Cherie Lynn Ayers, a 29-year-old X-ray technician and University of Oregon graduate, was found in her Portland apartment on October 11, 1980, two days after she was bludgeoned and stabbed multiple times in the neck. Her fiancé discovered her body, and the case remained unsolved for decades.

Attention initially focused on a former classmate, Randall Woodfield, whom Cherie had known since childhood and had recently reconnected with while planning a high school reunion. At the time investigators described his answers as evasive and deceptive and he declined a polygraph, but a semen sample then tested against blood-type markers did not match Woodfield and no charges were filed.

Years later preserved vaginal and semen evidence underwent modern DNA testing and produced a conclusive link to Woodfield. The Multnomah County District Attorney declined to prosecute because Woodfield was already serving a life sentence plus for other murders and sexual assaults; the family supported that decision with the understanding charges could be pursued if parole ever became possible. Cherie’s family also sought to correct earlier suggestions that she led a high-risk lifestyle.

Did anyone who knew Cherie or her circle in Portland during 1980 notice anything unusual in the months before her death?