Judith Gail Taylor was 28 and living in Anacortes, Washington, when she was last seen by a neighbor on December 11, 1985, at about 5:00 p.m. The next evening her grandmother found the apartment unlocked with the television and a space heater on and a full cup of coffee on a table, but Judith was gone. Her sister Donamarie saw no sign of a struggle, and the apartment still contained Judith’s shoes and purse with credit cards, though her wallet, identification, apartment key and one pair of skippers were missing. A week later a car key was found in an alley three blocks from her home, yet her vehicle was never reported missing.

The case went cold and remained unsolved for decades. In 2021 a terminally ill former neighbor confessed to a nurse and to police that he had suffocated Judith and thrown her body from the Deception Pass Bridge; he had been interviewed in 1985. Prosecutors later said discrepancies in that confession meant it did not prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and no charges were filed. Judith Taylor remains a missing person.

Does anyone who knew Judith or lived in Anacortes in 1985 have information that could help explain what happened?