Beth had a fair complexion and long blonde hair. She was described as intelligent, friendly and an extrovert, even though she was quite naive. She was also described as quiet at times, shy, reserved and boy crazy. Beth loathed strangers and wanted to build a "complex of lodges back in the bush, that would only be occupied by people of her choice." She liked to walk everywhere but thought hitch hiking was dangerous and wanted it abolished.
On Christmas day, brothers Dennis and Garry Lawler went to shoot photos at McHugh Creek, along Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage. Dennis edged toward a waterfall on a small ledge about 20 feet below a picnic area to photograph a waterfall. As Dennis set up his shot, he spotted what he thought was a mannequin that had been dropped at a weird angle behind a bush and partially covered in snow. Dennis got in a different position for a better look and discovered that it was really a body of a dead, partially nude woman. Sadly, that woman turned out to be Beth.
On December 22nd, 1971, Beth was 18 years old student at Anchorage community college. She shared a house with her 3 older brothers and her cousin named Greg on Knik Avenue in south Anchorage, near Northern Lights Blvd. Her parents lived in another house, also in Anchorage.
That afternoon, Beth had gone shopping with her mother, aunt and cousin. According to her aunt, “Beth was very happy and was looking forward to Christmas.”
After the shopping trip, Beth went home to watch the movie “The Whole World is Watching,” with two of her three brothers. The movie was already in progress and everyone that was there was allegedly smoking marijuana.
Allegedly, at some point during the evening, Beth decided that she wanted some soda. They didn't have any soda at their house, so Beth bundled up and headed toward a local convenience store named Bi-Lo, which was only a few blocks away. She waited to leave until a commercial break that was somewhere around 8:30 p.m. Before she left, she told her brothers that she was supposed to babysit for one of her cousin's friends and to have him wait until she returned. Beth had to hurry because Bi-Lo closed at 9 p.m.
A witness last saw Beth walking to the Bi-Lo between 8:45p.m. and 9:00p.m. A second witness said they saw Beth walking away from her house around 10p.m. Another witness claimed to have seen Beth hitchhiking between 10p.m. and 11p.m. Several neighbors also claimed to have seen Beth hitchhiking, including one who said she had picked her up in the past.
Neighbor J. Dice claimed to have seen Beth about 9 p.m. headed south on Captain Cook Dr., toward Northern Lights Blvd. Beth was standing under a lamp post and talking to someone in a dark colored car that had stopped. The car had a door open and appeared to be headed south on Captain Cook. The neighbor did not see Beth get into car.
She never returned home. She never made it to Bi-Lo either. Her brothers didn’t report her missing until two days later. They assumed that her cousin had picked her up on the way to the store and taken her to babysit.
When state troopers recovered the body, they noticed that Beth had a slash across her chest and her wrists were tied behind her back with speaker wire. A gag had been placed over her mouth had fallen lower across her face. It appeared as though she had been sexually assaulted, which would be confirmed the next day during her autopsy. Her blue jeans were missing as well as her green, down-filled parka and rubber soled hiking boots.
Authorities said that it looked like Beth had managed to escape from her attacker and then fell of a ledge fifty feet from the presumed location of the murderer’s car. Which had been surmised to be the parking lot were "donuts" where in the pavement made by a car circling the roadway. She got within ten to fifteen feet of the waterfall and that is where she stopped and froze to death.Since had been blizzard like conditions when Beth went missing and now things were thawing so it was hard to capture tire or boot prints. They couldn't find her missing clothes either. All they had was the wire that bound her wrists and the scraps of clothing she still wore.
The wire was a double-strand, black and white stereo wire, with indications it was made in Japan. One of the investigators had been all over town searching fruitlessly. Others tried businesses, another contacted Interpol, asking if they could track down the manufacturer and identify an American outlet for that product without any luck.
Beth's cousin, Greg Nicholas, was the first to come under suspicion. Besides supposedly babysitting for him that night, Beth didn't get along with her cousin. They bickered with each other since they were four or five years old. Also, their bedrooms were next to each other, and Beth didn't even want to be on the same floor as Greg.
