True Crime On This Day August 29th

August 29th

On August 29th in true crime, robbery, serial killer, macabre mystery, mass hijacking attempt, unsolved crimes, cold cases.

1978

In Pierce County, Washington, the skeletal remains of a 15 to 20-year-old white female were discovered by two fishermen on the north side of Mashell River next to Mt. Highway.

Investigators found additional remains and clothing near the site of discovery. The victim was murdered sometime between 1976 and 1978.

In a bizarre twist of fate, the remains and records on the case mysteriously vanished without a trace and with no explanation.

Some investigators suggested that the remains were that of Donna Gail Manson, who was a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy.

However, Bundy claimed to have destroyed Manson’s skull, which contradicted the state of the remains. The mystery continues to this day.

1979

In Fairbanks, Alaska, 19-year-old Glinda Sodemann went missing. Two months later, her decomposed body was found in a shallow grave near a highway in the city.

She had been murdered by serial killer Thomas Richard Bunday who killed at least five girls and women from 1979 to 1981.

He was serving in the Air Force at the time at the Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks.

On March 15^th 1983, Bunday committed suicide by driving his motorcycle directly into an oncoming truck. An arrest warrant had been issued just days prior to his death.

1980

In Lima, Peru, 400 Cuban refugees stormed the runway after crashing through the glass terminal doors at Lima Airport.

They attempted to board Braniff International Flight 920 which had stopped in Lima, on its way to Los Angeles. 168 of them managed to get onto the plane and take hostages.

The group had been in refugee camps near the airport for almost five months after they had occupied the Peruvian Embassy in Cuba.

Despite the amount of people who managed to get onto the plane, the situation was resolved peacefully, and their hostages were released.

All 168 Cubans surrendered after agreeing a deal that they would not be prosecuted for the hijack attempt. None of the hijackers were in possession of weapons.

1981

In Shelby County, Tennessee, at approximately eleven at night, Larry McKay and Michael Eugene Sample were carrying out a robbery at the L&G Sundry Store, when Melvin Wallace Jr. walked in and interrupted them.

When Wallace realised it was a robbery, he tried to escape but was shot in the thigh, he later went on to survive.

A scuffle then ensued which left two store clerks dead. Shop workers Benjamin Cooke and Steve Jones were shot dead by the robbers before they made their getaway.

Both McKay and Sample were arrested shortly after and charged with both murders and robbery. They were both sentenced to death on February 7^th 1983. An appeal in 2010 upheld the death sentence in both cases.

1982

In Washington State, 16-year-old Terry Renee Milligan was abducted shortly after leaving her home near South 144^th Street and Pacific Highway South.

She was brutally murdered by Gary Ridgway, AKA: The Green River Killer. Milligan was the first victim not to be dumped in the Green River, where authorities were conducting searches.

Her body was later found in the area of Star Lake Road. Ridgway was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison in 2003 after entering a plea bargain to plead guilty to 48 charges of murder.

Though, he claimed more murders and is linked to at least 71 in total.

1983

In Scottsdale, Arizona, Harold August was shot dead in his own home by Richard Michael Rossi. He had gone to August’s home to sell a typewriter but instead shot August three times, using exploding bullets.

A neighbour heard the shots and entered August’s residence. Rossi hit her over the head and shot her twice in the chest, but the neighbour went onto to survive.

Rossi stole the money that was going to be used to pay for the typewriter, along with other belongings in the home.

He later confessed to a friend what he had done and gave his friend three bullet casings as a souvenir of his crime.

His friend later reported him to police and Rossi was arrested shortly after. Rossi was sentenced to death but died of natural causes in prison on April 22^nd 2006.

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