ted

I was not able to post last weekend because of Hurricane Delta taking out my power for a few days. While I was without power, I took the time to re-read The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. One of the main themes centers around women with the same general appearance disappearing seemingly everywhere Ted Bundy ended up. Now does that mean that no young co-eds with long brown hair, parted in the center, disappeared in other places under similar circumstances? Of course not!

Ted Bundy’s guilt or innocence has been debated many times over the years and most certainly there are disappearances attributed to him that he is not responsible for. There were definitely concurrent murders happening around the times Bundy was active. Gary Ridgway executed sex workers in Seattle along the Green River during the 80s and 90s. He came a little after Bundy left Washington, but the chances of overlap cannot be ruled out. And then you have the Zodiac Killer, Hillside Stranglers, and others located nearby in California.

Where am I going with this?

There were so many serial killers in a very small geographic area in Houston, TX, in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. It almost seems to defy logic how so many have ties to Robert Abel’s Stardust Trail Rides. I mean, you have Mark Stallings and William Reece who worked for him and then, of course, you have Jonathan David Drew living right down the street.

How safe are we really if there are so many dangerous men compacted so tightly together in small areas? How likely is it really to meet your fate at the hands of a serial killer? In my eyes, it seems more probable than law enforcement would like you to believe.