The next day, Greg and Beth's two brothers were interviewed at the Fly-By-Night garage, which was owned by Beth's brother David. Troopers stated that Greg was clearly nervous while Sgt. Walter Gilmour was at the garage. He was also quivering and crying.
Greg said that at 4:30p.m. he had received call from his cousin, Ronnie, who needed a ride to meet a friend at the airport at 6p.m. He took a quick bath, cleaned up and left without eating dinner.
He arrived 5:30p.m. at the Stephen’s residence, where he met Ronnie. The two of them then went to Freda Shannigan’s house where they picked her up and went to the airport. Their friend was not on the plane. They then left the airport and went to Freda’s brother’s house.
At 7:30 pm, they arrived at Jimmy Shannigan’s house.
At 8:30 pm they went to Freda’s house. Ronnie helped Freda take some things inside. Greg and Ronnie then left to go pick up Beth from her house, so they could drive her to a babysitting job for Freda Shannigan. On the way, they decided to stop at the Fly-By-Night garage, so Ronnie could see Greg’s “new” car.
After stopping by the garage, they allegedly waited for Beth for about three minutes at her house before giving up and going to the Montana Club in downtown Anchorage. They arrived at about 9:30p.m. and met some friends.
Greg told troopers that they stayed at the Montana Club until time unknown. He said that he had gotten really drunk and "Ronnie got half-loaded.”
Greg's alleged timeline of where he was the night of Beth's disappearance didn't add up. Beth's brothers' recollection of the events that happened were inconsistent as well.
Beth's two brothers, who’d been at the house with her on the 22nd, couldn’t really remember what they’d had for dinner. They also couldn't agree on the exact time Beth had left for the Bi-Lo. They did agree on one thing though, they didn't seen Greg after he left the house at 6p.m. until the next at 4p.m.
Beth's oldest brother David was the one who had been at the garage the night of 22nd instead of watching the movie with his siblings. He told troopers that he thought that Beth had an abortion the month before and that the father may have been David's business partner, Ed Tilbury. (Ed Tilbury was later ruled out as a suspect because was in Cold Bay, Alaska, a thousand miles away at the time of Beth's disappearance.)
That evening the Anchorage Suicide Prevention Center got a call from a 17-year-old boy who told them his friend’s sister had been found dead at McHugh Creek because “she knew too much.” He admitted he had been at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in June and had been seeing a doctor since then. He also admitted he had used a “lid of grass" (marijuana) and "mescaline" (a hallucinogenic and intoxicating compound present in mescal buttons from the peyote cactus.) He insisted that he was not suicidal, just very frightened.
The next day, Ronnie was brought in for an interview. Ronnie said he had called Greg and asked him for a ride to the airport. Greg met Ronnie where he was then living, with the Stephens family at Thompson Manor, in the Mountain View area approximately 20-minutes away from the Beth's home.
Later they went to the airport to pick up their friend Nikki (who wasn't on the plane). Greg asked Frieda if she wanted to go out. She said, that if she could find a babysitter she would love to go. Greg said that his cousin Beth might babysit.
He said that they then went to see Greg's car which was at David's shop. After the shop they, he said they went to Greg’s house to see if Beth would babysit and from there, they went to the Montana Club.
Ronnie said that Frieda asked him to call at 9:00 or 9:30. He called her from the Montana Club. He said he then left Greg and cashed an Alaska Scallop Fleet check at the Alley Cat and drank three Calvert’s and water. He made the next call to Freda at 10:00 or 10:30 pm.
He went back to the Montana and had two or three drinks. He then wandered around to the Elbow Room and Ole & Joe’s. He ended up at the Montana Club and went out to the Rabbit Hutch where he said he fell asleep on the table because he was pretty drunk.
Elsie Young was allegedly with Greg at the Montana Club on the night Beth went missing. When interviewed she stated that around 9:00 pm on the night Beth went missing, she ran into Greg at the Montana Tavern. He was with his cousin Ron came over to Elsie's table. There were three other people sitting at the table with her: Wassilie Wassilie, Mary Schofield and Clifford Dolchock. They ordered drinks. Greg had a Christian Bros. straight and his cousin had whisky and water, they talked for about two hours. She said that she noticed Greg had a knife in a pouch on his belt.
