Karen Lauretta Mandic, 22, a student at Western Washington University, was murdered on January 11, 1979. She and her 27-year-old roommate, Diane Wilder, were found in the hatchback of Mandic’s car parked in a remote area of Bellingham, Washington. Both women had been strangled; deep furrows on their necks indicated ligatures were used. Investigators believed the women had been sexually assaulted and killed at another location, then re-dressed and placed in the car’s hatchback.

Kenneth A. Bianchi was arrested by Bellingham Police detectives on January 12, 1979, and confessed to the crimes. He provided information linking him to a series of killings in Los Angeles and later pleaded guilty to the two Bellingham murders. Bianchi received multiple life sentences and was incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Did anyone who knew Karen or Diane have contact with them in the days before January 11, 1979, or recall where they might have been housesitting?