Betsy Lynn Loden, 22, was found dead on January 14, 1975, in the garage of her Holiday Garden Estates home in New Port Richey, Florida. Her cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning; she had been bound with surgical tape and placed near the exhaust pipe of a 1967 Toyota. Investigators believed she was restrained in the kitchen before being moved to the garage.

Loden’s killing was treated as one of several unsolved deaths linked to a string of murders in Pasco County and the Tampa Bay area known as the Gulf Killer cases. Between 1971 and 1978, 16 victims—14 women and 2 men—were killed under circumstances that suggested a possible serial offender or multiple perpetrators. Two people, Wirtjes and Hardagree, were convicted in 1979 and 1980 in connection with some cases in the series, but it has not been established whether they were responsible for Loden’s death or whether other perpetrators were involved.

Anyone who knew Betsy, her movements around January 1975, or who has information that could link her death to the wider series is asked to come forward.