, another man—36-year-old Fred Edgi—was discovered in his sleeping bag under the west side of the Burnside Bridge, also shot in the head and less than half a mile from where Demildenhall was killed. Investigators publicly noted the striking parallels and said evidence linked the two murders, pointing toward a single offender who targeted vulnerable victims bedding down along the river. Despite the connection, authorities did not announce any arrests, and no suspect’s name has been publicly identified in Demildenhall’s case. The investigation remains open, with detectives seeking tips that could finally place a name to the person believed responsible.