Elsie said that she was certain Greg took her home at midnight because she checked her watch for the time because she had to go to work the next day. She said that she was with Greg the whole time and did not see Beth.
Later one Elsie was interviewed again, this time she had something to say about something that happened after Beth's disappearance. She said that one January 2nd, around midnight she was home asleep on the couch when Greg came over and pounded on the door. She says she let him in, and he appeared scared and as though he had been running. He said the cops were suspecting him of killing his cousin and he wanted her to say that she was with him from 9p.m. until midnight on the evening of Beth's disappearance.
One of the people that were with Elsie the night that she met Greg at the tavern confirmed seeing Greg and Ronnie that night at the Tavern. Wassilie Wassilie said that he left a little after nine p.m. He said that he got into an argument with Elsie, and she went back in the bar while he went home.
Frieda Shannigan was also interviewed around this time. she said that Greg that told her he was living with a relative who would babysit, but she told him no. She said that Greg and Ronnie tried to persuade her to go out, but she still said she didn’t want to go out. And at no time did Ron or Greg say they were going to call up a babysitter.
Greg was also re-interviewed later. This time he volunteered some things about Ronnie. He said that Ronnie could very easily become mean.
Greg then said that he went to Beth’s to see about the babysitting because he was in a hurry to get to Beth’s. Then he went to the Fly-By-Night because he wasn’t in a hurry to get downtown. He wanted to stop at the garage around 9a.m. or 9:30 a.m.
He said that Ronnie was wearing real hard boots. Greg then proceeded to draw a picture of them. Greg was then shown a photo lineup showing a number of footprints taken at McHugh Creek Campground. He said that one of the footprints looked like Ronnie’s shoe print.
He was also shown tire tracks from the scene. Greg said that it looks they might have come from his car and Ronnie may have been at the campground. Greg then said that he did give the key to Ronnie that night.
Greg said that Ron knew about him calling Beth. He was listening very close and probably on his way to pick her up. He said that if Beth was sexually molested, and hair was found, Ron’s hair would probably look just like his.
Alaska State Troopers administered a polygraph test to Greg, and he passed. That result indicated he was not responsible for Beth's death. However, the polygraph operator admitted there was a possibility that the questions he asked were not geared to the actual circumstances of the investigation. Greg did show deception to two questions:
Have you ever participated in an unnatural sex act?
Have you ever used marijuana?
Ronnie was reinterviewed. He said that Greg has not been in contact with him and did not know why he would point the finger at him. He also said that he had no knowledge of Beth or how she was killed. He said that Greg never told him anything concerning Beth. And he had no knowledge or involvement in Beth's death. He also did not believe Greg was involved either. Ronnie did say however, that wasn't with Greg the whole time at the Montana Club. He said he walked back and gave Greg a 10-dollar bill and told him that he was going to the Alley Cat and cash a check. Which is weird because Greg said in his interview that he gave Ronnie twenty dollars because he was broke.
By the time Greg's car was searched for physical evidence, it had been in accident with a moose. There was hair and blood all over the car from the moose and they couldn't find anything to link Greg to Beth's disappearance or death.
The Tiki Room was in the Tropics Hotel on Spenard Rd and was across the street from the Fly-By-Night garage. School friends of Beth's, Andrea Taggart and Louise Hawkins, were in the Tiki Room the night of December 22nd at approximately 1am.
Andrea said that she went to the bathroom and Beth was sitting on the counter, facing the door with her back to the mirror. She said that Beth "didn't look good at all". Beth was wearing a green ski jacket and scarf. Her hair looked dirty and messy.
Andrea told Beth hi. Andrea told troopers that Beth looked at her and smiled like if she should have known her. Andrea said that she then went into the bathroom stall. When she came out and fixed her hair, Beth was still sitting there. Andrea asked Beth how she was. Beth replied, "I am really blown away." With that Andrea said "Ok" and then left the bathroom.
