Taunja Bennett, 23, of Portland, Oregon, was reported missing January 21, 1990. Her body was found the next day near a switchback in the Columbia River Gorge along the Old Columbia River Highway. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled; an autopsy confirmed strangulation as the cause of death.

Early investigation produced no solid leads or eyewitnesses. A woman named Laverne Pavlinac later implicated herself and her partner, John Sosnovske, saying she had overheard Sosnovske brag about the murder and that she helped dispose of Bennett’s body. Sosnovske was arrested on Pavlinac’s statements despite no forensic evidence tying him to the scene, and witnesses said Bennett had been seen the night she disappeared with two unidentified men who did not resemble Sosnovske. Pavlinac later recanted, saying she had fabricated the story to leave an abusive relationship; both Pavlinac and Sosnovske were nonetheless convicted and imprisoned.

Keith Hunter Jesperson, later identified as the Happy Face Killer, preferred strangulation and ultimately confessed to Bennett’s murder, providing details only the true killer would know. His confession led to the exoneration of Pavlinac and Sosnovske. Jesperson was convicted of multiple murders and is serving life with no parole until 2063.

Did anyone who knew Taunja in Portland or the Gorge area have contact with her in January 1990 or remember seeing her that week?