Deborah Rae Stevens, 19, was found murdered in the early morning of September 15, 1972. Her body was discovered in lilac bushes about 75 yards from her Lynn, Massachusetts, home by a man walking his dog at about 6:00 AM. A sophomore physical therapy student at Boston University who also attended classes at Northeastern University, Stevens had been strangled; the medical examiner estimated death between 2:00 and 3:00 AM. Investigators believed she had been killed elsewhere and her body left near her residence.

The night before, September 14, she had borrowed her sister’s car to drive to a night class at Northeastern, a change from her usual train or bus routine. Friends last saw her on campus around 9:30 PM, and she was expected home by 10:00 PM but never arrived. Her sister’s car was later found two blocks from the house, blocking a driveway; investigators reported two apparent bullet holes in the vehicle though Stevens was not shot and there was no blood inside.

Stevens’ murder was one of several killings that terrorized the greater Boston area over a four-month period in 1972, linked to a suspect known as the Hitch-Hike Murderer; the crime wave ended in December 1972 with the arrest of Anthony J. Jackson, who was charged in connection with the murders and later sentenced to life in prison. Does anyone have information about Deborah’s movements on the night of September 14 or who she might have encountered near campus or on her way home?