She said that Beth came out of the bathroom 15-20 minutes later. As Andera looked up and watched as Beth walked up to a tall man standing next to the bar. The man was a white, 6′ or 6’2″ with skinny legs. He weighed about 180 pounds. He was wearing an olive-colored military type parka with a full hood and wolf appearance around it. He was wearing Jeans and black shoes. His hair was dark brown, 1 or 2 inches below the ear. He was not well-kempt. He was 22 or 24 years old or younger. He had a large nose. She did not notice a beard or glasses.
Beth hung her head and looked droopy. The man appeared to be getting some change and both walked into the lobby area. In a minute or two they returned and walked through the entire bar area and out the back door of the Tiki Room.
Louise had just about the same account of events as Andrea with slight variations. She said that the man was thin and tall, 5’8" to 6 feet, early to mid-twenties with long, dark brown hair. She said he may have been wearing light, horn-rimmed glasses and possibly a few days growth of beard on his face.
The bartender and waitress who were working the night of Beth's disappearance were also interviewed. Neither remembered seeing Beth.
In going through Beth's things in order to try to find some clue as to what happened, Beth's mother found some letters. In one of the letters Beth had written, “It’s not fun to date anymore.”
Beth's ex-finance, William Frederick Smith, was in the military. He was stationed in Fairbanks at the time of Beth’s disappearance. His brother could account for his whereabouts since December 21st.
Within a week of Beth’s disappearance, troopers found yet another pair of witnesses who’d reportedly seen Beth on the same day she went missing. They said they saw her in the Valu Mart at around 3:30p.m. or 4p.m. They went to the bathroom and entered one of stalls. and sat down They heard someone say, "Get up off the floor, Beth."
After they were done, they opened the door to the stall and saw Beth sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. She had no shoes or socks, and her coat was lying on the floor beside her. She had a green coat on, her hair was wet, she wore dungarees, and her feet looked purple from cold. She was smoking a cigarette.
When the witness asked Beth what was wrong, she answered that her feet were cold and that she didn't have any shoes. The witness then asked Beith if she wanted to store manager to be called. Beth replied with a no and that she had walked a long way. Then she said she had to walk to Bi-Lo and meet someone in the parking lot.
Beth's description and what she was wearing had already been circulated in the papers, so it is unclear if the witnesses were telling the truth or not.
The day after news of Beth's murder hit the papers and Sgt. Walter Gilmour got a phone call from a senior officer in the Alaska State Troopers claiming that he had an informant that may be able to help.
18-year-old Patty Roberts was working as a prostitute to pay for her addiction to heroin. On the night of December 19th, she was in the parking lot of the Nevada Club when she was kidnapped at gunpoint by a man who said he’d kill her if she didn’t do what he wanted. She described him as between 23 and 28 years old 5’ 8” or 5’ 9” with a slender build and wearing horn-rimmed glasses.
He bound her hands with leather shoelaces, then drove her south on the Seward Highway. Along the way, he kept pulling off the road, telling her he wanted to make love to her while trying to kiss her. He made her strip and said that he wanted to slash her bra with his knife.
She kept telling him, “No, I don’t want to do it in the car.”
He finally got a motel, deep into the Kenai Peninsula at Cooper Landing, 98 miles south of Anchorage. They tried to have sex, but he was impotent. On the way back to Anchorage, he threatened to kill her if she said anything about what happened. At some point he drove her deep into the wilderness and she had to beg for him to drive back to civilization.
Robert had been arrested the month before for an assault with a deadly weapon involving a real estate secretary. When he kidnapped Patty, he was out on his own recognizance, awaiting trial.
Patty told investigators, “He said he killed before, and everything he said was absolutely true. Everything he said he would do to me came true, everything he said he would do, he did. Every threat he made, I believed. And if he says he’s killed people, I believe he’s killed people. And if you’ve got a young girl who’s been killed around the same time and in the same area, then I believe it was Hansen who killed her. I believe he’ll kill me, too.”
