Buzz
For many young individuals, leaving home to pursue higher education is one of life's most significant milestones. This transition can be both emotionally charged and anxiety-inducing for parents, as it’s natural to fear the worst when their child ventures out independently for the first time. Tragically, in some cases, those fears become reality.
Below are 10 accounts of young men and women who attended college and became the focus of unresolved mysteries. Each story involves either a sudden disappearance or a tragic crime, leaving numerous questions about their fates unanswered.
10. Arlis Perry
On October 13, 1974, Stanford University was left in shock when 19-year-old newlywed and freshman Arlis Perry was found brutally murdered. The previous night, after a disagreement with her husband, Arlis had gone to pray at Stanford Memorial Church. She never made it back home, and her body was discovered beneath the church pews.
Arlis had been killed by an ice pick driven through her skull, and she had also been strangled, beaten, and sexually assaulted using altar candles. While her husband was quickly ruled out as a suspect, other leads emerged. Arlis worked as a receptionist at a law firm, and the day before her death, an unidentified blonde man visited her there. Their intense conversation left her visibly distressed.
Speculation arose that Arlis was killed in a satanic ritual by a group known as the Process Church of the Final Judgment. Some members of this alleged cult were said to be from Arlis’ hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota. Notably, Charles Manson and David Berkowitz, the infamous “Son of Sam” killer, were linked to this cult. Berkowitz, while in prison, wrote letters hinting at their involvement in Arlis’ murder. While some doubt the cult’s existence and believe Berkowitz was misleading investigators, the question remains: who truly killed Arlis Perry?
9. Paula Jean Welden
Paula Jean Welden, an 18-year-old sophomore at Bennington College in Vermont, finished her dining hall shifts on December 1, 1946, and returned to her dormitory. That afternoon, she informed her roommate she was taking a break from studying to go hiking. Although she invited other students to join her, none accepted. Later, a driver picked up Paula while she was hitchhiking, and she mentioned her plan to hike the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain.
Multiple witnesses spotted her on the trail that day. Around 4:00 PM, Paula approached a man and inquired about the trail’s length. This became her last confirmed sighting. When she didn’t return to her dorm that night or attend her classes the next day, she was reported missing. Paula left behind an uncashed check and carried no money or belongings. Her decision to hike was puzzling, as snow was forecasted that night, and she was inadequately dressed for the cold.
Despite extensive searches of the Long Trail, no trace of Paula was found. The area of her disappearance later earned the name “Bennington Triangle” due to five unexplained vanishings there between 1945 and 1950. Four of these individuals, including Paula Jean Welden, remain missing to this day.
8. Jack Davis, Jr.
On the night of October 16, 1987, 20-year-old sophomore Jack Davis, Jr. went out with his fraternity brothers to party at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He never came back that evening and remained missing until his body was found five days later at the base of an exterior stairwell at Weyandt Hall. The coroner ruled that Jack had become heavily intoxicated the night he vanished, leading to an accidental fall down the stairwell, where he choked on his own vomit.
Jack’s family doubted this conclusion and enlisted the help of famed forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht to investigate the case. Given that a classroom overlooked the stairwell, it seemed unlikely Jack’s body would go unnoticed for five days. Despite heavy rainfall during that period, his clothes were found completely dry. Wecht also noted inconsistencies, such as the absence of alcohol in Jack’s blood and the presence of stubble on his face, despite him being clean-shaven the night he disappeared.
Wecht concluded that Jack could not have died from choking on vomit and identified skull fractures. One theory suggests Jack may have been injured during a clash between rival fraternities, with his body later placed in the stairwell after he succumbed to his injuries. Despite Dr. Wecht’s findings, Jack’s death remains a mystery.
7. Lynne Schulze
Lynne Schulze, a freshman who had recently turned 18, had moved from her hometown of Simbury, Connecticut, to attend Middlebury College in Vermont. On December 10, 1971, while preparing for her final exams before Christmas break, Lynne left her dormitory with friends to take an exam. She mentioned forgetting her favorite pen and went back to retrieve it. However, she never returned to take the exam and was never seen again. A search of her dorm room showed that her ID and personal items were left behind.
Lynne had reportedly joked with friends about faking her death and starting over, which may have led authorities to downplay her disappearance. However, her friends dismissed these comments as unserious, and given her dedication to studying for the exam, it seemed unlikely she would skip it.
Although Lynne had written to her family expressing homesickness and thoughts of leaving school, she had already registered for the next semester’s classes. Despite some unverified sightings over the years, Lynne has never reached out to her family and remains missing more than four decades later.
6. Theresa Allore
Theresa Allore, a 19-year-old student at Champlain College Lennoxville in Sherbrooke, Quebec, vanished mysteriously on November 3, 1978, after leaving her dormitory. Authorities initially dismissed her disappearance, assuming she had run away, and the college continued charging her family for tuition and housing. Theresa’s body was discovered five months later, partially clothed, in a small body of water about 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) from her dorm, as the ice began to thaw.
Police speculated that Theresa might have died from a drug overdose and was dumped in the water by frightened friends, but no drugs were found in her system. Her missing clothes were neatly folded on a log in a nearby wooded area, and her wallet was located miles away. In 2001, Theresa’s brother urged police to reopen the case after uncovering evidence suggesting she may have been targeted by a serial rapist.
