Crime Solvers Central
Crime Solvers Central
307 Cases Solved. Advancing justice for missing persons, unsolved homicides, unidentified and unclaimed remains.

Forum Posts for Mary Frances Bennett:
Be respectful. Abuse of these forums will not be tolerated.

Mary Frances Bennett was 23 when she was murdered on October 21, 1979, in San Francisco. She had recently moved to the city from Montana after finishing accounting school. Her body was found near the Palace of the Legion of Honor at Lands End, buried under a thin layer of dirt and branches. She’d been stabbed at least 25 times in the neck, chest, and back and was wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and running shoes, suggesting she may have been jogging.

Investigators later considered David Joseph Carpenter, the so-called Trailside Killer, but lacked sufficient evidence at the time to charge him. In December 2009 the case was re-examined and unspecified DNA evidence recovered from the scene matched Carpenter’s DNA in a state database; a confirmation sample taken from Carpenter in February 2010 corroborated the match. Carpenter has denied knowing Bennett or involvement in her death. Prosecutors had not decided whether to file charges; Bennett’s family said they were relieved to learn of the DNA match.

Does anyone have information about Bennett’s last known movements near Lands End or who she ran with that day?