Police interviewed Robert Hansen on December 29. He claimed to have only vague memories of the Patty and asked to speak with his attorney.
Robert did end up making a hand-written statement as to his whereabouts on December 22nd and in it he underlined the time "10:30".
"Went to work at 4:45 December 22, 1971. Got through work at 2:00 p.m. Went home to 327 Thomas Court. Spent the rest of the afternoon from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with my wife and sister-in-law and daughter, then left to Larry Bivins’ on 6th St. for pizza supper. Left there about 10:30 went home with my wife and daughter. Went to bed about 11:00 p.m. Got up again about 4:30 dressed and arrived at work about 4:45 a.m. Thursday and worked until 2:00 p.m."
He seemed well aware of the timeframe when Beth disappeared and had an alibi.
Robert Hansen was arrested and convicted in 1983 and was sentenced to 461 years without the possibility of parole for the abduction, rape, and murder at least seventeen women in and around Anchorage, Alaska. As a part of his plea bargain that took the death penalty off the table, he marked on a map of where to find his victim's bodies. He marked the areas with X's. There was an X where Beth's body had been found.
ZeZe Mason was a 20-year-old airline employee who was hitchhiking to town on her day off. her half-clothed, sexually assaulted body was found on August 28th, 1972. There were some distinctive tire tracks left at the scene. Where all the tires should have their knobby edges biting outward to provide more grip, one of the edges was biting inward.
When they talked to the boyfriend, he confirmed that he and Gary had gone for target practice near the gravel pit and had picked up a female hitchhiker. They left the gravel pit with the young woman riding in the middle, he said, and then Zieger dropped him at a nearby fire station. After that, Gary and the female continued on their way.
Authorities obtained a search warrant for Zieger’s truck and ran a precipitant test on three small blood spots splashed up by the dash in the interior of the vehicle. The test came back positive, which indicated human blood.
The site near a creek where Zieger had washed the truck those same weird tire tracks were found.
Gary Zieger ended up going to trial but was acquitted of ZeZe's murder. After his release, a trooper pulled over Zieger and searched his truck. Two cases of dynamite and eleven pounds of marijuana were found. Zieger was arrested and taken to Anchorage, where he was jailed on a $50,000 bond. He was charged with burglary, grand larceny, and possession of narcotics with intent to sell.
Zieger's friend that he met in prison, Wesley Ladd, put down the cash bond, which had been previously reduced to $15,000.
Ladd wanted to control a massage parlor owned by a man named John Rich. Zieger and Ladd paid him a visit and Zieger ended up shooting and killing John.
Zieger's trial for the marijuana and the dynamite came two months after John's murder, and he was convicted on all counts. He decided to appeal the ruling. But Zieger didn't have money to do that, so he hatched a plan. Jimmy Sumpter owned two of Anchorage’s most popular topless joints, the Kit Kat Club and the Sportsman Too. And he was known to keep a stash of cash at his house.
A month later, Jimmy's house was broken into while he was checking on his clubs. The intruder shot and killed his wife and his son, only his daughter made it out alive. The intruder escaped with twenty thousand dollars in cash and jewelry.
In canvasing Sumpter’s neighborhood, troopers came across a woman who’d seen a Dodge pickup truck leave the scene. She’d taken its license number and it ended up belonging to Gary Zieger. Zieger was then served with a warrant to impound his truck in connection with the Sumpter murders.
While the authorities we were getting ready to arrest Gary Zieger, somebody else got him first. He was found at mile 110 of the Seward Highway, just up the road from where Beth van Zanten had been murdered. He was sprawled in the middle of the pavement, with a fatal shotgun blast to the belly.
Wire that was similar to that which Beth had been bound with was found at his house, but the FBI said it wasn't a match. There were people who suggested that Zieger looked a lot like the composite picture of the man allegedly seen with Beth on the night of her disappearance. There was also an informant who told investigators that Beth’s cousin Greg had lived with Zieger in the months after her death, when he presumably was no longer welcome in the van Zanten household.
Beth's murder remains unsolved.
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