I had a scary encounter when my car—a Volkswagen— was disabled late one night, and a guy “coincidentally” happened by and offered me a ride into town, but then he turned the opposite direction and drove toward an abandoned dirt road.
Long story short, I ended up jumping out of his Volkswagen —which was weirdly spray-painted, as if to disguise its color—and running for my life. An old black guy in a Ford Galaxie came along and whisked me to safety.
The next day when I returned to my car, I found my tire had been slashed on the inside sidewall. I realized the guy was probably planning to kill me and switch cars.
Years later, I started reading about Ted Bundy, including the Ann Rule book. I became about 95% certain the guy in the Volkswagen who tried to kidnap me was Bundy.
He looked like him, the MO was the same, and I had had long hair parted in the middle, like his other victims. The VW beetle and the timing were the biggest clues. My encounter was on the I-10 interstate —which runs from CA to FLA -—and was shortly before he ended up in Florida where he butchered those sorority girls.
I never notified any authorities, though. Ted was dead, already executed by the time I connected the dots. Why bother?
omg.....
Just wow. How close you came. My meeting was just a nod of the head as I entered the room that he was leaving. It was only after the fact that I was told who he was (by some very surprised and sheepish co-workers!).
My encounter with Ridgway was stronger and more deliberate. Gary worked in the paint shop at Kenworth where I worked as a line mechanic. I had several “bump into” encounters with him on the line as he moved painted cabs out of the dryer to the line to be installed.
We chatted at times and I thought nothing of it. He was quiet and unassuming and mostly kept to himself. Later someone pulled me aside and asked if I knew who he was. As far as I knew he was just another drone on the assembly line.
“That’s Gary Ridgway” my friend whispered.
“So what?” I replied.
“Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer” he hissed.
I found out that he had been pulled from the line about five or six months earlier and questioned about being in the vicinity of several murders on the SeaTac xtrip. I also noted that they let him go so I shrugged it off.
After about a month of chit-chats we were on a first name basis and he invited my wife and I to dinner at his house. Intrigued and not a bit frightened I accepted. My wife wasn’t concerned either.
We met at his house and he showed me his place and his backyard garden, which faced Interstate 5. All very pleasant, all rather innocent. In retrospect I don’t think that my wife and I were his type.
He was picked up soon up and that was the end of him. I received one visit from the Task Force asking why I was at his house. I told them the truth and that was that.
Could have been him, he wasn’t in Florida long before he was caught. Long enough to do a lot of damage though...and the Volkswagen he was driving was stolen. Stupid move...If I remember right he was caught after running a stop sign, and was driving drunk. I don’t think I have it any more, but Ann Rule wrote a very good book about him. May have given it to my neighbor, she loves those books and I’ve given her at least 20.
Bundy was originally identified by a girl who got away, I think on the west coast somewhere, either Washington or Oregon if I remember correctly. She got her chance and jumped out of the car and ran. That was the first time they got enough info to put a face to the person they were after, but still didn’t have a name yet. Just a general idea, but good enough to have an idea what to look for, and an MO. Or one of them...he used different methods to lure girls into his car. In some cases using a fake cast to get them to help him put something in the car. That was used in Silence of the Lambs too. That’s how Buffalo Bill got the victim who got him caught eventually. Directly from Bundy. He also helped officials get a better idea of how serial killers think.
The last few, and the ones in the sorority house, were some of the worst. Pretty typical, most serial killers escalate or evolve as they do more and more. The first couple are just killed and dumped, then they start getting more violent and gruesome as they go, many eventually going as far as cannibalism and necrophilia. Most start saving “trophies” fairly early. Dahmer was an extreme example of that. The general thought is that he was so seriously affected by his parents leaving him at a young age, he wanted to make sure his victims could never leave and do the same thing to him.. He came home one day and the whole family was gone...around age 12 or so I think, I’d have to go look it up. Weird stuff...