Theresa’s brother identified several women who had been sexually assaulted in Sherbrooke around the same time as her death. Two other victims, 20-year-old Louise Camirand and 10-year-old Manon Dube, were also murdered in unsolved cases during that period, potentially linking their deaths to Theresa’s. Despite the case being reopened, Theresa Allore’s death remains unresolved.
5. Joshua Guimond
Joshua Guimond, a 20-year-old junior at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, left a party at the Metten Court dormitory between 11:00 PM and midnight on November 9, 2002, to use the bathroom. His friends assumed he had gone back to his apartment, but when they realized he never returned, he was reported missing the following day. Joshua’s car, glasses, and personal items were left behind, and he was not dressed for the freezing winter weather.
One theory suggested Joshua, possibly intoxicated, may have accidentally fallen into a body of water and drowned after leaving the party. However, his body has never been recovered. Joshua’s disappearance coincided with a two-week period when three other college students from Minnesota and Wisconsin—Christopher Jenkins, Michael Noll, and Erika Marie Dalquist—also vanished after attending late-night parties.
The bodies of the other three students were eventually found. While Dalquist’s killer was caught and convicted, there is speculation that the deaths of the two males might be linked to Joshua’s case due to their similar appearances. Despite over a decade passing, Joshua Guimond’s disappearance remains unsolved.
4. Kristin Smart
Kristin Smart, a freshman at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, attended an off-campus party on the night of May 24, 1996. Around 2:00 AM, Kristin was visibly intoxicated and struggling to walk. Two of her friends and another student, Paul Flores, assisted her to an intersection. Paul offered to take Kristin to her dormitory, and the others left. Kristin never arrived at her dorm, and this was the last time anyone saw her.
Paul claimed he walked Kristin partway and let her continue alone. However, authorities grew suspicious when they noticed Paul had a black eye and he provided inconsistent accounts of how it happened. A cadaver dog also detected Kristin’s scent on a mattress in Paul’s dorm room. Paul later dropped out of Cal Poly and, during police questioning, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, refusing to answer any questions.
Paul Flores remains the primary suspect in Kristin’s disappearance, but insufficient evidence has prevented charges. Kristin was declared legally dead in 2002, yet after 17 years, her body has never been recovered.
3. Betsy Aardsma
One of the most perplexing unsolved murders in U.S. history occurred on November 28, 1969. Betsy Aardsma, a 22-year-old graduate student, was conducting research in the stacks of Pattee Library at Pennsylvania State University when she was fatally stabbed in the heart. Her body was discovered after an unidentified man told the desk clerk, “Somebody better help that girl,” and then left the library.
Betsy’s red dress made it difficult to notice the blood, so no one initially realized she had been stabbed. By the time the murder was confirmed, the unidentified man had vanished. Although no one in the library witnessed the attack, some reported hearing screams. The case was baffling, as Betsy had no known enemies.
Richard Haefner, an assistant professor, is considered a potential suspect. He reportedly dated Betsy briefly before her death and later faced allegations of molesting young boys. However, he died in 2002, and there is no evidence placing him in the library at the time of the murder. Over four decades, authorities have followed thousands of leads, and it’s even rumored that Betsy’s ghost haunts Pattee Library. Despite this, her killer and their motive remain a mystery.
2. Ronald Henry Tammen, Jr.
Ronald Henry Tammen, Jr., a sophomore at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, served as a residence adviser at Fisher Hall. On the evening of April 19, 1953, Ronald discovered a dead fish in his bed and asked for fresh sheets from the dorm mother. Shortly after, he reportedly heard something outside his room, which alarmed him, and he left to investigate. He never returned, leaving behind his car keys, wallet, and all personal belongings. His car remained in the campus parking lot, and despite the freezing weather, Ronald did not take his jacket.
That same night, a woman living twelve miles from campus reported that a young man matching Ronald’s description came to her door. He seemed confused, asking what town he was in and requesting directions to the bus stop. Ronald had shown no prior signs of mental instability, though five months earlier, he had made the unusual decision to visit the county coroner’s office in Hamilton, Ohio, to request a blood type test.
No trace of Ronald has ever been found. Interestingly, Fisher Hall was a former Victorian mental asylum rumored to be haunted. Before the building was demolished in 1978, many students claimed to have seen Ronald’s ghost.
1. Suzanne Jovin
Yale University was left in shock when 21-year-old senior Suzanne Jovin was brutally killed on the evening of December 4, 1998. After 9:00 PM, Suzanne emailed a friend from her apartment, mentioning she would leave some books in the lobby the next morning after collecting them from someone. She then left her apartment to return the keys for a borrowed car at the Yale police communications center. Just before 10:00 PM, her body was discovered about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from campus. Her throat had been slit, and she had been stabbed 17 times.
It remains unclear whether Suzanne had any contact with the person who borrowed her books, as that individual has never been identified. After returning the keys, it is believed Suzanne entered another vehicle, as walking to the murder scene within that timeframe would have been impossible.
Authorities quickly named Suzanne’s thesis adviser, James Van de Velde, as the primary suspect. Rumors circulated about an alleged affair between them, but no evidence supported this claim or linked him to the crime. A witness reported seeing a white male fleeing the scene that night, but when asked to identify Van de Velde, she stated it wasn’t him. Recently, it was announced that James Van de Velde is no longer a suspect, but Suzanne Jovin’s killer remains unknown.
